From the Wake Forest Chamber

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 ###

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Monthly Inspections Report: January

The Wake Forest Inspections Department issues a monthly report about all new building permits and new businesses. In January there were 35 permits issued for new single-family dwellings and nine permits for townhouses. There was one new commercial building approved, a Char-Grill at 145 Crenshaw Corners Drive. There were three fit-ups: two for retail space vanilla box at 12243 Capital Boulevard and one at 12247 Capital Boulevard as well as  Jersy Mike’s Subs at 1040 Forestville Road, Suite 140. There were two pre-occupancy inspections: Wakefield ATV (Auto Truck Van) at 745 Merritt Capital Drive, Suite 108 and Barlow Photography at 745 Merritt Capital Drive, Suite 106. ###

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The Growth Rate

Based on the January, 2024 Monthly Development Report, WF Planning Updated February 14, 2024 The updated Wake Forest population as of July 1, 2023 was 56,681. That figure included the new homes which were approved for occupancy. When all the current approved apartments, townhouses and single-family homes are built the population will rise to 69,956. The town keeps a running tally of approved projects with counts of those completed. The best inspections current estimate is that between seven and eight people move to town each day. Plans NOT on the list There are a number of plans, large and small, that have been on this list and have now disappeared. Some of the plans have before the planning and the town board, and large subdivisions such as the Reserve at Dunn Creek require detailed plans after approval by the town board, detailed plans the planning department staff have to examine,

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Clubs and Organizations

Below is a list of groups – and if your group is not included and should be – please send a note with the information to cwpelosi@aol.com. If the information about your group is wrong or out of date, please send a note with the corrections to that same email address. Aren’t we lucky to have so many groups that benefit our town and its residents? Last updated on July 1, 2023. *American Legion Post 187 meets the second Thursday at 7 p.m. in the American Legion Hall at 225 East Holding Avenue. The dinner begins at 6 p.m. and costs $5. For information and membership, call Commander Doug Doster at 1-603-660-6948. *American Heritage Girls (AHG) meets at 6:30 p.m. at Hope Lutheran Church on Rogers Road on the second and fourth Thursdays. Get in touch with Amy Minor at chrisnamy34@hotmail.com or see the website, www.hopelutheranwf.org. *The General James Moore

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Wake Forest Black history: Allen Young, a remarkable man

The buildings are gone and almost forgotten with only a few photographs left to keep alive the remarkable story of Wake Forest native Allen Young and his school, the Wake Forest Normal and Industrial School on Spring and other nearby streets. Allen Young, born in 1875, was the oldest child of freed slaves Ailey Fowler Young and Henry Young. The Young family tradition says he was born in the small saddlebag house on North White Street now called the Ailey Young house because she purchased it in 1895 for $105. Henry Young was a farmer and Allen along with his younger siblings worked in the fields. Allen Young also worked for several Wake Forest College faculty members including Professors W.R. Cullom, J.H. Gulley, J.L. Lake, G.W. Paschal, W.L. Poteat and B.F. Sledd. They gave him private education lessons which enabled him to attend the Henderson Institute in Kittrell and then

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A very quiet meeting — too quiet

With some exceptions, Tuesday evening’s town board meeting on Feb. 20, 2024, was remarkable because it was impossible to hear what many people were saying. We could hear Mayor Vivian Jones before and after she went around the dais to read the commendation for retiring Wake Forest Police Lieutenant Cindy Johnson Perry, who is retiring after 30 years with the town police force. Jones had to ask: Johnson Perry was the first woman hired in the department — which would also make her the first Black woman hired. During those 30 years she filled all or almost all the positions in the department and kept getting promoted at regular intervals. When the mayor returned to her seat, she said, “We’re losing another good one,” and added that the town cannot persuade the 25- and 30-year veterans in the department to stay with the town instead of retiring. During the public

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Opinion: NC Court could violate many rights

By Rob Schofield, NC Newsline Editor NCnewsline.com February 20, 2024 (The Gazette does not cover Wake Forest or Wake County school news, but the editor has a keen interest in education in North Carolina.) By all indications, North Carolina’s public education system will soon be dealt a massive, devastating and world-altering blow. The windup for the expected haymaker commences this week when the state Supreme Court again hears arguments in the 30-year-old Leandro school funding case. The actual delivery of the punch will likely take place sometime in the weeks to come when, barring a remarkable and unexpected turnaround in the attitudes and philosophies of its conservative Republican justices, the court will reverse its previous holding and rule that it has no constitutional authority to order the legislature to adequately fund the state’s K-12 schools. When and if this ruling comes down, it will mark a seminal moment in state history –

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Minority/Women-Owned Expo March 16

The Wake Forest Human Relations Council will host the 2024 Minority & Women-Owned Business Expo Saturday, March 16, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Joyner Park Community Center, 701 Harris Road. The event is free and open to everyone. Over 20 area minority and women-owned businesses are expected to participate in the expo designed to increase recognition and opportunities for minority and women business owners in our community. Local businesses already scheduled to participate include Aging Care Matters, Ataraxis Travel, Body20, Cryo Wake Forest Recovery & Wellness Spa, Kwench Juice Café, Remarkable Reflexology LLC, and Well Kept Brands. To view a complete list of participating businesses, visit https://bit.ly/WFMinorityWomenOwnedBusinessExpo.  According to a 2023 report, of all US businesses, only 2% are Black-owned, just 6% are Hispanic-owned, and only 5% are women-owned. The 2024 Minority & Women-Owned Business Expo will bring enterprising professionals together from the Wake Forest community to network and showcase their

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‘Jackie Robinson: A Game Apart’ on Feb. 24

 Mike Wiley Productions will present two free performances of “Jackie Robinson: A Game Apart” in Wake Forest on Saturday, Feb. 24. The first performance will take place at 11 a.m. at the Alston-Massenburg Center, 416 N. Taylor St., while the second show is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre, 405 S. Brooks St. “A Game Apart” provides a glimpse of Jackie Robinson’s life during a bygone era of separate and unequal locker rooms, whites-only hotels, and restaurants with only a back door for colored athletes to enter. Witness the hopeless humiliation of a star player who was showered with adulation on the field and became a second-hand citizen when he walked off the diamond. Meet Jackie’s compatriots fighting the same battles between the end zones, inside the ring,  and around the track.  A powerful lesson of courage through dedication, perseverance, and leadership, “A Game Apart” is part of the Wake

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Brief Bits

Mayor Vivian Jones spoke Monday night during the annual State of the Town Dinner at The Forks, addressing everything from resurfacing town roads to the $1.1 billion federal grant that will reshape the present CSX rail line, give the town a railroad station and provide for train service direct from here to Charlotte several times a day. The editor will attach it to the message she sends out to subscribers every Wednesday when the Gazette goes on line. For others, just send me a note and I will send you one. * * * * The Wake Forest Gazette is happy to announce that the town’s history book, “Connections . . . 100 Years of Wake Forest History” that was published in 2009 for the town’s centennial, has been digitized and is now available for free at https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/248642?ln=en#?xywh=-2068%2C692%2C4326%2C2510. The people who made it happen are Sarah Soleim at the Wake

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