Shops and studios will be open late in downtown Wake Forest for the monthly Art After Hours. There will be special entertainment and receptions for featured artists. Maureen Seltzer is inviting everyone to The Artist Loft upstairs over Wake Forest Coffee Company. “Our guest artists will be our own house artists as we will have a members’ show. We all have many new works. “We will be serenaded by Steve Granger of Apex who will treat us to his wonderful guitar and vocals with a blend of jazz, blues and acoustic folk rock.” The Cotton Company will host jeweler Leigh Griffin, who used to be a painter and photographer. Those skills influence her work as a jeweler today for she focuses on color and shape and often uses natural objects to create a wearable piece. Accompanying Griffin will be Pat Tyler, a local acoustic musician who loves to cover ‘70s

The African Children’s Choir, which has performed for Queen Elizabeth II and sung alongside Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Keith Urban, Michael W. Smith and other performers, will be in Wake Forest for a one-night performance on Wednesday, March 25, at Friendship Chapel Baptist Church beginning at 7 p.m. The audience will be charmed by the children’s smiles, beautiful voices and lively African songs and dances. The program will feature children’s songs, traditional spirituals and gospel favorites. The concert is free and open to all, but there will be a free-will offering taken to support the choir’s programs, which include education, care and relief and development programs. Music for Life is the parent organization for the African Children’s Choir, and it works in seven African countries – Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa – where it has educated over 52,000 children and impacted the lives of more than

The semi-annual rabies and microchip clinic offered by the Wake County Animal Center will take place Saturday, March 28, from 1 to 4 p.m. in the parking lot of the Northern Regional Center on East Holding Avenue. Rabies shots will be $5 and microchips will be $10; cash only. The event will be held rain or shine. Please bring proof of prior vaccination, if applicable. All dogs must be on a leash and all cats must be in carriers. For questions, call the Wake County Animal Center at 919-212-7387.  

The man called Nature’s Champion, Dr. B.W. Wells, spent his retirement years with his wife on an old farm he renamed Rockcliff Farm perched above Zeagle’s Rock on a bend in the Neuse River, and thanks to his students, friends and those who admire him, the farm remains an oasis even today. Once a year the B.W. Wells Association opens the gates and invites families and individuals to spend the day learning about 19th Century farming techniques and hiking through the several trails. This year Heritage Day will be held Saturday, March 28, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be guided hikes about geology, ecology, wild flowers, Capital Trees and birding. Children will learn how to build a baseball or a kite. The farm is at 1620 Bent Road. Take N.C. 98 to Stony Hill Road, go north on Stony Hill until you reach Stony Hill Baptist Church

The public is invited to attend the 3rd Wake Forest Memorial Flag-Raising Ceremony on Monday, April 6, at 11 a.m. The service will be held in Centennial Plaza, in front of the Wake Forest Town Hall on Brooks Street to honor Roger “Marvin” Hockaday who served his nation in the U.S. Army during World War I. Members of Hockaday’s family have been invited to participate in the ceremony which will include patriotic songs, special remarks, a memorial wreath laying and the ceremonial flag-raising by members of the Wake Forest High School JROTC. After raising the American flag, the JROTC will raise the U.S. Army service flag in recognition of the military branch in which Hockaday served. Both flags will fly in Centennial Plaza throughout April. Photographs and other remembrances of Hockaday will be displayed in Centennial Plaza during the ceremony, then in the town hall lobby through the end of