*The Wake Forest Farmers Market will be open from 10 a.m. to noon (winter hours) Saturday, Dec. 16, in Renaissance Plaza on Brooks Street. Local farmers and artisans will offer meats, seasonal vegetables, bread and baked goods and other local wares. See the market’s Facebook page for information about the vendors.
*Monday Night Bingo at The Factory is hosted by the Wake Forest Kiwanis Club in the Mill Room from 7 to 9:30 p.m. every Monday night. All profits support the club’s projects for children. Visit www.wakeforestbingo.com for more information.
*Tri-Area Ministry Food Pantry at 149 East Holding Avenue is now open from 9 to 11 a.m. every third Saturday along with its regular hours on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for food distribution. It serves about 700 families in Wake Forest, Youngsville, Rolesville and their surrounding areas. Call 919-556-7144 for information about receiving food, volunteering and donations. You can send donations to Tri-Area at PO Box 1394, Wake Forest NC 27588.
*Hope House Weekly Food Pantry distributes food at 1 p.m. every Thursday. Hope House volunteers pick up the food from the Food Bank of Eastern and Central North Carolina and the house typically has vegetables, fruits, salad packages and breads but sometimes does have meat, eggs, fruit juice and milk. Hope House is at 334 North Allen Road. For more information, call Norma Bennekin at 919-263-1007.
*A free NC Veterans Coffee will be held at the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre, 405 Brooks Street, on Saturday, Dec. 16, from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. The Veterans Health Administration team will be on hand to answer your questions. Learn about many organizations working on behalf of veterans, including Department of Veterans Affairs, NC Serves and others. Special guest speaker will be Charlie Smith, former Assistant Secretary for Veterans Affairs. For more information, email Brooke Dickhart.
*The Listening Room will feature Hyde, Pete Pawsey and Rod Abernethy on Saturday, Dec. 16, beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the Wake Forest Coffee Company, 156 South White Street.
*Local veterans and their families are invited to an open house for Operation A.R.T. at the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 4. It will be an opportunity for them to register for the classes in writing, painting, photography and drawing to be held January through March at the center. See article in this issue for details.
*The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration will be held Thursday, Jan. 18, at Friendship Chapel Missionary Baptist Church on Friendship Chapel Road. Area residents are invited to share a light meal at 6 p.m. with the program beginning at 7 p.m. The free program is sponsored by several local churches and community organizations. For more information email Margo Grant at mlgtennis38@yahoo.com.
*A program about local moonshiners and law enforcement is being planned for the annual membership meeting of the Wake Forest Historical Association on Sunday, Jan. 21, beginning at 3 p.m. at the Wake Forest Historical Museum on North Main Street. The program is open to all area residents. There will be refreshments but the only thing in the cups will be water or coffee.
*The Senior Lifestyle Expo planned by the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by Carillon Assisted Living will be held at Richland Creek Community Church on Tuesday, March 20, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Exhibitors will be able to get booth registration packets later this month.
*The 38th Meet in the Street sponsored by the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce will be held on Saturday, May 5, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The chamber is now accepting applications for the booths in four categories: handmade arts and crafts, non-profit, food vendor and downtown Wake Forest merchant. Call Corey Hutcherson at 919-556-1519, option 2, or send him an email, corey@wakeforestchamber.org.
*The Wall that Heals, one of the two half-size replicas of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., will be displayed in Wake Forest for four days in October, Oct. 18 through 21, on the lawn in front of the Calvin Jones House and the Wake Forest Historical Museum. The Wake Forest Purple Heart Foundation is the sponsor.
