M.J. “Red” Bird served as a coach and athletic director from 1944 to 1950. A native of Chelsea, Mass., Bird was a Duke graduate who taught and coached in Rock Ridge and Elm City before he and his wife, the former Mary Bell of Mt. Olive, moved to Wilson to operate Em-Jay Sporting Goods, a business which celebrates its 50th anniversary next year. They had one daughter, the late Mary Bird, who was an AC graduate (class of 1969). Although Bird served AC five years as a coach and two as AD, his work was mostly done on a volunteer basis, a contribution which made him a central figure in the memorable era of AC athletics which followed World War II.