Kaylynn Suarez said she is pleased by the turnout of the 3-day Fayetteville Dogwood Festival last weekend and all the more pleased that the Fayetteville City Council voted Monday to award the festival a $75,000 grant to support the city’s signature event.
“Now, we look ahead with excitement,” Suarez, the festival’s executive director, said in a news release. “The 45th Annual Fayetteville Dogwood Festival will take place April 23–25, 2027, in the heart of downtown Fayetteville. We invite you to join us for a true hometown celebration… one that reflects the resilience, pride and spirit of this community. We can’t wait to welcome you back.”
The council approved the funds in a 7-2 vote. Voting for the grant were Mayor Mitch Colvin, Mayor Pro Tem Derrick Thompson, and Councilmembers Malik Davis, Lynne Greene, Shaun McMillan, Brenda McNair, and Anthony Jones. Councilmembers Deno Hondros and Stephon Ferguson voted against it. I would have voted to give the festival $100,000. It’s the city’s marquee event.
Methodist University President Stanley Wearden had some sound advice for the more than 300 graduates at the spring commencement held Saturday at the Crown Coliseum. “Your education has prepared you for a lifetime of learning and reflection,” Wearden said. “We want you to have rewarding careers, but we want more. Go out into the world and make it better. We’re counting on you.” The ceremony, according to the school, marked a milestone for students who earned associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees.
Fayetteville native and retired professional golfer Chip Beck, 69, is scheduled to take his place today in the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. The ceremonies are scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Sheraton at Four Seasons Convention Center in Greensboro. Beck played the Professional Golfers Association Tour from 1978 until the 1990s, winning four times, earning the 1988 Vardon Trophy for low-stroke average, and being selected to compete on three U.S. Ryder Cup teams in 1989, 1991, and 1993. Beck flirted with two of the sport’s major titles by twice finishing second in the U.S. Open (1986 and 1989) and the 1993 Masters.
Six performances are on tap for the 2026-27 Cape Fear Regional Theatre (CFRT) season. “We kick things off with Bright Star, a North Carolina tale with music by the one and only Steve Martin and Edie Brickell,” Mary Kate Burke, the CFRT artistic director, said Wednesday about the season-opener in September. “October will feature a special event or two, with the title to be announced soon. We round out the calendar year with the 35th annual production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, featuring four casts of 40-plus youth from our community. We are letting go of 2026 and jumping into the new year with the smash Disney hit Frozen: The Musical (January and February). Robert W. Schneider, who directed 9 to 5, returns to direct our first show back at 1209 Hay. Following our family-friendly slot is the one-man show One Man, Two Guvnors (April), starring our very own education director Marc de la Concha. Rounding out our 2026/2027 season is Big Fish (May), “which I am thrilled to direct alongside my frequent collaborator, Emmy Award winner Tyce Diorio.” Burke said it will be a season to remember.
A topping off ceremony for the final beam of the Cape Fear Regional Theatre, which was scheduled for Wednesday at 1209 Hay St., has been rescheduled for May 14 because of inclement weather. “It’s going to rain, so we can’t move steel, and it’s a safety issue,” Burke said. “And safety is a top priority for SAMET (the construction builder) and CFRT. It’s not a delay to the active construction schedule. It’s just moving the celebration to a day that hopefully doesn’t have rain with possible thunder, lightning, and hail.” Guests may sign the beam from 3:30 p.m.–4:15 p.m. The beam is scheduled to be placed at 4:45 p.m. as the theatre moves toward completion of the $23 million to $25 million renovation project by year’s end. The theater broke ground on the expansion in April 2025.
A 40-year-old man is the victim of a fatal shooting after the Fayetteville Police Department responded to a reported shooting at approximately 2:44 a.m. on April 25 along the 600 block of Berwick Drive near the Montclair subdivision. Four days later, police said, a 63-year-old woman was the victim of multiple stab wounds at a residence on the 1000 block of Abrams Street in north Fayetteville. A 53-year-old man has been arrested and charged with her murder. The deaths are, according to Fayetteville police, the 12th and 13th city homicides of 2026.
If you are looking for the personification of a Southern gentleman, look no further than Fayetteville resident Bob Exum. A Southern gentleman if ever there was a Southern gentleman. And a loving and devoted husband, if ever there was one, to his wife Genny Lou, too.
“I don’t always get to read your articles but when I do, I thoroughly enjoy them,” Allene Horne with First Baptist Church wrote in an email about my April 26 column on Katie, aka Turdopholus, the neighborhood cat who brought such joy to those of us who came to know her sweet ways. “I know you miss your neighbor Katie. What a beautiful story.”
“Bill, loved your story about Turdopholus!” Rev. Ben West wrote in an email about the little gray cat.
“Hey Bill, I just read the article online and it was beautiful,” Diane Tope, who, with her husband, Scott, owned Katie. “Thank you so much for memorializing her in such a beautiful way. She surely is missed.”
“Bill, your column about Katie was beautiful,” Beth Hutson, news editor and lead editor at The Fayetteville Observer, wrote in an email. “That tiny little soul ruled Arlington Avenue, and her life was deserving of your touching tribute. Phillip and I were so upset to learn she died. We both loved her. She was our cat Mark’s mom, and we always called her Baby Mama Kitty.” You are right, Beth, that sweet little feline ruled the neighborhood and was the mayoress of Arlington Avenue. Beth Hutson once was my other next-door neighbor.
Kudos to Garret Fulcher, owner of Carolina Power and Signalization on Middle River Loop in Fayetteville, for providing Fayetteville Technical Community College new equipment for students enrolled in the school’s electrical lineworker program. “As a local hometown utility contractor serving utilities nationwide, we at Carolina Power and Signalization recognize the growing demand for skilled line workers across the country,” Fulcher said in a news release.
“Supporting the next generation starts right here at home. Providing essential equipment including the bucket truck, the digger derrick and a pole trailer shows we’re investing directly in the hands-on training that makes this program so effective. We believe in FTCC’s curriculum, its leadership and its ability to produce highly capable apprentice line workers. This contribution helps ensure students gain real-world experience on the same equipment they’ll encounter in the field, strengthening both their readiness and the future of our industry,” he added. The contribution comes at a pivotal time, according to the school. The bucket truck previously used for student training had become inoperable, creating an issue with hands-on instruction.
Coming Sunday: Judy Dawkins: Living every day with a purpose.
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
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