By Staff
City’s native sonis president of Wilson museum
By CLAUD HODGES, Senior Reporter
The City of Washington has several ties to the North Carolina Baseball Museum in Wilson.
Gibbs is a native of Washington and graduated from Washington High School in 1966. For most of his life he has been a banker. Now, he is in a planning group that helps businesses with benefit packages for their employees.
Gibbs’ father is Milo L. Gibbs of Washington, who is originally from Bath. His mother was Nell Gibbs, who is now deceased, and who was originally from Maury. His stepmother is Barbara Gibbs.
Since the idea of the museum began circulating among people in Wilson in 2000, Gibbs has been treasurer of the project. Two months ago, he jumped from treasurer to president.
Private individuals gave $200,000 to build the museum and the City of Wilson gave $100,000. Leonard Turnage donated $50,000 to the project.
Since the museum opened in January 2004, it has had over 25,000 visitors.
When a donation is made to the museum, the contributor can have an inscribed brick and it will be placed in the ground amid a sea of bricks already carrying a memorial message from other contributors.
On one of the memorial bricks, Gibbs had inscribed, “A great at bat-Mike and Dee.” Dee is what Gibbs called his grandfather, who loved baseball, and who would play baseball with Gibbs whenever he could.
On the museum’s Walk of Fame, the first memorial brick, the one at the front door of the museum, is in memory of the late Washington Daily News Editor and Publisher Ashley B. Futrell, who played baseball in Wilson. His love, Duke University, is inscribed on the brick.
Not long after Futrell died, Gibbs said the museum had a banquet where Futrell was honored and where his wife, Rachel, and their son, Ashley B. “Brownie” Futrell Jr., were special guests.
The late Futrell was a Washingtonian and Rachel and Brownie live in Washington.
Another Washington connection with the museum is Sandra Homes, executive director of the Wilson Visitors Bureau. She is married to Garland “Gary” Homes, originally of Washington.
The museum is open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets for adults are $3 and $1 for children.
The museum is at Wilson’s historic Fleming Field on Stadium St.