Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 22 UCW JANUARY 22-28, 2020 Hope Mills News & Views Meetings For details about all meet ings and act iv it ies, including locat ion where not listed, call Tow n Clerk Jane Starling at 910-426-4113. Most meet ings take place at Tow n Hall or t he Hope Mills Parks and Recre- at ion Center. • Veterans A ffairs Commission, Thursday, Jan. 23, 6 p.m., Parks and Recreat ion Center. • Parks and Recreation Adv isor y Committee, Monday, Jan. 27, 6:30 p.m., Parks and Recreat ion Center. • Appearance Commission, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 6:30 p.m., Parks and Recreat ion Center. • Board of Commissioners, Thursday, Jan. 30, 6 p.m., TBD, prelimi- nar y F Y20-21 budget discussion during dinner in New Bern. • Board of Commissioners, Friday, Jan. 31, 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., New Bern-Craven Count y Convent ion and Visitors Center. The Board w ill attend t he Essent ials of Municipal Government course. The course is presented in par t nership w it h t he Nor t h Carolina Leag ue of Munici- palit ies and t he Universit y of Nor t h Carolina School of Government. • Board of Commissioners, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 7 p.m.-9 p.m., Lut her Board Meet ing Room. • Board of Commissioners, Monday, Feb. 17, 7 p.m.-9 p.m., Lut her Board Meet ing Room. Promote yourself : Email hopemills@upandcomingweekly.com. CALENDAR Hope Mills mourns Peggy Hall by EARL VAUGHAN JR. NEWS Friends and professional acquaintances of the late Peggy Hall mourned the death of the former Cumberland County Board of Education member and praised her as a per- son with deep concern for the students and teachers she worked to serve. Hall, 78, died on Jan. 8. A career voca- tional education teacher with 30 years of experience, she made her first bid to run for the school board when her late husband McKinley "Mackey" Hall, himself a career educator, decided not to seek re-election to the board for health reasons. Dr. Marvin Connelly, superintendent of the Cumberland County Schools, released a statement on the death of Mrs. Hall. "Mrs. Peggy Hall was an extraordinary educator and a dedicated school board member who always put students first,'' he said. "Her many contributions to Cumberland County Schools will never be forgotten. The field of education has lost a great advocate for children and public edu- cation. My thoughts and prayers are with her loved ones during this difficult time.'' Hall was elected to the Board of Education in the November 2016 election to fill the District 6 seat on the board which covers schools in the Hope Mills area of Cumberland County where her late husband Mackey called home. Peggy Hall stepped down from the board last June because of health and personal reasons. Greg West, who currently serves as vice- chairman of the Cumberland County Board of Education, said Mrs. Hall brought 30 years of expe- rience as a vocational education teacher to the board. While her late husband focused most of his ener- gies as a board member in the areas of school facili- ties and athletics, West said Mrs. Hall placed an emphasis on the students in the classroom. "She was always polite and respectful,'' West said. "She and Mackey wanted what was best for Cumberland County. She was a great lady. They are together again.'' Hope Mills Mayor Jackie Warner taught with Mrs. Hall on the faculty at Douglas Byrd High School years ago. The two continued their friendship through the years when Mrs. Hall married Mackey and they lived in a home on South Main Street in Hope Mills, across from the furniture business oper- ated by Warner's husband, Alex. Warner said her relationship with Mrs. Hall goes back 40 years, even before she met and married her husband Alex. "I always had a lot of respect for her,'' Mayor Warner said of Mrs. Hall. "She was always an advo- cate for children. I don't know a harsh word that was ever spoken about her. People that worked with her liked her. She was good with parents and good with kids.'' Hope Mills Board of Commissioners member Pat Edwards got to know Mrs. Hall through her friendship with Mackey Hall. "She was a very delightful person, very caring,'' Edwards said. "She supported everything Mackey did. She was a beautiful person, inside and out. "She loved Hope Mills and she loved the school system. She was proud to live here.'' Edwards said both Mrs. Hall and her late husband Mackey were the kind of people who would do anything for you. Carolyn Thompkins, another long- time friend of Mrs. Hall, also got to know her initially through her friendship with Mackey Hall. "She was an amazing woman, an amazing teacher,'' Thompkins said. "She was like a little bumblebee, all over doing everything, pleasing everybody. She was one of the people I put on a pedestal. She earned the right to be up there.'' Thompkins said Mrs. Hall was especially articulate, and had the ability to speak to people of any station in life on their own level. "She could escalate up or down,'' Thompkins said. "She was so empathic, so caring. "She was just a shining star. She's an asset to heaven and a loss to us.'' Susan Dees said she and her late hus- band, former Hope Mills mayor Eddie Dees, would drive to Horry County in South Carolina with Mrs. Hall and her late hus- band Mackey to enjoy the oyster roasts there. "She loved Mackey Hall and grew to love Hope Mills,'' Dees said. "She enjoyed being on the school board. She had a passion for children and the schools.'' Margaret Ledford, wife of the late Randy Ledford, longtime football and baseball coach at South View High School, knew Mrs. Hall through her relationship with Mackey Hall when he was assistant principal and athletic director at South View High School. "She'd call me once in awhile and we'd talk on the phone,'' Ledford said. "She was so easy to talk to, friendly and caring. She was a very sweet lady.'' EARL VAUGHAN JR., Senior Staff Writer. COMMENTS? EarlUCWS- ports@gmail.com. 910-364-6638. Peggy Hall was a Cumberland County Board of Education member.