If every Little Leaguer gathered to bid farewell to this coach they came to know, this downtown cemetery would have been filled from the Lamon Street Park to the ball fields of Honeycutt Recreation Park.
Bill Kirby Jr.
Bill Kirby Jr. is a veteran journalist who spent 49 years as a newspaper editor, reporter and columnist covering Fayetteville, Cumberland County and the Cape Fear Region for The Fayetteville Observer. He most recently has written for CityView Magazine.
Posted inThe Kirby File
Column: Familiar Face Assumes Leadership of Promoting City and County Tourism
Michelle Williams has been on the job as the new president and chief executive officer of DistiNCtly Fayetteville since January 1.
Posted inThe Kirby File
Column: ‘Down A Country Road’ and a Lifetime of Cherished Stories and Memories
Jane Rosser Warfel can tell you a thing or two or three about Fayetteville and Cumberland County. She has called this community home all her life.
Posted inThe Kirby File
Column: Retired Fayetteville Golfer Chip Beck Headed to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame
Not many of us have walked the golfing fairways with the game’s legends with the roar of the fans marveling at our every drive or putt. Chip Beck has.
Posted inThe Kirby File
Column: Fayetteville Insurance Executive to be Honored with ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ for Community Leadership
Jerome T. Scott will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award when the Fayetteville-Cumberland Human Relations stages its 2026 Community Awards scheduled for February 12 at Cape Fear Botanical Garden.
Posted inThe Kirby File
Column: A Woman of Grace, Poise, Hugs, and a Loving Heart for Her Family and Others
“She had a heart that was full of love, and she had a heart of love,” the Rev. Sandy Saunders said Monday in celebrating and remembering the life of Laura Kohlstedt Downing.
Posted inThe Kirby File
Column: Let us remember, they walked among us…
These family members, friends, and neighbors were among those we lost in 2025. Let us remember, they walked among us.
Posted inThe Kirby File
Column: Christmas Eve is here, and it’s the most serene night of the year
Many of our church sanctuaries will fill with evening candlelight services, where we’ll celebrate with communion, Christmas hymns of Silent Night and O Holy Night and with prayers of hope for peace on earth and goodwill toward all.
Posted inThe Kirby File
Column: Longest Serving State Governor Remembered from Raleigh to Cumberland County and Beyond
“Gov. Hunt was one of the finest men I ever knew,” former N.C. Rep. Billy Richardson of Cumberland County says about Jim Hunt, the late four-term governor, who died at age 88 on Thursday.
Posted inThe Kirby File
Column: Fayetteville to Celebrate New Year’s Eve with City Star and Fireworks, and Eastover will be Dropping The Flea
Bill Kirby Jr.’s notes from the week.