Join us for a fun-filled day in downtown Wake Forest on Saturday, Feb. 22, during the Wake Forest Mardi Gras Street Festival presented by Primrose School of Heritage Wake Forest and Thomas G. Walters: Allstate Insurance. This family-friendly celebration is scheduled from 11 a.m.to 3 p.m. and admission is free. The Wake Forest Mardi Gras Street Festival invites area residents to visit the heart of Wake Forest and experience all our downtown has to offer. The event will offer a variety of fun things to do, including a costume processional, children’s activities, and assorted contests for people of all ages. The Mardi Gras Street Festival will feature music, entertainment, face painting and a costume processional for children and adults. In addition, downtown merchants and several event sponsors will offer exceptional discounts and activities throughout the day. There will also be a variety of food trucks in the Fidelity Bank parking lot, 231 S. White St., plus fun and exciting contests for the young

Forest Moon Theater will present “Prelude to a Kiss” Friday through Sunday, Feb. 14-16 and Feb. 21-23, at the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre, 405 South Brooks Street. Show time Friday and Saturday is 7:30 p.m., while the Sunday show time is 3 p.m. When Peter, a man from a broken family, meets Rita, an insomniac bartender with no faith in the future, only one thing can happen: they fall in love and get married. Then on the evening of their nuptials, an elderly stranger appears at the reception, bearing a kiss for the new bride. In this romantic fantasy, it is a kiss that tests the boundaries of the couple’s love. Advance tickets are $15 plus tax for adults and $13 plus tax for students and seniors. These prices reflect a savings of $3 per adult and student/senior on “day of” admission tickets. For more information or to purchase tickets,

The Wake Forest Police Department has scheduled its next Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events class for Tuesday, Feb. 18. The session will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. inside the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre at 405 South Brooks Street. There is no cost to participate, but registration is required at http://bit.ly/WFPD_CRASE. Class size is limited to the first 100 people to register. Please note: Every participant must register individually – one person per form. On the evening of the class, attendees may be required to show proof of registration prior to entering the Renaissance Centre. Led by Wake Forest Police Lt. L. Danforth, the session will teach participants what to do if confronted with an active shooter event. Designed and built on the Avoid, Deny, Defend (ADD) strategy developed by the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center at Texas State University, the class will provide strategies, guidance and

Jonathan Jacobs, the town’s transportation engineer, provided the following information about some of the town’s street projects. *The state Department of Transportation has again pushed back the date to begin constructing the traffic bridge over the CSX tracks on Rogers Road to early 2021 when it was the fall of 2020. This project was put on hold when the 900+ projects with NCDOT were put on hold last year. They re-opened it fairly quickly, but it caused delays with right-of-way and utility relocations, Jacobs said. *What is the status of the connection of South Franklin Street to the bypass? Town staff is currently reviewing construction drawings for this work to be done by Holding Village. Holding Village’s schedule is to have it completed in the next 18 months. Since its completion is required based on number of occupied homes, this is a critical path for them to continue development in

People of all ages can get free help with filing their federal and state tax returns and electronic filing at the senior centers in Franklinton and Louisburg. And, after the Northern Wake Senior Center opens in February, that free help will be available there. The free help is provided by the AARP Foundation, which was formed over 50 years ago to help anyone seeking professional income tax assistance. Counselors are qualified by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and offer this assistance after successfully completing a through written examination and proficiency testing. Individual income tax returns are being prepared at the Franklinton Senior Center, 206 East Mason Street, Franklinton every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and at the Louisburg Senior Center, 127 Shannon Village Shopping Center, Louisburg, Monday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. starting Feb 2, through April 15, 2020. If you desire assistance please call

The Wake Forest Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee is planning a four-day trip for area students to the Civil Rights Freedom Trail in Georgia and Alabama on March 2 through March 5. The trip will cost $225 for students and $325 for adults, and the cost includes the breakfast buffet at the Embassy Suites in Montgomery, Alabama, and a carry-on box lunch. The committee members include Pastor Ken Steigler, who will be one of the tour guides; James Grant, chairman of the celebration committee; Peggy Blake; Ann Clemons, the second tour guide; Margo Grant; and Lori Moss. They are now soliciting donations from local churches and organizations to provide sponsorships for the estimated 20 students from Wake Forest and Rolesville who will make the trip with five chaperones. People who want to know more about the trip can call Steigler at 978-979-8380 or James Grant at 973-580-2470. 2020

Mayor Vivian Jones will deliver her 2020 State of the Town Address on Monday, Feb. 17, at 6 p.m., during the 12th Annual State of the Town Address and Dinner. Presented by the Wake Forest Rotary Club, the event will take place at the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre at 405 South Brooks Street. During her remarks, Mayor Jones will highlight the Town’s key accomplishments in 2019 and outline the goals Wake Forest will strive towards in 2020. All area residents are invited to attend. Tickets are $15 per person in advance and $20 on the day of the event and include a catered meal. However, the event is expected to sell out. Dress for the event is business casual. A limited number of tickets are available and can be purchased online with a Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover credit card at www.wakeforestnc.gov/communications/state-town<https://www.wakeforestnc.gov/communications/state-town>. Tickets may also be purchased at the Renaissance

Assembling some of the top musical acts in our area, Rockin’ the Forest features a variety of popular beach music and cover bands that play beach music and rock and roll covers from classic to modern rock, with a little funk and original music thrown in. The series continues with the sold out Legacy Motown Revue on Jan. 17, followed by Jim Quick & Coastline on Feb. 28 and The Magnificents on March 27. In addition to great music, each Rockin’ the Forest concert includes a cash bar serving beer and wine. Advance tickets are $15 each plus tax and selling fast. Tickets can be purchased online with a Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover credit card at www.wakeforestrencen.org/tickets-events<http://www.wakeforestrencen.org/tickets-events>. Advance tickets may also be purchased with cash, check or credit card at the Renaissance Centre Box Office, 405 S. Brooks St. On the day of the concert tickets can be purchased

Updated January 22, 2020 Northern Wake Senior Center will open to its members and the public on Feb. 3, 2020. We are assured everyone will be thrilled by the new space and all the improvements. The reconstruction is adding 9,000 square feet plus renovations throughout the original center on East Holding Avenue. There will be a new entrance to the building, an expanded parking lot and a new parking lot entrance on the extension of Brooks Street which has finally connected Elm Avenue to East Holding. Among the new features will be an addition to the exercise room, a new roof and a new multipurpose room. Focus Design Builders won the $3.9 million contract – it is being paid through the bonds approved in 2014 – and the target date for completion was May 1, 2019. Focus Design won the contract because it promised to complete the work within 269

The Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce has an extraordinary list of old and new programs and initiatives, and it is adding a new position and a new staff member. The position is the director of development and communications for the Wake Forest Chamber Foundation, and its director is Liz Simpers, who is also a town commissioner and most recently was on the staff at the Kerr Family YMCA. As President Ann Welton said, “In order to run existing programs and add new ones we have decided to hire a full-time director of development and communications for the Foundation. We welcome Liz Simpers to the organization and look forward to her work with the community.” Those Foundation programs are Reality of Money and Wake Forest Career Readiness Academy, Youth Leadership Wake Forest and a new collaboration with the Kerr YMCA’s Camp High Hopes on the campus of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Welton