What does one do when Cinco de Mayo and the Kentucky Derby fall on the same day? Celebrate big during the Wakefield Rotary Cinco de Derby reverse raffle party. On Saturday, May 5, 2018 from 4 to 8 p.m., Wakefield Rotary Club will host a Cinco de Mayo fiesta and Kentucky Derby festival during a single event that will culminate in someone winning $2018. The event will be held at Heritage View Clubhouse, 1037 Marshall Farm Street, in Wake Forest. Proceeds will go toward the club’s new vocational education scholarship for local graduating seniors pursuing a trade. same day,” said Wakefield Rotary President Steve Arrington. “We’re bringing people together for a fun time and at the same time raising money for our club’s new local Vocational Education Scholarship Only 100 Cinco de Derby tickets will be sold. Cost is $100 and admits two people to the event with heavy appetizers and one reverse

The Wake Forest Police Department is inviting area residents to participate in the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics of North Carolina on Saturday, May 12. Online registration is available at www.wakeforestnc.gov/law-enforcement-torch-run.aspx. The registration fee is $30 and includes a 2018 SONC Torch Run T-shirt. On the day of the race, registration and check-in will take place from 8 to 8:45 a.m. at Publix, 1040 Forestville Road. After registering, participants will be transported by shuttle to Walmart, 2114 South Main Street. The 2.3-mile run will begin at 9 a.m. at Walmart and end at Publix. For more information, to purchase a 2018 Law Enforcement Torch Run T-shirt or hat or make a tax-deductible donation, contact Officer J. McArthur at 919-554-6150 or jmcarthur@wakeforestnc.gov.  

The Wake Forest Renaissance Centre for the Arts at 405 Brooks Street will kick off its grand re-opening weekend on Friday, June 1, at 6:30 p.m. with Animalia, presented by Hobey Ford’s Golden Rod Puppets. A quintessential children’s favorite, Animalia explores the magical world of animals. From the metamorphoses of a butterfly and a tadpole to a soaring eagle, a school of fish, ecological systems and endangered animals, all come to life during this performance by internationally award-winning puppeteer Hobey Ford and his Golden Rod Puppets. Geared for children pre-K through sixth grade and their families, the performance features Hobey’s original “foamies” puppets carved from large blocks of foam with intricate mechanical design that gives each puppet realistic movements. Hobey breaks out of the traditional puppet theater booth and turns the whole theater into his performance stage. Advance tickets are now on sale for $10 (plus tax) per person. Tickets may

Update March 28, 20118 Future projects–Technical Review Committee When the technical review committee met on Feb. 15, the members reviewed the following plans: *Capital Sportsplex: A major master site plan submitted by Calyx, a Raleigh engineering firm, for a sports complex on Star Road with a 250,000 square foot building, one multi-use field, five soccer fields, two outdoor tennis courts, six sand volleyball courts and four baseball fields. This will be a quasi-judicial hearing. *Foundation Drive subdivision is a master plan submitted by WithersRavenel for a 34-lot single-family subdivision off Foundation Drive. There are three parcels included in the plan. One runs along Foundation Drive from Forestville Road to a deadend at a creek and an open space owned by the town. The other two are adjacent and tucked in behind the Shoppes at Heritage Village which is anchored by Publix. *The Flynn Property subdivision was submitted by Priest Craven

Raleigh novelist Elaine Neil Orr will visit Page 158 Books in Wake Forest’s Renaissance Plaza on Brooks Street at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 26, for an evening of reading and conversation about her new novel, Swimming Between Worlds. Orr, the critically acclaimed writer of A Different Sun brings readers a Southern coming-of-age novel that sets three very different young people against the tumultuous years of the American civil rights movement. Tacker Hart left his home in North Carolina as a local high school football hero, but returns in disgrace after being fired from a prestigious architectural assignment in West Africa. Yet the culture and people he grew to admire have left their mark on him. Adrift, he manages his father’s grocery store and becomes reacquainted with a girl he barely knew growing up. Kate Monroe’s parents have died, leaving her the family home and the right connections in her Southern town.

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

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. Ticket are selling fast and may disappear soon. 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 with cash, check or

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