The fourth Health & Wellness Expo sponsored by the Wake Weekly family of community newspapers will be held from 1 to 7 p.m. at the Factory on Thursday, April 10, at The Factory, 1839 South Main Street in Wake Forest. The free event features 50-plus area business catering to family wellness, including physical therapy, eye care, chiropractors, massage therapy and senior care, among others. The Rex Mammogram bus will be there to screen pre-qualified women from 10:30 a.m to 2:30 p.m. Meet the doctors, win items through raffles and watch demonstrations, plus sample food from area restaurants. For more information, visit wakeweekly.com.  

Dr. Michael L. Walden will be the speaker Wednesday, April 16, when the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce hosts its annual Economic Development Forum at Wake Forest Presbyterian Church. The forum, which runs from 8 to 9:30 a.m. is sponsored by Wake Electric and ElectriCities. Tickets are $20 for chamber members and nonmembers. Register at www.wakeforestchamber.org. Breakfast will be provided by The Olde English Tea Room. The chamber presents the forum to inform Wake Forest area residents about the latest data and forecasts for the local economy. Walden is a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor and Extension Economist in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at North Carolina State University. Dr. Walden has teaching, research, and extension responsibilities at NCSU in the areas of consumer economics, economic outlook, and public policy.  He has published eight books and over 250 articles and reports. He has served on several local and

Not your grandmother’s peonies Itoh peonies are a relatively new introduction to the peony world. The original hybrid between the herbaceous peony and the tree peony was created by Mr. Toichi Itoh of Japan in 1948. Louis Smirnow, an American horticulturist, introduced four Itoh hybrids to the United States in the late 1960s. Later hybrids are properly referred to as intersectionals, but all hybrids are usually called Itohs, after their originator. The early Itohs often sold for a thousand dollars each or more, limiting them to well-to-do collectors. Now they have become more generally available at a price in the reach of many gardeners. Itoh peonies take the best features of each parent. They are vigorous, compact and easily cared for like herbaceous peonies and have the sturdy structure, beautiful foliage and incredible flowers of the tree peony. They require no staking and bloom twice as long as an herbaceous

Northern Wake Relay For Life team captains will meet Tuesday, April 15, at 7:30 p.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 830 Durham Road. The public is invited to join the fight against cancer and learn more about the American Cancer Society’s efforts to find cures while supporting cancer survivors. Runners of all ages are invited to lace up and party down at the first Marga-Relay-Ville 5k on Saturday, May 17, at Heritage High School in Wake Forest. The charity run is in conjunction with the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life that weekend at the school. Registration for the timed 5k is a $25 donation to the fight against cancer. Sign up at www.NorthernWakeRelay.org and look for Relay 5k, or contact Melissa Kobelinski at melissa.kobelinski@cancer.org or 919-334-5228. Wheelchairs, wagons, strollers and walkers are also invited to take part (but no pets or bicycles). Vendor booths are available for $25 and commemorative race shirts are $15 each. Every

One of Wake Forest’s favorite events, HerbFest will return to Festival Park at 525 South White Street for two consecutive weekends, April 19 through 21 and April 26 through 28. There will be organic herbs, heritage tomatoes, heirloom vegetable plants and locally grown perennials for sale along with live entertainment and fun activities for everyone.

Just in time for Easter, award-winning food writer Debbie Moose will be at the Wake Forest Farmers Market Saturday, April 12, with samples of her tasty deviled eggs and recipe books that will help you create your own. She will be in a booth from 9:30 a.m. to noon. The market, however, gets underway at 8 a.m. these days and lasts until noon each Saturday, with better weather bringing out more market vendors and shoppers. This week too the Wake County Master Gardeners will be in a booth offering advice about plants, soil and all things gardening. Some of the farmers and vendors you will find Saturday in the parking lot along North White Street behind CVS are:                Brogden’s Produce — spinach, lettuce, small broccoli heads and sweet potatoes. Cultured Cow Creamery – cow’s milk cheese (raw, pasteurized, smoked, curds) Edna Lee’s Farm and Bakery – cookies, pastries, cakes, bread, fig trees, bedding plants

Recently Jim Robertson, president of Wake Forest Rotary, presented a $7,250 check to Wake Forest High Band Booster President Cheryl Vann and Drum Major Zachary Lorenzo. Jackie Barnes, past president, and Rachel Prather, president for 2015-2016, were also on hand. Robertson also sent along this description of the fourth annual Comedy Night which raised the money. The new Wake Forest Renaissance Center had its christening event on March 8t when the combined forces of the Wake forest Rotary Club and the Wake Forest Senior High School Band Boosters presented the Fourth Annual Comedy Night! The facility showed off its new sparkling look. Over 340 attendees had a delightful evening of music and mirth. The WFHS Jazz band entertained to the delight of all. The evening was emceed by Greg Fishel, WRAL Weatherman extraordinaire; he was very punny. We found out that he was also a band member in high school

The new expanded Meet in the Street festival planned for Saturday, May 3, now stretches along three downtown streets, and that means more people are needed to man different posts and keep the fun going all day long. Meet in the Street is sponsored by the Wake Forest Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Wake Forest is expected to draw at least 15,000 people to shop, enjoy the music and fun from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Volunteers are needed on two-hour shifts from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., and there are also opportunities to volunteer on Friday, May 2, for the early preparations. To volunteer, please contact Deborah Gonzales at wfmeetinthestreet@gmail.com later than Wednesday, April 9. There will be training for the volunteers in late April. On the Saturday, visitors and town residents will find food trucks, the Carolina Hurricanes Storm Squad with Stormy, a children’s carnival, a beer garden,

If you like yard sales and swap meets, plan now to shop or sell at the Wake Forest Bazaar when it opens for the first time on Saturday, May 10, at Festival Park on South White Street. The hours will be 8 a.m. to noon, and plans are to hold it every second and fourth Saturday through the summer. Beth Jarvah with The Cotton Company laid out the format and rules recently. “Anyone can rent a booth space and sell whatever they want. Crafters, antiques, yard sale – anything. “There will be an onsite staff member on hand to sell walk-in spaces and to rent tables. The basic fee is just an empty plot in the field and you bring your own everything, tables chairs, etc., unless you want to rent them from us.   “All sales are to be handled by the individual seller in a yard-sale type of set

The Downtown Revitalization Corporation is sponsoring a free Classic and Antique Charity Car Show on Saturday, June 14, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Presented for the benefit of several area charities, including Wounded Warriors of Wake County, Hospice of Wake County and the Miracle League of the Triangle, this family-friendly event will be held along South White Street in historic downtown Wake Forest. Sponsored by Chris Leith Dodge/Kia, the exhibit will showcase vehicles of all makes and models, including muscle cars, sports cars, pony cars, classic and antique autos, street rods and trucks. The car show will also feature a ‘Take-Apart-T’ Model T assembly demonstration, the Leith Kia Monster Truck on display, live music, and food and retail vendors.  Admission to the car show is free and open to the public. In the event of rain, the show will be held on Saturday, June 21.  Anyone wishing to enter