The Town of Wake Forest is encouraging residents who live in the town’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, or ETJ, and have an interest in historic preservation to apply for the lone vacancy on the Historic Preservation Commission . Only residents who live in Wake Forest’s ETJ are eligible, and professionals with historic preservation expertise are especially encouraged to apply. The online advisory board application is available at http://bit.ly/TOWFAdvBoardApplication. Anyone without access to a computer is invited to complete the application by using a computer kiosk in the lobby of Town Hall, 301 South Brooks Street. Hard copies are available upon request by contacting Executive Assistant Cathi Pope at 919-435-9467 or cpope@wakeforestnc.gov. Candidates will be expected to participate virtually in an upcoming HPC meeting to introduce themselves to current members and explain why they wish to serve. Applicants may participate online via Zoom or by telephone. After submitting their application, candidates will receive an email

In an ongoing effort to promote family activities, while also emphasizing the importance of staying safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wake Forest Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources Department is offering Mother-Son Superhero Bingo on Friday, March 12, at 6:30 p.m., at Holding Park Aquatic Center, 133 W. Owen Avenue. Intended for mothers and sons (ages 3-11), the event will feature magic, refreshments, and a visit from a popular superhero. Registration is underway at https://wakeforestnc.recdesk.com/Community/Home and limited to 15 mother and son teams. The cost is $20 per couple for residents, $25 per couple for non-Wake Forest residents, and $8 for each additional child. Participants are welcome to dress as their favorite superhero, but costumes are not required. The PRCR Department will continue to implement safety and cleaning protocols and take all reasonable precautions to best promote the health and safety of those who choose to participate in this activity. Refreshments will be prepackaged,

Beginning March 1 and continuing through April 12, the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre and ARTS Wake Forest will present a series of virtual concerts on Mondays at 7 p.m. you can enjoy from the comfort of your home. Each program in the virtual “Neck of the Woods” performance series will be different and feature one or more performing acts, including singers, dancers, actors, musicians and spoken word artists. Free and available on the Renaissance Centre Facebook and YouTube pages, the upcoming series will spotlight the following local artists:   March 1 – The Harmonia Piano Quartet – Leadership Ensemble with the North Carolina Chamber Music Institute March 8 – Debbie Dunn & Harry Tueting – Country music vocals and guitar March 15 – Masha Dashkina Maddux – Wake Forest Dance Festival discussion and dance solo March 22 – Alison Staples – Soloist March 29 – Jazz Expressions featuring Lydia Salett Dudley – Jazz/Soul duo including guitar,

The Town of Wake Forest is inviting individuals and families to join the “Show Some Love, #KeepWFclean” campaign by picking up trash in their neighborhoods and along local streets and roadways. Designed to encourage maximum public participation, the initiative allows volunteers to pick up litter on a one-time or ongoing basis. Participants may also choose the area they wish to clean or request direction to high need areas around town. To aid the effort, volunteers may reserve one or more litter kits at no charge by completing the online form at www.wakeforestnc.gov/keep-wf-clean. Each litter kit includes reflective vests, gloves, buckets, grabbers, trash bags, data collection sheets, hand sanitizer and litter education materials. A special thanks to B&W Hardware for donating the litter kits. Once reserved, litter kits may be picked up at the Public Works Operations Center, 234 Friendship Chapel Road, Monday-Friday, between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. and must be returned within

March is National Reading Month and the Wake Forest Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources Department is celebrating by introducing a program that encourages families to read while enjoying Town parks and greenways. StoryWalk is an innovative and interactive way for readers of all ages to enjoy a story and the outdoors at the same time. Pages from a children’s picture book are displayed on display posts along a park trail. As you stroll along the path, you are directed to the next page in the story. StoryWalk engages young readers and is an effective way to practice active reading skills. Free and open to the public, the first StoryWalk will be offered at E. Carroll Joyner Park, 701 Harris Road. Additional details will be provided in the coming days. The StoryWalk® Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT and developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. Storywalk® is

The Koinonia Foundation invites the public to help neighbors in crisis by participating in its new fundraiser–the virtual Pace for Grace 5K Race, March 20-21, 2021. The virtual race is replacing the 2021 Koinonia Cares Charity Auction & Dinner that cannot be held due to the pandemic. Runners and walkers of all ages can register online for the race at www.koinoniawf.org/race, download the mobile race app, then complete 3.1 miles on their own route and pace anytime on Saturday, March 20 or Sunday, March 21. A Facebook Live post-race celebration at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 21, 2021, will highlight race participants, sponsors and donors. The race app will track each person’s run/walk and display their route on a map along with time, distance and pace. It notifies participants when they’ve completed 3.1 miles and prompts them to upload their time onto the online results page, print a finisher’s certificate and add a selfie to appear next to their results. The race registration fee is $30, with an option to purchase a commemorative race T-shirt for $20. T-shirts will be distributed during

The Wake Forest Fire Department will kick off a year-long centennial celebration on August 4 – the date the department was created 100 years ago. Planning is underway for a series of events and activities over the following 12 months to honor the past, celebrate the present and look ahead to the future. The complete schedule will be announced no later than early July. In the meantime, the fire department is inviting residents and businesses to participate in the commemoration by sharing photos, documents, stories, equipment and other memorabilia that can be used to celebrate the centennial and recognize the service and commitment of Wake Forest firefighters since 1921. Long independent, the Wake Forest Fire Department became a part of the Town of Wake Forest last year. Anyone wishing to share photos, documents, stories or even compliments and best wishes is encouraged to complete and submit the online submission form at www.wakeforestnc.gov/fire/centennial-celebration. For more

The Town of Wake Forest is launching a comprehensive anti-littering campaign aimed at eliminating unsightly trash along roadways, in neighborhoods and in other parts of our community. Entitled “Show Some Love, #KeepWFclean,” the initiative will focus on education, awareness and enforcement, while encouraging residents, businesses, neighborhoods and community organizations to take action to ensure that litter finds its rightful place. The campaign will emphasize the message that litter is not only ugly, it is also a costly problem that can be only be addressed with behavioral changes at the community and individual levels. “We have all noticed the significant increase in litter around town,” said Wake Forest Mayor Vivian Jones. “We are asking all Wake Forest residents to take a renewed pride in our community by properly disposing of their trash and securing their truckloads.” The “Show Some Love” campaign features a logo and hashtag (#KeepWFclean) that will be used

The Growth Rate has not been published for several months because the Wake Forest Planning Department stopped updating its list of commercial and residential projects under departmental review and recently it has vanished from the department’s web site. That and other information was the basis for The Growth Rate. The planning director has said she intends to make the planning department more transparent. While we await that, the editor has determined to rebuild The Growth Rate over the next few weeks and months. Please send the projects you see or are interested in to cwpelosi@aol.com. Future residential projects The Wake Forest Gazette learned late last week that Middleburg Communities/The McAdams Company have made an offer to purchase the Deerfield Crossing Mobile Home Park (formerly Wellington Mobile Home Park) owned by George and Martha Mackie on East Wait Avenue. Residents say the offer has been accepted and the next step is

If you take a survey on the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce you will be entered into a drawing to be rewarded with Chick-fil-A for a year. The chamber wants to know what members need, use and want from the chamber. Go to www.wfchamber@wakeforestchamber.org to find the survey. * * * * Chamber President Ann Welton says there are 10 spots and two sponsorship left for the Spring Sporting Clays Tournament presented by B&W Hardware Company, on Thursday, March 25, at Rose Hill Estate in Nashville. Sponsorships are available to provide your business with valuable marketing exposure to the players as well as the general community, and player registration is currently open. Call the chamber to reserve your spot today. * * * * Don Stroud with Hartsfield & Nash Insurance Agency is now officially on the Hall of Fame monument in front of the chamber office. He was