The Wake Forest Reservoir next to the water treatment plant on the north side of Wait Avenue has always been a low-key, little-remarked recreation area. That is about to change with improvements the town is planning. You can hear about those changes and offer your opinions on the first phase during a meeting Wednesday, July 29, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the ground floor meeting room at Wake Forest Town Hall. You can drop in any time during those hours. The easiest way to get to the room is from Taylor Street. Town staff has drawn up plans for a paved driveway, parking spaces, connections to the greenway trails leading to Traditions Grande Boulevard and the pedestrian culvert under Wait Avenue (N.C. 98), repairs to the board ramp along with a new dock and a new bridge connecting to the soft trail that will circle the reservoir. The City

Area residents are invited to attend the 7th Wake Forest Memorial Flag-Raising Ceremony on Monday, Aug. 3, at 11 a.m. The service will be held in Centennial Plaza, in front of the Wake Forest Town Hall, 301 S. Brooks St., to honor Wayne Welborn who served his nation in the U.S. Army. Members of Welborn’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. Following the raising of the American flag, the U.S. Army service flag will be raised in recognition of the military branch in which Welborn served. Both flags will fly in Centennial Plaza throughout August. Photographs and other remembrances of Welborn will be displayed in Centennial Plaza during the ceremony, then in the town hall lobby through the end of August. The Aug. 3 ceremony will begin with the retiring of the

The Wake Forest Police Department (WFPD) is encouraging area residents, businesses, neighborhood groups and homeowners associations to show their support for police-community crime prevention partnerships by participating in this year’s National Night Out on Tuesday, Aug. 4. National Night Out (NNO) teams law enforcement agencies with citizens, community leaders, civic groups and local businesses to promote safe, healthy neighborhoods. The NNO observance, always held on the first Tuesday in August, is designed to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness; generate support for, and participation in, local anticrime programs; strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and send a message to criminals letting them know neighborhoods are organized and fighting back. The WFPD is marking this special occasion by hosting a National Night Out “Street Party” from 5 to 7:30 p.m. in town hall’s Centennial Plaza and along Brooks Street in downtown Wake Forest. Town hall is located at 301 S. Brooks

Area Purple Heart Medal recipients and military veterans and their families are invited to the seventh annual Purple Heart Dinner to be held Saturday, Aug. 8, at 5:30 p.m. at Wake Forest Presbyterian Church. Hosted by the Wake Forest Purple Heart Foundation, the dinner invites the public to help honor those wounded in battle. In addition to Purple Heart Medal recipients and their families, the dinner is open to all veterans, military families and the public. The Purple Heart dinner also includes the Walk of Honor, entertainment by the 440th Army Band, patriotic tributes and a catered meal. Last year’s celebration saluted more than 40 Purple Heart recipients. Sgt. Kyle Snyder, who served in Afghanistan with the 514th Military Police Company, will be the keynote speaker. On Oct. 1, 2012, Snyder’s squad was approached by a suicide bomber who detonated his vest, killing three U.S. soldiers and 16 Afghans and

Are you concerned about how the school system will house and educate all those new students in the new subdivisions in Wake Forest and Rolesville? Are you frustrated by the traffic on your way to work or shop? Do you wonder about our water supply and the quality of the water in our streams and rivers? If you answer yes to all or one of these questions, you should join in a community discussion titled Growing Pains that will be held Thursday, Aug. 13, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Wake Forest Town Hall. WakeUP Wake County is hosting the discussion, the fourth of its kind throughout the county. There will be a brief presentation about the new Wake transit plan, the Wake school budget, and Falls Lake, followed by a conversation about the impact of rapid growth on these two Northern Wake communities. Rolesville Mayor Frank Eagles, Wake

The Wake Forest Renaissance Centre for the Arts will host the “Forest of Wake Storytelling Festival” on Saturday, Aug. 15. Featuring four professional storytellers, along with entertaining workshops and concerts for children and adults, the festival will introduce the art of storytelling to the Wake Forest community and celebrate one of humanity’s oldest art forms. Audiences of ages 6 and older are sure to relate to the colorful, humorous and inspirational stories shared by the lineup of storytellers, including Cary’s Alan Hoal, Ron Jones and Pamela Alberda from Durham and Raleigh’s Henry Gogel. Hoal is a highly energetic and animated storyteller who has taken home numerous storytelling awards. He travels throughout the United States telling stories at festivals and retreats as well as at colleges, secondary schools and libraries. He has also shared his talents at church, corporate and civic events. Hoal has a diverse repertoire from the hilarious, to

You can make a difference in our community by applying to fill an opening on the Urban Forestry Board (UFB). Residents of Wake Forest and its extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) are eligible to apply. The UFB was created to oversee Wake Forest’s Urban Forestry Program including the town’s annual Arbor Day observance, Tree Seedling Giveaway and planting events. The UFB also advises the board of commissioners on policies relating to trees and landscape regulations. Completed applications will be accepted until 5 p.m., Wednesday, July 22, and may be mailed or delivered to Town Clerk Deeda Harris, Wake Forest Town Hall, 301 S. Brooks St., Wake Forest, NC 27587, emailed to dharris@wakeforestnc.gov or faxed to 919-435-9419. Applicants will have the opportunity to appear before the UFB on Tuesday, July 28, at 6:30 p.m. The UFB meets each month in the ground floor meeting room at town hall, 301 S. Brooks St. The board of

The Town of Wake Forest and Wake Forest Power are joining forces to help area residents manage their electric costs by hosting a series of free monthly energy fairs. The next scheduled energy fair is Friday, July 24, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Wake Forest Town Hall, 301 S. Brooks St. All area residents are invited to attend and learn simple ways you can make your home more energy efficient and save money on your electric bill. Wake Forest staff will also share useful information about the town’s array of utility payment options, including “Pay as You Go,” and energy saving tools. Wake Forest Power customers will also have the opportunity to schedule a free residential energy audit. A division of the Town of Wake Forest, Wake Forest Power supplies electricity to approximately 5,000 residential and 1,300 commercial customers. A public power community since

The Wake Forest Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources Department will begin accepting 2016 facility rental reservations for selected town facilities on Monday, Aug. 3, according to the following schedule: Reservations for E. Carroll Joyner Park, 701 Harris Road, will be accepted beginning at 8 a.m. in the Wake Forest Town Hall Ground Floor Meeting Room, 301 S. Brooks St. The Ground Floor Meeting Room is most easily accessible through town hall’s Taylor Street entrance. For more information, call 919-435-9560. Reservations for the Alston-Massenburg Center, will be accepted at the Alston-Massenburg Center, 416 N. Taylor St., starting at 8 a.m. For more information, call 919-554-6189. Reservations for the Flaherty Park Community Center, 1226 N. White St., will be held at the Flaherty Park Community Center beginning at 8 a.m. For more information, call 919-554-6726. Reservations for the Wake Forest Community House for the period May 1 – Dec. 31, 2016, will

If you have been a subscriber to The Wake Forest Gazette and now find you are not receiving weekly notices that the new issue is on line, the problem lies in the software for the paper’s email service, Mailchimp. If a subscriber’s inbasket is full or if there are other reasons why the email would not accept the Gazette notice, it will be listed as bumped. If that condition continues, Mailchimp will list that subscriber as unsubscribed and stop sending notices. To remedy the situation, if you want to receive the weekly notices, please re-subscribe.