Once again the Mad Hatter’s Tea & Garden Party will return to North Main Street and the Wake Forest Historical Museum with its traditional afternoon tea, garden and historic tours, a classic car show and sales of locally grown plants. The date is Saturday, May 12, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. You will only need tickets for the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, three separate seatings from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., where you will be delighted by the fine silver, English tea, finger sandwiches and sweets. The $20 tickets are available on line at www.wfgardenclub.org or Facebook at Wake Forest Garden Club. You can also purchase tickets at The Cotton Company, Ollie’s Café and Page 158 Books. On the day of the party, you can also buy tickets at the Wake Forest Garden Club tent for $25 as long as they are available. All the other events and activities

There are only one or two spots open in the following free walking tours of Wake Forest historic North Main district, Historic Preservation Planner Michelle Michael said this week. If you are interested, you need to register now. Wednesday, April 4; 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 18; 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 25; 1:30 p.m. Thursday, May 10; 1:30 p.m. Thursday, May 17; 10 a.m. Thursday, May 24; 1:30 p.m. Please note: If the tour date is not listed above that means it is fully enrolled. Led by Michael, an architectural historian, the tours include areas along North Main Street, North Avenue, Front Street, and South Avenue. Along the way, each group will discuss the developmental and architectural history of the area, along with the significant men and women who lived in the homes. Tours will not include individual homes. Each tour is approximately two hours and begins at the corner of North

The Wake Forest Renaissance Centre for the Arts will commemorate its grand re-opening on Saturday, June 2, at 7:30 p.m. with Beach Music & BBQ featuring The Band of Oz. If you love great food and great beach music, then don’t miss this one-of-a-kind summertime celebration in the heart of downtown Wake Forest. The Band of Oz, one of the southeast’s most popular beach music bands and a 1997 Beach Music Hall of Fame inductee, will headline the grand re-opening, which will also feature a delicious barbecue dinner provided by Papa Jack’s Catering. The occasion will also include a cash bar serving beer and wine. Dress for this event is summer casual. Advance tickets are now on sale for $25 (plus tax) per person. Tickets may be purchased online atwww.wakeforestnc.gov/tickets-events.aspx with a Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express credit card. Tickets may also be purchased at the Renaissance Centre box office

The speaker for the first in the 2018 Dementia Awareness Education series will be Valerie Jurik-Henry, the creator The Ageless Home and a professional national speaker on aging in place. She will present The Aging Population + Your Business = A New Way of Thinking during the event on Thursday, April 26, beginning at 9:30 a.m. in the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre. Jurik-Henry will address these questions: What makes your business inviting to every customer? What makes your business age friendly? How can being age friendly make a huge impact to your bottom line. The breakfast sponsor is Brookdale Senior Living, so arrive a little early to enjoy something to eat and a cup of coffee. From April through December, the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre for the Arts will host several seminars designed to raise awareness about Alzeheimer’s disease and related dementias. Each event in the 2018 Dementia Awareness Education

The Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce is partnering with Food Lion for a Community Raffle with a top prize of $10,000 in cash and 15 other prizes. To date as of March 14 $15,000 has been raised. The money raised will benefit the chamber, and Tri-Area Ministry Food Pantry will receive a $5,000 donation. Only 1,500 tickets – which are $50 each – will be sold for a total pot of $75,000. The drawing will be held May 5. You do have to be 18 or older to participate. You can purchase tickets online at https://go.rallyup.com/wfcommunityraffle or in person at the Wake Forest Chamber office at 350 South White Street or at B&W Hardware at 232 South White Street. Some chamber members also have tickets for sale. The prizes apart from the $10,000 in cash are $5,000 AAA Travel Voucher Full Set of Braces/Invisalign ($5,000 value) or $2,000 cash

The annual Wake Forest Cemetery Walking Tour, which will be held this year on Saturday, May 12, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., offers unique insight into the lives of Wake Forest residents from past generations. Docents will be stationed at various family plots throughout the cemetery to share interesting stories about specific gravesites, as well as small artifacts and photographs of loved ones bearing their ancestral names. Representatives of the Wake Forest Junior ROTC, under the direction of Colonel Dimitri Belmont, will appear as color guard in the opening ceremony. The JROTC will also provide parking and other assistance. Parents are encouraged to bring their children. This year there will be a special children’s hand-out highlighting interesting artifacts on the grounds. Designed for interaction between a child and their parents or accompanying adult, the photos and sites will help educate them about the historical significance of the cemetery as they locate significant places

On April 13, the Wake Forest Chamber Foundation will hold a Job Success 101 Seminar for students ages 16-20. A mini job fair will be held at the conclusion of the seminar. Businesses that are currently in need of employees or that will be hiring for summer positions are invited to have a free table at this event. Set up is on April 13 from 11:30 to 12:15 p.m., with the job fair running from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Lunch is included if you are set up by 12. Businesses can bring materials and signage to show off their business. Please contact Corey Hutcherson via email or at (919) 556-1519 option 2 by April 6th to reserve a booth. * * * * Workplace sexual harassment and retaliation prevention training has never been as important as it is now. In North Carolina, 49.4 percent of all claims filed with the EEOC in

*The Wake Forest Farmers Market will be open from 10 a.m. to noon (winter hours) Saturday, March 31, in Renaissance Plaza on Brooks Street. Local farmers and artisans will offer meats, seasonal vegetables, bread and baked goods and other local wares. See the market’s Facebook page for information about the vendors. *Monday Night Bingo at The Factory is hosted by the Wake Forest Kiwanis Club in the Mill Room from 7 to 9:30 p.m. every Monday night. All profits support the club’s projects for children. Visit www.wakeforestbingo.com for more information. *Tri-Area Ministry Food Pantry at 149 East Holding Avenue is now open from 9 to 11 a.m. every third Saturday along with its regular hours on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for food distribution. It serves about 700 families in Wake Forest, Youngsville, Rolesville and their surrounding areas. Call 919-556-7144 for information about receiving food, volunteering