Dr. Al Hartness, John Shearer, Lyle Hall, George Whitfield, Greg Allen, Wayne Byrd, Jack McGinley, Steve Graham, Jimmy Byrd, Ray Nicholson and Paul Paschal visited the grave of old friend Bob Bryan on May 3 at Elm Street Cemetery in Goldsboro to remember Bryan on what would have been his 90th birthday. “Everyone spoke of favorite times with Bob, some even going back 50 some years ago” Hartness said. “Big John Shearer sang ‘Amazing Grace’ in his booming bass voice. Since I had played ‘I’ll Fly Away’ at his birthday party three years ago, I played it this time as a final goodbye. Wayne Byrd closed with a beautiful prayer. Then, George Whitfield invited all to Wilbur’s BBQ for a truly last meal remembering Bob. It was a very special day for a very special friend.” Bryan was a longtime Fayetteville resident, retired businessman and Wayne County native. Robert “Bob” Emmet Bryan Jr., was 89 when he died Sept. 22, 2023.
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“Our profession has a tradition of service and comradery that most others will never fully achieve or understand,” Fayetteville Police Chief Kimberlee Braden said about National Police Week. “We feel the pain of every officer lost in the line of duty. An attack on one of us is felt by all of us.” A Prayer & Laying of the Wreath ceremony is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Friday at 467 Hay St. A Field of Blue flags also can be found in front of BJ’s Wholesale Club at 5200 Red Tip Road through June 13 in memory of 10 fallen FPD officers and four law enforcement officers slain on April 29 in Mecklenburg County.
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A 31-year-old man discovered with multiple gunshot wounds at 5:31 a.m. on May 12 on the 2000 block of Seneca Drive at Courtney Street was the fifth city homicide of 2024, according to the Fayetteville Police Department, and the second this month. A 21-year-old male was a homicide victim when city police responded to fatal shots at 3:11 a.m. on May 4 along the 5300 block of Ramsey Street. Anyone with information regarding the homicides may call 910-729-2525, 910-929-2565, 910-635-4978, or provide an anonymous tip at http://fay-nccrimestoppers.org or by calling 483-TIPS (8477).
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Downtown business owners to include Diane Parfitt, Elaine Kelly and Molly Arnold called on the Fayetteville City Council at Monday’s public forum to support the Cool Spring Downtown District plea to reduce paid parking from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. “We all need to do everything that we can to continue to promote downtown as a place to shop, dine and experience the heart of our city,” Parfitt told the council. The council should honor the request that will be more inviting and supportive of downtown businesses.
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“You have worked and studied diligently for years to accomplish this level of academic achievement,” Dr. Franklin Clark told more than 100 Methodist University master’s and doctoral graduates Saturday at the Crown Coliseum, where the former University of North Carolina basketball standout was the keynote speaker. “Your present status of a very newly degreed [graduate] does not mean your education stops here. Science is constantly changing, and knowledge is forever expanding. Continuous education is the permanent rule of the game. Congratulations, it’s time to cut down the nets.”
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Dr. Myron Strickland has been reappointed to the Cape Fear Valley Health Board of Trustees by the Cumberland Board of County Commissioners, and that’s a smart reappointment.
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Recently retired Fayetteville police officer Phillip Young has been approved by the Cumberland County Board of Education, according to a news release, as director of safety and security for Cumberland County Schools. Young brings 28 years of law enforcement experience to the job.
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“Well, you touched me again in your article on Mother’s Day,” Sandy Hurley writes in an email. “Thank you for mentioning me. I remember our discussion about our mothers’ potato salad. My mouth salivates when I think about how good it was. I never learned how to make it like she, although I followed every step she told me. I finally realized it was made with a mother’s love just for me. I always enjoy reading your articles, Bill.” I remember your sweet mother well. I still can see her in her pretty sweater the day I interviewed her years ago. She’s watching over you still.
“Bill, loved your words about mothers,” Ben West, retired minister at Westminster Presbyterian Church, writes in an email. “Would love to be sitting down at mom’s table today, where she would serve green peas, my favorite. Peace.”
“Hi, Bill, I wanted you to know how endearing your Mother’s Day memories were to me,” Judy Chavis writes in an email. “Conjured up some lovely, and almost forgotten, thoughts of my own wonderful mom. Thank you for that.”
“Your Mother’s Day column was a well written and presented column, because it correctly saluted our mothers,” Tom English Jr., former managing editor of The Fayetteville Times, writes in an email. “Thank you for sharing it.”
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A six-mile section of Interstate 40 between N.C. 242 and Five Points Road in Johnston County has been dedicated as the “Jimmy Capps Highway” in memory of the late Fayetteville native who performed as a guitarist at the Grand Ole Opry for 60 years, according to a N.C. Dept. of Transportation news release. Capps was 81 when he died in 2020.
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Parks Helms, Thomas Horne and Ethan Paschal led Terry Sanford High School to its second consecutive N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A championship Tuesday with a 14-stroke victory over runner-up Greenville Rose in the two-day competition at Longleaf Golf and Family Club in Southern Pines. Horne and Paschal were runners-up in the individual competition. Taft Courie was 10th. The Bulldogs have won state titles previously in 1982, 1978 and 1971.
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Don’t be surprised if you don’t see Kenneth Williams one day wielding the mayor’s gavel and presiding over the Fayetteville City Council or serving as state senator or member of the N.C. House as a part of the Cumberland County delegation. “This honor doesn’t just go to me,” the 17-year-old senior student body president at E.E. Smith High School told city council on Monday night after receiving a Certificate of Achievement from Mayor Mitch Colvin. “This goes to my school. This goes to all of the future and current students at E.E. Smith High School who deserve better for their school and for their education. So, not only does this represent me, this represents the students at 1800 Seabrook Road and all of the accomplishments that they’ve had as well.” Williams plans to enroll at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in the fall to study kinesiology and physical therapy.
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
Sunday: A man of curious mind and deep heart. They called him “Mey.”
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