Alumni from as far back as the class of 1947 are looking forward to the Massey Hill High School 100th Year Celebration, which is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 25 at Massey Hill Classical High School on Southern Avenue, according to organizers. The celebration includes a history of the school from retired Fayetteville city historian Bruce Daws, music from current students and remarks from previous and current school principals. The day will include the announcement of Massey Hill High Hall of Fame recipients.
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Speaking of old “Pirates” who have left indelible footprints on Massey Hill Classical High School, the school gymnasium along Southern Avenue will be renamed Ronnie Luck Gymnasium in honor of the retired Cumberland County Schools teacher and coach, according to a news release. “Through his work in classrooms, on athletic fields and beyond, he has helped shape a culture of excellence, perseverance and compassion,” said Principal Catherine Abraham-Johnson, who nominated Luck for the honor, which was approved by the Cumberland County Schools board of education. A 1966 graduate of MHHS, Luck often returned to his alma mater to teach, coach and mentor students. Once a Massey Hill High pirate, forever a Massey Hill High pirate.
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“There’s no script for this,” said E.E. Smith Principal Larry Parker, according to a CityView report, about how students, teachers and administrators are trying to cope with the deaths of students Nicholas Williams, Trevor Merritt and Jai’hyon Elliott, all victims of an Oct. 8 single-vehicle crash on Rosehill Road. “We take it one day at a time, one hour at a time, trying to figure out how to navigate this.” Students at the school always can count on Larry Parker to be there for them. Parker is an educator with a compassionate heart for his students.
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Amanda Smith will moderate a municipal candidate forum held by the Fayetteville branch of the NCAAP, scheduled from 2 p.m.-5 p.m. Saturday at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, 400 Campbell Ave., according to Jimmy Buxton Jr., the branch president. City residents can hear from Fayetteville mayoral candidates Mitch Colvin and Kathy Keefe Jensen and Fayetteville City Council candidates Stephon Ferguson and James L. Thomas III in District 1; Malik Davis and Gail Morfesis in District 2; Antonio Jones and Jeremy Wright in District 3; D.J. Haire and Stuart Collick in District 4; Derrick Thompson and Kenneth E. Odegard II in District 6; Brenda McNair and Kathy Greggs in District 7; Rodney E. Garvin and Shaun McMillan in District 8; and Joe McGee and Deno Hondros in District 9.
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In what has become an ugly election season of finger-pointing, infighting and veiled threats in Fayetteville City Council races by some political surrogates, it’s refreshing to see the District 9 competition between two-term councilman Deno Hondros and challenger Joe McGee, two candidates who hold a mutual respect for one another. “I’m not running against Councilman Hondros,” McGee said Tuesday at the Greater Fayetteville Chamber Candidates Forum at Fayetteville Technical Community College, “I’m running for the people of District 9.” And Hondros said as much about McGee and District 9 residents.
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Despite a fifth-place finish in the Oct. 7 mayoral primary, Efrain “Freddie’ de la Cruz says he still is campaigning for the Fayetteville mayor’s gavel as a write-in candidate heading toward the Nov. 4 general election. “I’m not a quitter,” de la Cruz said Thursday. “A lot of people are not happy with Mitch or Kathy,” de la Cruz said about Mitch Colvin, the four-term mayor who led the primary with unofficial 6,754 votes or 47.61%, while Jensen, the mayor pro tem, was runner-up with 2,569 unofficial votes or 18.11%, according to the Cumberland County Board of Elections. De la Cruz had 945 unofficial votes or 6.66%. The retired soldier says he is counting on the more than 12,000 votes he received in his failed bid for the N.C. House District 44 race in 2024 to buoy his write-in campaign. “You lose when you quit.”
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“Good analysis,” Bob Cogswell, the former Fayetteville city attorney, writes in an email about my Oct. 10 column of the Fayetteville City Council mayoral and District 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9 races, where an unofficial 14,200 ballots or 11% were cast in the Oct. 7 primary out of 131,465 active and inactive registered voters, according to the Cumberland County Board of Elections. “But same old, same old low voter turnout.” No argument here.
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“We had a lot of people, and a lot of them came early,” Joy Cannady, the club president, says about Thursday’s 54th Annual Gray’s Creek Woman’s Club Buffet and Bazaar held at the Gray’s Creek Community Building in Hope Mills. “We had more than 300 people and we had lots of politicking going on, too. It was a good day.”
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“I’m honored to serve on the Joint Appearance Commission,” Kennon Jackson Jr. says in a news release about his appointment to the City and County Appearance Commission. “Our public realm—streetscapes, gateways, civic sites and neighborhood corridors—tells a story about who we are. I look forward to collaborating with partners across the city and county to elevate design standards, support thoughtful placemaking and connect beautification with arts-driven economic vitality.” Jackson is chief of staff for the Arts Council of Fayetteville-Cumberland County, and the City and County Appearance Commission will be all the better because of Kennon Jackson Jr.
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‘Tis the season for church homecomings, and there’s a significant one at Galatia Presbyterian Church on Oct. 26 in west Fayetteville. “We are excited to be celebrating our 200th year at Galatia,” says Deborah Dawson, who is clerk of the session. “We will have a ‘Kirkin of the Tartans’ with our worship this year. We have invited our past members, friends and family, and are looking forward to a wonderful day of worship and fellowship.” Worship is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the church at 8800 Galatia Church Road.
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
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