Wake Forest Senior Planner Michelle Michael has a daunting task ahead – stabilizing and eventually rehabilitating the Ailey Young House on North White Street just south of the Wake Forest Cemetery. But then it was a small miracle that the house was found in a heavily wooded area or that it had not been torn down years ago. The Town of Wake Forest owns it but had forgotten about it. The house is remarkable and worth saving because it is the only tangible link to Wake Forest’s pioneer black educator, Allen L. Young and his Wake Forest Normal and Industrial School and its buildings, all now gone. (See the Gazette for Feb. 3, 2016, for a short biography.) Ailey Young was 23 and a housekeeper and her husband, Henry, a farmer, was 26 at the time of the 1880 Census. Their oldest son, Allen, was 4, and the family, including

Mayor Vivian Jones will deliver her 2016 State of the Town Address on Monday, Feb. 15, at 6 p.m., during the eighth annual State of the Town address and dinner. Presented by the Wake Forest Rotary Club, the event will be held at the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre for the Arts at 405 Brooks Street. Jones will highlight the town’s key accomplishments in 2015 and outline the goals Wake Forest will strive towards in 2016. All area residents are invited to attend this special event. Tickets are $15 per person in advance and $20 on the day of the event and include a catered meal. Tickets can be purchased online with a Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover credit card at www.wakeforestnc.gov/state-of-the-town.aspx. Tickets may also be purchased at the Renaissance Centre box office with cash, check or credit card. A processing fee will be added to the cost of any

You are invited to eat at Milton’s Pizza and Pasta on Tuesday night, Feb. 23, from 5 to 9 p.m. and mention to your server that you are supporting the Wake Forest Lions Club. When you do that, 10 percent of the proceeds will be donated to the Lions Club. Milton’s is in the Wakefield Commons shopping center anchored by Marque Cinemas. You can either eat at the restaurant or carry out your order to eat at home. The Wake Forest Lions Club serves people in need in the community.  

The Fort Bragg Wounded Warrior Transition Battalion Commander LTC J.W. Whitehead presented the Army Certificate of Appreciation to the Wake Forest Memorial Post 8466, Veterans of Foreign Wars for their financial and professional reinforcement to the soldiers wounded during the current conflicts during 2015. Soldiers assigned to the Transition Battalion undergo rehabilitation following hospitalization and prior to being considered for further assignments or conversion out of service. Periodically, during the year the Post provided funds to the battalion for the purchase of sundry items for the soldier and family. Recently Christmas donations were brought to Fort Bragg for distribution to the Fisher House and the Transition Battalion totaling over $ 1,000 from donations received from the Wake Forest and surrounding communities. Presenting the Ft. Bragg Certificate of Appreciation to Commander Dennis Mecum is Pete Lambert, Committee Chairman for the Wounded Warrior program for the VFW Post.  

“Birds can’t talk, but they are sending an urgent message,” says Lena Gallitano, a local, state, and National Audubon Society leader.  “Our planet needs help.” To emphasize this message more clearly, Gallitano will lead a community workshop, “Creation Care: A Bird’s Perspective,” at St. John’s Episcopal Church on Saturday, Feb. 13, from 9:30 to12 noon in the fellowship hall. The program will include a talk on the future status of birds while exploring Audubon North Carolina conservation initiatives to create bird-friendly communities throughout the state. Participants will develop personal Creation Care “action plans” that will help each individual make a difference, not only for birds but for the world as well. “Whether you come to this project as a nature lover, a concerned citizen, or someone who wants to leave a better world for your children and grandchildren, it will take all of us acting together to secure a better