The Wake Forest Historical Museum is preserving stories about how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting Wake Forest residents. The museum is collecting items that document people’s experiences learning remotely, working at home or on the frontlines, social distancing, staying in touch with friends and family, self-quarantining, or dealing with illness. The museum wants to hear from our whole community, including essential workers, those working from home, and those who have lost their jobs. Every story will help us better understand how COVID-19 continues to affect our community. Please consider submitting essays, photographs, audio and video recordings, and other items that document daily life or describe – in your own words – what you are feeling and experiencing in this moment. You can submit items online through a simple form or by mail; please see our website for more information on how to submit materials. These primary sources are central to

Wake Forest homeowners can breathe easier and stop fussing. The Town of Wake Forest resumed collecting yard waste on Monday, May 11. In late March the Town was forced to suspend yard waste collection in response to the closure of the Raleigh Yard Waste Center due to COVID-19. Although the yard waste center reopened to Raleigh residents in mid-April, the facility remains closed to outside residents and municipalities. The location of a private facility willing to accept the Town’s yard waste makes it possible for Wake Forest to resume normal yard waste collection service. After weeks of exploring possible alternatives following the closure of its normal yard waste disposal site, the Town of Wake Forest has located a private facility willing to accept the Town’s yard waste. As a result, Wake Forest will resume yard waste collection service Monday, May 11, at 7 a.m. Crews will follow the normal collection

If you are reopening your business, you have a partner. The Smart Restart Guide is available at the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce. The purpose of this resource is to provide businesses with the best known guidance to ensure consumer confidence, promote community health, and protect you and your employees as your reopen your business in the age of COVID-19.   These recommendations come from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), with additional guidance from local public and environmental health professionals. There are specific measures businesses of all types can take to aid in a safe, thoughtful reopening. The recommendations in each industry category support the overall goal of opening businesses in a way that protects employees and customers from exposure to COVID-19 and helps prevent the spread of the virus. Key to success will

In addition to being Older American’s Month, May is also Mental Health Month. The theme this year is “You Are Not Alone.” The National Association of Mental Illness (NAMI) in Wake County is offering weekly support groups now available in virtual platforms. They are available at a variety of times to ensure that our community continues to be served during this time.  Please visit their website, https://nami-wake.org/support-groups/, for more information. The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic downturn have negatively affected many people’s mental health and created new barriers for people already who have mental illness and substance abuse disorders.  Us as older adults need to step out of our comfort zones and participate in various platforms that keep us from depression and isolation. (Panchal, Kamal, Orgera, et al., 2020) Last week we recognized one of our members from the Northern Wake Senior Center in honor of Older American’s Month. This week we

The editor knows there are many readers who do not subscribe to The Wake Forest Gazette and is urging those people to subscribe. There is no charge, but you do get a weekly notice from the editor each Wednesday announcing a weekly update is on line. All you have to do is go to the first page, find the box for subscribe and enter your name and email address. If you have been a subscriber to the Gazette and 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