Holding Park Aquatic Center at 133 West Owen Avenue will open for the season Saturday, May 27, at 9 a.m. Daily admission fees for Wake Forest residents are $1 for children ages 2 and under; $4 for children ages 3-13; and $5 for patrons ages 13-59; and $4 for ages 60 and over. Daily admission fees for non-Wake Forest residents are $2 for children ages 2 and under; $6 for children ages 3-13; and $7 for patrons ages 13-59; and $6 for ages 60 and over. Open swim times are scheduled in three-hour blocks, with 30-minute breaks in between to allow staff to clean and sanitize the facility, including deck chairs, door handles, handrails, and other high-touch areas. A maximum of 200 patrons will be allowed inside the facility during each session. To help ensure an enjoyable experience for everyone, patrons are strongly encouraged to register and pay online in

The Wake Forest Police Department will host a Touch-A-Truck fundraiser for Special Olympics of NC on Saturday, June 17, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The Factory, 1839 South Main Street. Families and children of all ages will be granted an all-access pass to police cars, fire trucks, a helicopter, boat, Humvee, military vehicles, and more. The cost is $5 per person and $20 per family of any size. All proceeds will benefit Special Olympics of NC. Throughout the day officers will also be selling 2023 Special Olympics NC Torch Run T-shirts for $20. The T-shirts feature the WFPD badge in recognition of the department’s Top 10 ranking among NC law enforcement agencies for Special Olympics fundraising in 2022. In addition to trucks and vehicles, Charlie’s Kabob Grill and Two Roosters Ice Cream will be onsite selling food and sweet treats. For more information, contact Cpl. J. McArthur at

The Wake Forest Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources (PRCR) Department will host a free, monthly outdoor movie series from May through August at E. Carroll Joyner Park, 701 Harris Road. The first in the series of Family Movie Nights at Joyner Park will feature the film “Lady and the Tramp” on Saturday, May 27, at 8:30 p.m. Family Movie Nights will feature a variety of family-friendly film favorites and genres, including comedies, dramas, and thrillers, all projected on a 26-foot inflatable movie screen in the park’s amphitheater. Future film screenings are scheduled on the following Saturdays: June 17 (Encanto), July 22 (Zootopia), and August 5 (Spider Man: No Way Home). Showtime for each event is 8:30 p.m. Anyone planning to attend is urged to arrive early as viewing space may be limited. Family Movie Nights are free and open to the public. Each will also include a movie-related pre-show activity

The 2023 Juneteenth in Wake Forest will be a two-day event featuring the Alston-Massenburg Center, 416 North Taylor Street, on Friday, June 16, and the DuBois Center, 518 North Franklin Street, on Saturday, June 17. Friday’s event will run from 4 to 6:30 p.m. and will feature giveaways, Jay’s Italian Ice, and more fun before the crowd walks to the soon-to-open Wake Forest Food Hall at 303 East Roosevelt Avenue to purchase dinner from the various food trucks there. On Saturday the activities run from late morning to late evening. It all begins at 11:45 a.m. when participants will assemble for a recreation of the historic Freedom Walk. Then from noon until 3:30 p.m. there will be a festival with booths, fun and food. From 4 to 8 p.m. the scene shifts to the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre for the Arts at 508 South Brooks Street where Eugene Brown, a

The Recreation Advisory Board will host a family-friendly 5K/3K walk/run as part of National Trails Day on Saturday, June 3, at E. Carroll Joyner Park, 701 Harris Road. Check-in on the day of the event starts at 7 a.m., and the races begin at 8 a.m. Online registration is available at http://bit.ly/WFNationalTrailsDay. The National Trails Day 5K/3K is a timed walk/run for children and adults. A loop of the paved trails throughout Joyner Park will comprise the 3.1-mile course for the 5K and 1.8-mile course for the 3K. Strollers are welcome but will be placed at the back of the pack to allow runners a clear start. The entry fee for the 5K is $30 through May 14; $35 from May 15-June 1; and $40 the day before and day of the race. The entry fee for the 3K is $25 through May 14; $30 May 15-June 1; and $35

From May 15 to May 28, the Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources (PRCR) Department will host a Bass Fishing Tournament for ages 13 and older and a Youth Fishing Tournament for ages 12 and under (non-competitive). Over this two-week period, local anglers can visit any public fishery in Wake or Franklin County to try and catch the biggest fish. Participants in the Youth Fishing Tournament may catch any species of fish, while anglers in the Bass Fishing Tournament will be limited to bass only. Online registration for both tournaments is available through Thursday, April 27, at https://wakeforestnc.recdesk.com/Community/Home (search “fishing”). The cost to participate is $10 for the bass tournament and $5 for the youth tourney. Participants in the bass tourney will receive a fishing scale to be used in the competition, while contestants in the youth tournament will receive an “Early Fisherman” packet. Fishing scales and “Early Fisherman” packets will

Based on the March 2023 Monthly Development Report, WF Planning Updated April 12, 2023 There were no changes between the February and March reports. There were no additions and no deletions. The updated Wake Forest population as of July 2022 is 54,274. In 2021 the population was 50,244. How rezoning and development requests are now heard Planning Director Courtney Tanner gave this response to a query: All legislative cases (rezonings) have a public hearing at the Commissioner meeting and a public comment session at the Planning Board. A special use permit has a public hearing at the Commissioner meeting. Administrative (correct zoning and comply with the UDO) cases are approved at the staff level. What town board approval means now Senior Planner Patrick Reidy explained what the town board’s approval of new subdivisions means under the new state and town requirements. “They approved the conditional rezoning/master plan. Both projects will