The Northeast Community Coalition is partnering with the Town of Wake Forest to host Wake Forest’s 2024 Juneteenth Celebration on Friday and Saturday, June 14-15. Free and open to the public, the two-day event will officially get underway with a “Community Gathering” Friday, June 14, from 4-6:30 p.m. at Taylor Street Park, 416 N. Taylor St. Offering food, fun, and fellowship, the occasion will include arts and crafts and other activities for all ages. Jay’s Italian Ice will also be onsite. The Juneteenth festivities will resume Saturday, June 15, at 10 a.m. with a walking parade from Hope House, 334 N. Allen Road, to the Dubois Center, 518 N. Franklin St. The parade lineup begins at 9 a.m. at the corner of East Pine Avenue and North Allen Road. The walking parade will be followed by a “Freedom Historical Walk” that begins and ends at The Dubois Center. Anyone wishing

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 5:30 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. The remaining musical group is the 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 a picnic from home but are reminded that alcoholic beverages, unleashed pets, and grills of any kind are prohibited. Two large charcoal grills are provided on site. For more information about this year’s Six Sundays

The number of Wake Forest Gazette advertisers has dwindled to two — Bright Funeral Home and Wake Electric — and the editor is encouraging local businesses to consider advertising with this online newspaper. (The Wake Forest Historical Museum and the Wake Forest Chamber of Commerce were added by the editor years ago because they are important parts of the town; Redwood Productions set up the current Gazette website.) The Wake Forest Gazette has been a reliable source of information about the town of Wake Forest since 2003. The free online weekly newspaper is always available at www.wakeforestgazette.com. The Gazette is the only Wake Forest newspaper consistently offering news about the Wake Forest Board of Commissioners and Planning Board, events in town, calendar, obituaries and a list of community organizations and meeting times. There are also articles about town history, opinion from readers and once in a while we even print

The Wake Forest Renaissance Centre is introducing a series of concerts and special events from June through August featuring nationally renowned acts and performers. The “Summer at the Centre” Performance Series gets underway with The Embers: Featuring Craig Woolard on Saturday, June 8, at 7:30 p.m., continues with Malpass Brothers concerts on Saturday, July 27, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and concludes with Murder Mystery Dinners on Saturday, Aug. 24, at noon and 6:30 p.m. Tickets to these events and performances are now on sale and can be purchased online at www.wakeforestrencen.org, in person at the RC Box Office, or by calling 919-435-9458. Renaissance Centre Partners, Patrons, and Friends can purchase their tickets now. For more information about ways you can support the Renaissance Centre, visit https://www.wakeforestrencen.org/donate. For more information about the “Summer at the Centre” Performance Series, email Renaissance Centre Director Debbie Dunn at ddunn@wakeforestnc.gov.

The Town of Wake Forest, the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre, and Resources for Seniors are partnering with Village of C.A.R.E. to offer a free Expressive Arts Series at the Northern Wake Senior Center, 235 E. Holding Ave., from 10 a.m.-noon on the following Saturdays in May and June: May 4, 11, 18 and June 1, 15, 22, and 29. Open to families and people of all ages, the intergenerational arts classes will encourage participants to discover how expressive arts can be therapeutic and foster meaningful connections by creating their own music, paintings, poetry, ceramics, quilting, dances, and more. Online registration is required at www.ohwci.com/events. For more information, call 919-714-3854. This event is part of the Town of Wake Forest’s “Focus on Mental Wellness” series. For more information about the Town’s commitment to mental wellness, visit https://bit.ly/FocusonMentalWellness or email Community Outreach Manager Andrew Brown, Jr. at abrown@wakeforestnc.gov.  The Town of Wake Forest, the Wake Forest

From June 3-16, the Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources (PRCR) Department will host a Bass Fishing Tournament for ages 13 and older and a non-competitive Youth Fishing Tournament for ages 12 and under. 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 Monday, May 20, 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 Angler” gift bag. Fishing scales and “Early Angler” gift bags will be available for

The Town of Wake Forest will join Wake County and over 40 other city, town, and county government employers at the first-ever Local Government Career Expo on Saturday, June 8, from 1-4 p.m. at the NC State University McKimmon Center, 1101 Gorman St., Raleigh. Job seekers will have the opportunity to attend information sessions on various local government careers, including public safety, business, health sciences, transportation, arts, communications, and hospitality and learn about upward mobility, the mission and purpose of local government careers, and more. Anyone planning to attend is encouraged to register for the event and indicate their career interest at https://logocareerexpo.com/. Information will be shared with participating employers. All participants who register in advance will have a chance to win prizes at the event, including a Fitbit, Apple Watch, Ray-Ban or Oakley sunglasses. Drawings will be held hourly, and you must be present to win. For complete details, visit https://logocareerexpo.com/. ###

We have experienced some really hot weather this year!  Are we still in Spring or has Summer arrived early? The local housing market has not been as volatile and is tracking about the same as it has for the last many months. The local numbers are in for April 2024 and here is what is happening: Contrary to what you might hear on the news, I don’t expect significant home price decreases as long as the number of homes listed remains low. Here is an update for the end of April: A year ago, the average sale price of a single-family home in the Triangle was $496,792 and increased $35,890 to $532,682 by the end of April. That is a 7.2% increase. The number of homes for sale was 5,330 a year ago and declined by 409 to 4,921 by the end of April for a decrease of 7.7%. This

The Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources Advisory Board will host a family-friendly 5K/3K walk/run as part of National Trails Day on Saturday, June 1, at E. Carroll Joyner Park, 701 Harris Road. Check-in on the day of the event starts at 7 a.m., and the race begins at 8 a.m. Online registration is available at https://bit.ly/WFNationalTrailsDay. The entry fee for the 5K is $25 before March 31; $30 from April 1-May 14; $35 from May 15-30; and $40 the day before and day of the race. The entry fee for the 3K is $20 before March 31; $25 from April 1-May 14; $30 May 15-30; and $35 the day before and day of the race. Please note: Registrations will be accepted on the day of the event. Everyone who registers before May 15 will receive a race T-shirt. The National Trails Day 5K/3K is a timed walk/run for children and adults.

The Wake Forest Inspections Department issues a monthly report about all new building permits and new businesses. The department issued permits for 61 single-family houses and 39 townhouses ATand four swimming pools. There were four fit-up inspections and 11 pre-occupancy inspections. Fit-ups: Edward Jones at 3319 Heritage Trade Drive. Wakefield ATV at 745 Merritt Capital Drive, Suite 109. D-BAT Academies at 741 Merritt Capital Drove, Suite 110 Piada Italian Food at 529 NC 98 Bypass, Suite 110. Preoccupancy: Innovative Glass Solutions at 1600 Heritage Commerce Court, Suite 104 Chiropractic Wellness Center of Cary at 1740 Heritage Center Drive, Suite 101 Cricket Wireless at 12646 Capital Boulevard, Suite 116 JAK Moulding & Supply Inc, at 744 Merritt Capital Drive, Suite 113 Tri-Lease LLC at 1780 Heritage Center Drive, Suite 202 Big Wheel Realty LLC at 5105 Unicon Drive, Suite F Brickell Enterprises LLC at 620 NC 98 Bypass, Suite 200 Stiles12339