Signature and Stage Door donors will be on hand from 3:30–4:15 p.m. on Wednesday to sign the final beam for reconstruction of the Cape Fear Regional Theatre at 1209 Hay St. in Haymount. The steel beam, according to a news release, will 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.
The Cumberland County Department of Social Services is doing its part to support National Child Abuse Prevention Month in April by staging its annual “Child Abuse Prevention Walk,” which is scheduled for Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the Cumberland County Headquarters Library at 300 Maiden Lane downtown. CCDSS staff members will be wearing royal blue in the walk throughout downtown, according to a news release. All are welcome to be on hand in support of the walk and National Child Abuse Prevention Month. To report suspected child abuse or neglect, call 910-677-2450 or visit in person at the CCDSS building at 1225 Ramsey St.
Supplemental health insurance is expensive, and mine just increased $69.50 per month, or almost 27%. Like a physician told me years ago, health care isn’t so much about health these days. Health care is a business, and he said it right.
If you are looking for a quick lunch or dinner, consider the 42nd annual “Crime Stoppers BBQ Benefit,” which is scheduled from 10 a.m.–6 p.m. today in front of Lori’s Ace Hardware at Highland Centre, 2800 Raeford Road. Plates include barbecue pork, potato salad, coleslaw, and a dinner roll for $10. Proceeds benefit the nonprofit Fayetteville-Cumberland County Crimestoppers to fund anonymous crime tips. You will not be disappointed with your lunch or dinner.
Greg West is the longtime member of the Cumberland County Board of Education and now running as a Republican candidate for a County Commissioners seat this fall. He’s not politically campaigning this week, but instead wants folks to know about an event at Snyder Memorial Baptist Church. On Sunday from 4:30–6 p.m., the 50-voice sanctuary choir, the 40-voice youth choir, and 30-piece orchestra will celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary with a “God & Country” spring concert.
“I feel compelled to invite as many folks as possible,” West said. “One video playing during one of the ‘Saving Private Ryan’ songs shows all of the European military cemeteries with the grave count totals. It is very powerful. Can you please share this email to whomever you think appropriate as an invitation from me and our church to attend this Sunday. However you personally or CityView can help would be appreciated. It’s a powerful message,” West said, “to beautiful music.”
Betty Howie’s 99-year-old fingers are as nimble as ever, and the Fayetteville-Cumberland County Performing Arts hall-of-famer will present another concert for her fellow residents at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at The Carolina Inn. The 1940s theme concert, which Howie is dedicating to the late Helen Leggett, will feature Elaine Bryant Hayes, her daughter Beth Bryant Birch, and her granddaughter Grayson Birch singing the Andrews Sisters’ “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree.” Other singers will include Mark Rice and his daughter Emma Bentham, Tony Hirtz, Brionna Autry, Zack Tart, and Rev. Wayne Tate of Manna Church. “She would be so pleased,” Kim Leggett Geer said about Howie remembering her mother. “Music was her life.” Helen Leggett died at age 94 on January 21.
Orion Olive Gaynos was the kid who loved diving hard into the swimming pool at the old Green Valley Country Club in the mid 1960s and grew up with an energetic personality, which would be her way for all of her life. She lived life to the fullest and followed in her late father’s and mother’s dedication to Highland Presbyterian Church. To say she never met a stranger would be an understatement. She was one of a kind, if ever there was. Florence Orion Olive Gaynos died at age 71 on March 18. A service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at Highland Presbyterian Church. For those of us who knew her, she was just Orion, and our days were brighter when Orion came our way.
Larry Strother was that good Seventy-First High School graduate out of the class of 1964, and who served as a Marine in Vietnam from 1965-1970 before embarking on a real estate career with his ERA Strother Real Estate business in Fayetteville. He always was there for others who were down-and-out, whether in business or their personal life. He enjoyed life at North Topsail Beach with his wife and goldendoodle Dixie Rae. Larry Strother was a good man. Larry Wayne Strother died at age 79 at his home. A Celebration of Life is scheduled for 11 a.m. on May 2 at Snead’s Ferry Presbyterian Church, 776 N.C. 210, Snead’s Ferry.
“Bill, I hope you know that I always enjoy your writing, and I think you have a practiced way of weaving the details to tell a good story,” Rev. Chip Stapleton, senior pastor at Highland Presbyterian Church, writes about my April 19 column about the Fayetteville Friendship House. On April 15, it christened two cottages on Broadfoot Avenue and Branson Street for four young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to call home for more independent living. “But the article about the Friendship cottages was exceptional.” All the credit to Dr. Scott Cameron, who brought the vision for the Friendship House, Employment Service, and those who put others before themselves.
“Denim Day is a reminder that using your voice matters,” Yamile Nazar, director of the Fayetteville-Cumberland Human Relations Department, said in a news release about its annual “Denim Day Luncheon,” which is scheduled from 11 a.m.–1 p.m. on Wednesday at Cape Fear Botanical Garden, 536 N. Eastern Blvd. “Whether it’s speaking up, supporting survivors or challenging harmful attitudes, we all have a role in standing together and making it clear there is never a reason or excuse for sexual violence.” Those attending are requested to wear denim in support of survivors and victims of sexual violence.
Coming Sunday: Green eyes, a curiosity, an innocence … and she loved me.
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
We’re nearing our fourth year of CityView Today, and so many of you have been with us from day one in our efforts to bring the news of the city, county, community and Cape Fear region each day. We’re here with a purpose to deliver the news that matters to you.
