17th Annual Mountain State Coal Classic

Basketball legend Larry Bird was a guest of the Friends of Coal recently at the opening dinner for the Coal Classic Basketball Tournament at the Raleigh County Armory in Beckley. Bird is considered by many people as one of the 10 best-ever National Basketball Association players. He is now an executive with the Indiana Pacers. Bird spent hours signing autographs. He also spoke to an enthralled crowd of about 3,000 people. Bird surprised the audience by spending almost an hour hosting a question-and-answer session.