Retired Maj. Gen. William Kirkland is scheduled to deliver the Memorial Day ceremony address at 10 a.m. Monday at Freedom Memorial Park. “I am a firm believer that we should remember our U.S. veterans, honor those who served and teach our children the value of freedom,” says Ann Provencher, a veteran who will serve as emcee. “Each life that has been lost has contributed to making our nation what it is today. Their contributions live on and inspire generations that follow to continue to serve. It was and continues to be their service that provides for the defense of the freedom that America enjoys today. We must keep the memory alive of our fallen, realizing that our freedom was paid for with great sacrifice and that those sacrifices are meaningless without remembrance.” A graduate of N.C. State University, Kirkland worked closely with commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan to develop training priorities for missions of the 3rd Army, 1st Cavalry Division, 1st and 3rd Infantry divisions, 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions and various other support units. He served at the U.S. Army War College from 1998 through 2000. This will be the 26th consecutive year that Don Talbot, a veteran who developed the park, will direct and produce the ceremony.
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Bob Pinson, 71, is the new president and chief executive officer of the Arts Council of Fayetteville-Cumberland County, and the council’s executive search committee got this precisely right in turning to a sound and proven leader. “Bob’s passion for the Arts Council’s mission, our member organizations and this community is unquestionable,: Rick Allen, chairman of the council’s board, says in a news release. “He did a tremendous job steering the Arts Council through the pandemic while making sure that our area artists and organizations kept their funding. Along the way, the Arts Council has been recognized for its efforts in being a family-friendly workplace as a Family Forward NC-certified employer. And his devotion to the principles of diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion was recognized with the bestowing of the 2023 Community Human Relations Award for Industry/Business in Cumberland County to the Arts Council. We could not be happier with his selection.” A graduate of West Point, Pinson also was the voice of reason and calm working with Downtown Alliance members who were so put off when the Arts Council decided in 2021 to end A Dickens Holiday in favor of a celebration called “Holidays on Hay … A Season of Light.” In the end, because of Pinson’s appreciation for downtown merchants, the interim president and CEO for the past three years found common ground for the Arts Council and Downtown Alliance to end the controversy. Yes, without question, the Arts Council has the right leader in Bob Pinson, and the Arts Council search and selection committee of co-chairs Betty Goosby and Luis Collazo, Cull Jordan, Leah Metzger and Devin Trego got this right. Pinson succeeds Greg Weber.
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Patricia Timmons-Goodson is the newly named dean of the law school at N.C. Central University in Durham, and the school could not have a more qualified leader in Timmons-Goodson, a retired N.C. Supreme Court judge. She was the first African American woman to serve in that capacity until retiring in 2012. Prior to that, Timmons-Goodson served on the N.C. Court of Appeal from 1997 to 2005 and also is a former Cumberland County District Court judge. Patricia Timmons-Goodson always was a fair judge who was grounded in her judgment. N.C. Central University could not have a better dean for its Albert L. Turner School of Law.
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“I am proud of the work I did to advance clean energy in North Carolina during my time as a state representative and I am thrilled to be able to continue advocating for conservative energy solutions as CEO of CEN,” John Szoka says in a news release about being named chief executive officer of the Conservative Energy Network, a coalition of 24 state-based clean-energy organizations. “Thanks to incredible advances in technology, alternative energy sources are more affordable and effective than ever, driving economic growth and reducing costs while also reducing emissions. National, state and local policies need to keep up with marketplace innovation. A market-led approach ensures that ratepayers are getting reliable and cost-effective solutions to energy generation.” Szoka was a leading advocate for clean energy during his 10 years in the North Carolina legislature and served as chairman of the House Energy and Public Utilities Committee. During his legislative career, he sponsored major pieces of legislation that modernized North Carolina’s energy policy to take full advantage of the benefits of low-cost clean-energy solutions that protect ratepayers. Trust me, when it comes to clean energy and anything environmental, Szoka is perfect for the position.
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A homicide on May 22, when police responded to a report of a 37-year-old man suffering from gunshot wounds at the 4900 block of Schmidt Street, is the 17th homicide in the city in 2023, according to the Fayetteville Police Department. And a murder-suicide on Wednesday morning along the 3700 block of Carlos Avenue, according to Fayetteville police, leaves an 18-year-old woman deceased as the 18th city homicide of 2023.
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Fayetteville’s relationship with Sister City Saint-Avold, France, began in 1991 at the request of the city, according to Arleen Fields, president of the Lafayette Society. “The society built on this relationship over the next 30 years,” Fields says in an email about our May 3 column about the Fayetteville-Saint-Avold Friendship Alliance that is taking over that responsibility, including welcoming a Saint-Avold delegation in September, when Walter Street will be renamed Saint-Avold Avenue in honor of our international Sister City. While the Lafayette Society will continue to promote the Revolutionary War military Gen. Marquis de Lafayette, for whom this city is named, it wishes the best for Kris Johnson and the Fayetteville-Saint-Avold Friendship Alliance. “Over the last few years, the society has been reevaluating its mission and capabilities. We came to the conclusion that the Sister City is a great asset to our community but that the society does not have the resources to effectively administer the program. The society is extremely grateful to Kris Johnson and the Fayetteville-Saint-Avold Friendship Alliance for taking on that responsibility, and we look forward to the growth of our relationship with our French friends.”
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Dean Easterling calls to say that his late parents, Johnny and Thelma Rhodes, lived across the street on Yadkin Road from Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler, the singer and songwriter of “The Ballad of the Green Berets” that became a hit recording on Jan. 30, 1966, after Sadler performed on the old “Ed Sullivan Show.” “He lived across the street in the Ponderosa subdivision,” says Easterling, 55. “I remember my dad telling me about him.” I do remember Barry Sadler living in Ponderosa. Easterling says, too, that his uncle, the late Bill Rhodes, himself a military veteran, flew the helicopter in the 1968 film “The Green Berets,” starring John Wayne, David Janssen and Jim Hutton, and became friends with John Wayne. One of Barry Sadler’s guitars is on exhibit through June 6 at the Airborne & Special Operations Museum. Sadler died at age 49 on Nov. 5, 1989.
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“Bill, thank you for your story about ‘The Ballad of the Green Berets,’” Sandy Goodrich writes in an email about Barry Sadler. “My husband, Mike, is the executive director of the National Special Forces Association. Its office and grounds are located on Doc Bennett Road. He was 7th Group his first seven years in the Army before going to the (Special Forces Operational Detachment) unit for the next 14. It’s especially meaningful to those of us who wear the patch in some form or another.”
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“Bill, just read and enjoyed your article about Barry and the museum exhibit,” Marc Leepson of Middleburg, Virginia, writes in an email about our Wednesday column on the Barry Sadler exhibit at the Airborne & Special Operations Museum. “Wanted you to know that Barry did not shoot and kill Lee Emerson in a Nashville bar parking lot. He killed him in the parking lot of Barry’s girlfriend Darlene Sharpe’s apartment. When I did the research for my 2017 biography of Barry, ‘Ballad of the Green Beret,’ I came to Nashville and the homicide detective who investigated the murder, Jim Sledge, took me to the scene of the crime. Then we had a beer in the bar where he later arrested Barry.” Sadler, according to published reports, did fatally wound Bellamy on Dec. 1, 1978, after published reports say Bellamy repeatedly harassed Sadler and his girlfriend, who reportedly was Bellamy’s former girlfriend. Sadler was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in 1979.
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“She was a good friend and will be missed,” Bob Cogswell writes in an email about Grace Henderson, the longtime owner of Grace’s Hallmark and an even longer member of Snyder Memorial Baptist Church. “Like so many of us in the choir, we were amazed at her stamina on the Singing Christmas Tree in her later years. She knew God would have it no other way.” Grace Miller Henderson died at age 94 on May 12.
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“Bill, your column painted a wonderful and beautiful picture of Grace Henderson,” Tom English Jr. writes about our May 21 column on the life and passing of Grace Henderson. “Well done. This one was not only well written but also was a significant tribute to one who was obviously cherished by many, many people.” Tom English Jr. is the former managing editor of The Fayetteville Times, and he guided my career as a cub reporter.
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“Hi Bill, and thanks for the CityView article about the Great Fire of 1831,” Reggie Barton writes in an email about our May 24 column on the most devastating fire in city history. “Always am happy to see Fayetteville-Cumberland County highlighted. I want to point out a couple of things that need to be revised. First of all, the Fayetteville pictorial history was published not by Mr. (Weeks) Parker but by the Historic Fayetteville Foundation, with financial backing from Fayetteville Publishing Co. We are all greatly indebted to Mr. Parker for his extensive library of historic photos, which formed the core of the photographic collection for the book. However, as the credits in the book will document, the text content for the book (chapter introductions) were written by me, not Mr. Parker. I also wrote the vast majority of the photo captions. Book co-editors Josephine Deem and Allene "Teeny” Moffitt were also enormously instrumental and helpful in creating the book. All best regards.” Happy, Mr. Barton, to share that information with our CityView digital subscribers and readers.
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Some good news for residents of neighboring Bladen County with the addition of a LifeLink Air helicopter now at Bladen County Hospital in Elizabethtown to also serve residents of Bladenboro, Clarkton, Tar Heel and White Lake. “For serious health conditions, we’re going to stabilize the patient as best we can and get them transferred to the closest hospital, and for us that’s Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville,” Brian Langston, corporate director of patient logistics for Cape Fear Valley Health, says in a news release. “We believe it brings transport solutions or connectivity from our community hospital here in Elizabethtown to tertiary areas across the state and allows rapid transport to those patients and services that are not locally available.” The Airbus H-135 will be staffed by a nurse, a paramedic and a pilot 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, according to the release from Cape Fear Valley Health. “We’ll be able to transport trauma patients to the trauma center, and I’m excited about adding the providers, the services and expanding the department,” Toby Carter, program director for LifeLink Air and Specialty Care, says in the release. “Anytime we’re able to treat more patients and expand the services to better take care of our community partners, that’s a good thing and great to be part of.”
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-961.
