The Wake Forest Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources (PRCR) Department will host an online Esports gaming tournament featuring the game “Street Fighter 6” on Saturday, Feb. 24. The tournament will serve as a qualifier for the BODYARMOR State Games FGC Gohon Kumite eSports Tournament in March. Results from this tournament will determine participant positioning in the BODYARMOR tournament. Open to players ages 13 and older, the online tournament is free to play on all consoles and PCs and will be live streamed on Twitch.tv. Registration is open through Wednesday, Feb. 21, at https://wakeforestnc.recdesk.com/Community/Home. Participants will compete in a one-on-one, single-day, double-elimination tournament to run in conjunction with “Bull City Gaming” and BODYARMOR State Games. The matches will be best of three, while the championship match will be best of five. In the event more than 32 participants register, the tournament will expand to two days with the qualifying rounds taking place on February

The Wake Forest Police Department (WFPD) and Torchy’s Tacos, 505 Dr. Calvin Jones Hwy., are joining forces to raise awareness and money for Special Olympics North Carolina (SONC). Area residents are invited to support the cause by visiting Torchy’s Tacos on Wednesday, Feb. 7, between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. For everyone who either mentions the fundraiser or presents the fundraiser flyer (attached), Torchy’s will donate 15 percent of their food and beverage sales to support Special Olympics. To download the fundraiser flyer, visit https://bit.ly/WFPDSpecialOlympics. The WFPD also accepts SONC donations year-round at https://bit.ly/WFPDSpecialOlympics. All funds raised go to SONC as part of The Law Enforcement Torch Run. For more information, Sgt. J. McArthur at 919-554-6150 or jmcarthur@wakeforestnc.gov. SONC is one of the largest Special Olympics programs in the world with nearly 40,000 registered athletes who train and compete in year-round programs in 20 different sports. The mission of Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports

Registration is now open for the Car Show during our 2024 Cars & Carnivores 2nd Annual Street Festival. Only register online through our Better Unite/Wake Forest Rotary Foundation webpage. There is no other way to register and you must pre-register. No Day-of Cash Registrations accepted. Watch out for scammers and do not pay anyone thru Facebook, Messenger or Email. The only way to register is online through this link: https://betterunite.com/WakeForestRotaryFo…/CampaignDonate We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, March 23, 2024! ###

The 2024 Spring & Summer edition of “RecConnect,” the Wake Forest Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources (PRCR) spring and summer program guide, is now available online at http://bit.ly/PRCRRecConnect. Hard copies will soon be available at the Wake Forest Town Hall, 301 S. Brooks St.; Joyner Park Community Center (JPCC), 701 Harris Road; Flaherty Park Community Center (FPCC), 1226 N. White St.; and Alston-Massenburg Center (AMC), 416 N. Taylor St. Check out “RecConnect” for complete details on recreational programs, events, and activities for all age groups, including preschool, youth, and adult, scheduled from March through August 2024. Program registration begins for Wake Forest residents Thursday, Feb. 1, and non-Wake Forest residents on Thursday, Feb. 8. Register online at wakeforestnc.recdesk.com and in-person at JPCC, FPCC, and AMC during normal business hours. Online registration closes two business days before the start of a program. For more information, call the PRCR Department at 919-435-9560. ###

Several colorful pole banners are now on display throughout downtown Wake Forest thanks to a partnership between Wake Forest Downtown (WFD), Inc., and the Wake Forest Public Art Commission (PAC). Last September, the two organizations issued a “Downtown Boulevard Banner Call for Artists” in which they invited local artists to submit “vibrant original artwork for seasonal boulevard banners in downtown Wake Forest.” In response, 21 artists submitted over 50 designs. Ultimately, a selection committee comprised of members of the PAC and WFD chose designs by Boni Arendt (flower), Olga Lobastova (steeple), Leanna Van Der Have (tree), and Devanshi Prajapati (lily pad) (photos attached). For their efforts, each artist received a $100 honorarium. Downtown Development Director Jennifer Herbert released the following statement on behalf of WFD. “Wake Forest Downtown, Inc. believes that public art enriches the experiences offered in our downtown, as well as adds to the vibrancy, and was excited to