Natalie Fryer recently was sworn in as president of the National Association of Home Builders Executive Officers Council at the International Builders Show on Feb. 28 in Las Vegas. “Leadership is all about service,” Fryer, 48, said after taking her oath. “It's not about a fancy title or special privileges. It's about rolling up our sleeves and getting things done together. True leadership is lifting others up and not just climbing the ladder ourselves.” Fryer has been executive officer of the Home Builders Association of Fayetteville, circa 1963, for the past 18 years, and those who know her will tell you the NAHB has a sound leader in Natalie Fryer.
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Laura Smith has been appointed Emergency Management Coordinator for the city. “I am excited and honored to join the team here at the City of Fayetteville,” Smith says in a news release. “I take great pride in working alongside the professionals in the Fayetteville Fire Department.” Smith is a Fayetteville native and comes from a family of first responders. “We know Laura is the right person for this position and we are eager to put a seasoned professional in the driver’s seat as hurricane season is only a few short months away,” says Chief Kevin Dove of the Fayetteville Fire Department. Smith, the release says, holds a bachelor’s degree from Western Carolina University in Emergency and Disaster Management and currently is pursuing a master’s in public administration through Clemson University.
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“The Dogwood Festival is part of our heritage,” Kathy Keefe Jensen, the mayor pro tem, told Sarahgrace Snipes Mitchell, then executive director of the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival, on June 6, 2022, when Mitchell was pleading for financial assistance from the City Council to support the festival. “A part of what we do,” Jensen said. The festival, now in its 42nd year on April 26-28, received $15,000 from the council that night. Meanwhile, the city says it has allocated $110,000 for Juneteenth in June and allocated $165,000 last year for the Night Circus celebration on New Year’s Eve.
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A clarification from last week's column: Jackie Tuckey says she never was part of a phone conversation involving downtown businessman John Malzone and Mayor Mitch Colvin about financial concerns for this year’s 42nd annual Fayetteville Dogwood Festival. The festival is headed by Tuckey in the absence of former festival executive director Sarahgrace Snipes Mitchell. True, Malzone says, but Malzone says he did speak personally with Tuckey, as well as City Manager Doug Hewett, urging the city to consider developing a Public Events Department for all festival-like activities downtown. “I have never questioned Jackie’s sincerity and desire to make it work,” he says about Tuckey, a longtime festival board member.
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You can be a part of a “BIG IDEAS” forum to interact with others in the community about future development and revitalization of downtown Fayetteville. “We believe that the future of downtown Fayetteville should be shaped by the voices and ideas of the community," Bianca Shoneman, president and chief executive officer of the Cool Spring Downtown District, says in a news release. “This forum presents a unique opportunity for individuals from all walks of life to come together, dream big and collaboratively envision a vibrant and sustainable downtown that reflects our collective values and aspirations.” The forum is scheduled from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on April 3 at the Arts Council of Fayetteville-Cumberland County, 301 Hay St. Visit here to register. Or call (910) 223-1089 for more information.
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There’s an antidote for spring pollen: rain.
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“He is very transparent and he’s accessible, too,” Kathy Greggs, chief executive officer for the Fayetteville Police Accountability Community Task Force told the City Council on Monday before presenting Fayetteville Police Chief Kemberle Braden with plaques for his FPD leadership. “I am very grateful that he holds himself accountable, as well as his police officers.” Joining Greggs in the presentation was Chilkeo Hurst, president of Fayetteville PACT, and Mario Hardy.
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The Sue Parker Byrd Endowment for Fayetteville Operation Area Operation Inasmuch has received an Ashton W. Lilly Fund for Philanthropy endowment matching grant of the Cumberland Community Foundation, according to the CCF newsletter, with all gifts to the fund matched up to $50,000. The Byrd endowment was created in 2022 in honor of Sue Parker Byrd, who was founder of the downtown benevolence in support of the homeless. The Byrd endowment is to support the OIAM breakfast program. To give toward the endowment, visit www.cumberlandcf.org or call (910) 483-4449. You could not honor a more deserving humanitarian than Sue Parker Byrd.
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“Bill, as usual, you captured the 1957 Tar Heels and Joe Quigg’s championship moments perfectly,” Tom English Jr. writes in an email about the Kirby File's March 26 column of Quigg’s two winning free throws with six seconds remaining in the third overtime that would lead North Carolina to a, 54-53, victory over Kansas for the National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball title and a 32-0 season. “I enjoyed reading it, not only because it was another gem for you as a columnist but also because it made me feel like I was there. Great job for one of my stars at The Fayetteville Times!” No greater compliment than from Tom English Jr., our managing editor at the Times morning newspaper, circa July 2, 1973, who was the journalist behind so many journalism careers, and certainly the managing editor behind mine.
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You’ll find those good fellows from the Exchange Club of Greater Fayetteville staging their annual barbecue fundraiser from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on April 5 at 2900 Village Drive, adjacent to the Masonic Lodge. “Proceeds from this fundraiser go toward our D.N. Geddie Scholarship fund, which helps two Cumberland County high school students with a scholarship of $2,000 for four years, as long as they remain in school,” says Pat Spears, a longtime club member. “We have also donated to Guardian ad Litum, the Child Advocacy Center, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Cumberland County, Fayetteville Urban Ministry, Falcon Children's Home and Fayetteville Area Operation Inasmuch.” Plates are $10 each and include barbecue, potato salad, coleslaw and roll. It’s take-out with a drive-thru. For advance tickets, contact any Exchange Club member or send email inquiries to Spears at rps7645@gmail.com or to Art Hooker at Art.Hooker@raymondjames.com. The barbecue plates are good and the fellowship, too.
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“She epitomized the heritage of Terry Sanford High School in tradition, pride and spirit,” Donna Vann says about her late mother, Nancy H. Blackmon, a teacher and administrator at the Cumberland County school. Vann will honor her mother again on April 27 by hosting the 3rd Annual NHB Legacy Scholarship golf tournament scheduled for King’s Grant Golf Club. “Our goal is to raise $25,000 to endow this scholarship” with a scholarship awarded each year to a Fayetteville Terry Sanford graduating senior, who is a child or grandchild of an FTS alumnus.” Entry fee is $80 per golfer or $300 per four-golfer team. Nancy Hedrick Blackmon died at age 79 on Nov. 4, 2010. For more information, send email inquiries to nhbscholarshiip@gmail.com or visit here.
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Breaks my heart to close on this sorrowful news that Gary Wilson, 78, lost his battle with cancer on Thursday morning at his Fayetteville home. Not only my heart, but the hearts of longtime friends Richard Alligood, Bill Vurnakes, Wayne Byrd, Jimmy Byrd, Jack McGinley, Julia Strain and Sandy Hurley. He was one of the good guys, who was a part of the fabric of this community. He’s with his late wife; the grandmother who raised him along Rock Avenue; and Jerry Wilson, the identical twin brother Gary Wilson so dearly loved for all the days of Gary Wilson’s life.
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Next: “Lessons from the Empty Tomb”
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
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