The Wake Forest Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources Department is partnering with Pickles and Play to host the 2024 Wake Forest Spring Smash Pickleball Tournament Friday-Sunday, May 3-5, at the Flaherty Park Pickleball Courts and Tennis Complex, 1226 N. White St. The entry fee is $45 per player, plus $10 for each additional event. Complete tournament details, including registration information, are available at https://bit.ly/WFPickleball. The registration deadline is Sunday, April 28. For more information about the Spring Smash Pickleball Tournament, email Tournament Director Lisa Groeschner at Egroeschner@gmail.com. Pickleball began in Wake Forest in 2009 on one chalked tennis court. Today, the sport has grown to include three shared use indoor courts at Flaherty Park Community Center, three shared use indoor courts at Joyner Park Community Center, eight shared use outdoor courts at Flaherty Park Tennis Courts, and four dedicated outdoor courts at Flaherty Park. Since 2013, the Town has installed 32 shared use and

Save the date! Join us on Sunday, May 5, for the Second Annual Preserve the Connections event. This is an event that aims to bring together vendors, artisans, neighbors, and charities. The idea behind this event is to strengthen the connections within our communities. Regina Jones and Kimberly Wieberg, both residents of Preserve at Smith Creek and small business entrepreneurs, have teamed up to organize an event that you just can’t miss. Regina, from OnWire Real Estate, says that she is “excited to connect with community members, entrepreneurs, and the two amazing charities that will benefit from this wonderful event.” This year we have added a three level sponsorship opportunity.  Hearth Counseling & Consulting ( hearthcc.com ) is the first to agree to support the event by being a vendor sponsor.  Vendor Sponsorship is set up into three levels to fit any size of company/vendor/organization: Bronze Level: $100 or more  donation receives social

Spring has sprung in the Triangle. The trees and flowers are budding, and the local housing market is tracking about the same as it has for the last many months.   The local numbers are in for March 2024 and here is what is happening.   The average price of single-family homes is up from a year ago. The mortgage rate for 30-year fixed is still hovering around 7%. Here is an update for the end of March:   A year ago, the average sale price of a single-family home in the Triangle was $471,876 and increased $36,976 to $508,852 by the end of March. That is a 7.8% increase.   The number of homes for sale was 5,452 a year ago and declined by 987 to 4,465 by the end of March for a decrease of 18.1%. This is considered extremely low for the Triangle real estate market, and

You’re invited to help celebrate three decades of foot-tapping, finger-snapping good times during the 30th anniversary of Six Sundays in Spring. Sponsored by the Town of Wake Forest and ARTS Wake Forest, the free outdoor concert series will be offered from 5:307 to 7:30 p.m. on consecutive Sundays from April 28 through June 2 at the Joyner Park Amphitheater, 701 Harris Road. From big band and R&B to beach and jazz, there’s something for all music lovers at this year’s Six Sundays in Spring. Beatles tribute band, Beatlesque, will kick off this year’s performances on Sunday, April 28, followed by Eduardo and the Paco Band on May 5, Soul Pyschedelique Orchestra on May 12, Marcus Anderson on May 19, The Magnificents on May 26, and Sensory Expressions Band on June 2. A variety of food and dessert trucks will be on site for each concert. Concert goers are also invited to bring

The Town of Wake Forest will host a Paper Shredding & Electronics Recycling Event on Saturday, April 20, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. in the parking lot of the Northern Wake Senior Center, 235 E. Holding Ave. Sponsored by Civic Federal Credit Union, the paper shredding portion of the event will offer area residents and businesses the opportunity to protect themselves from identity theft and dispose of confidential documents in an environmentally responsible manner. A drive-thru system will be implemented to help ensure a smooth drop-off experience. All paper will be shredded on-site, then recycled. Participants are urged to help reduce contamination by removing all non-paper materials in advance, such as plastic binders, plastic folders, and metal tabs. As part of the electronics recycling effort, residents can properly dispose of items that may otherwise end up in landfills. Accepted items include, but are not limited to, laptops, servers, cell phones, mainframes,

The Town of Wake Forest and DHIC, Inc. (formerly Downtown Housing Improvement Corporation) are partnering to offer free homeownership counseling services to Wake Forest residents earning less than 80 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI). Designed for residents finding it difficult to purchase a home or make payments on a home, the free counseling services include: Again, these services are free and available to Wake Forest residents earning less than 80 percent of the AMI. To learn more or find out if you qualify, contact Planner I Antione Jordan at ajordan@wakeforestnc.gov or 919-435-9581. ###

Due to popular demand, the Northern Community Food Security Team (NCFST) and Ripe for Revival have agreed to bring their mobile grocery store to Wake Forest on the second and fourth Thursday of each month from 3-5 p.m. Offering fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy from local and regional farmers on a pay-what-you-can scale, the NCFST Mobile Market will return to 350 E. Holding Ave. (across from the Northern Regional Center) on Thursday, April 11, and again on Thursday, April 25. Open to everyone, the pay-what-you-can mobile grocery store makes fresh and local produce, proteins, dairy, eggs, and other food products accessible and affordable to all, regardless of their budget. When shopping, there are some limits on the amount of protein, dairy, and eggs a consumer can purchase, but no limits on produce. At checkout, shoppers will be given a suggested total. Shoppers can then pay the full amount, a portion of that amount,

The Wake Forest Police Department (WFPD) is reminding residents to report crime and suspicious activity to law enforcement before posting the information on social media. Due to the popularity of Facebook and other social media, many people use those platforms to discuss suspicious activity and crime. The problem is that not all who describe such activity online also report it to the police. Simply put – tagging the WFPD on a social media post is not reporting a crime. Not even close. By calling 9-1-1 or 919-556-9111 and reporting the proper way, WFPD can establish credible, official records of what’s going on or what’s happened, along with the sources of the information. It’s also easier than chasing down what are sometimes dubious or fake social media posts. “We understand that most people who post warnings and similar kinds of information on social media are trying to look out for their friends

The Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce has announced the 2024 Meet in the Street. The 42nd anniversary of Meet in the Street, presented by Allison Caudle with Southern Lux Living and coordinated by the Wake Forest Area Chamber, will be held Saturday, May 4, 2024 from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm in downtown Wake Forest.  This premier arts & crafts, music and food festival will include more than 100 artisan booths featuring handmade items for sale, dozens of food trucks, live music throughout the day on two different stages, a children’s village filled with activities for kids, and more. Admission is free. Interested in being part of this event? The application window is NOW OPEN for 2024! Click the appropriate application below to download a fillable PDF application. Arts & Crafts VendorsFood VendorsNonprofits (Chamber member exclusive)Festival Business Booths & Sponsorships ###

After selling all of the first printing and ordering a second,  The Town of Wake Forest is again offering “Connections…100 Years of Wake Forest History” for $30 each. Authored by Wake Forest resident and Wake Forest Gazette Publisher Carol Pelosi, Connections… 100 Years of Wake Forest History was written and released in 2009 to commemorate Wake Forest’s Centennial Celebration. Jean MaCamy and Stephanie Kaeberlein had begun work on the book before they asked her to write it, and they are responsible for the wonderful array of original art and pictures as well as the layout of the pages. A treasure trove of pictures, original artwork, and stories recording the people, places, and events of Wake Forest’s first 100 years, the photo-filled hardcover book chronicles the town’s rich history and details its growth from a small college town to a thriving community of more than 50,000 residents. Connections may be purchased online at www.wakeforestnc.gov/marketplace with