Wake Forest’s Centennial Fourth of July Celebration begins Friday night at Trentini Stadium and will wind down after the Children’s Parade, games and art Saturday morning.
You will be well advised to get to the stadium gate on the Wake Forest-Rolesville High School campus early. Contractors are already at work on the school’s renovations, and the usual parking near the stadium is unavailable.
Instead, there will be on-street parking near the school and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary has opened all its parking lots for the event. There will also be handicapped parking available.
The stadium gate will open at 5:30 p.m.
Take cash. You will want to buy some of the varied food and drink available, and the Centennial Committee will offer the engraved paving bricks at $100 each, the centennial blanket at $45, and the centennial book, Connections . . . 100 Years of Wake Forest History at $35. The committee will also be selling hot dog and drink plates at the 1909 price of 15 cents to the first 100 people.
The other food and drink choices are:
-- Hot dogs, hamburgers, sausage and peppers, Chick-Fil-A sandwiches and cheese steaks.
-- Popcorn, sno-cones and cotton candy sold by the WF-R Athletic Booster Club.
Alcoholic beverages and smoking are not allowed on the school property.
The celebration gets underway at 6:30 p.m. with performances by the Centennial Community Chorus and the Friendship Chapel Choir, followed by the Band of Oz. Don Carrington’s Parachute Team will drop in, and the Wake Forest Police Color Guard will present the American flag.
Wake Forest Mayor Vivian Jones will welcome everyone, and Ryan Hutchinson, the senior vice president for business administration at the seminary, will give the invocation.
After that, when the sun begins to set and there is darkness enough to enjoy the fireworks, the crew will begin shooting and setting them off for everyone to enjoy. Who doesn’t go ooh and aah? There will be a lot of that because the Fourth Committee expects at least 15,000 people.
Also, remember that pre-event tickets are still on sale, five tickets for $20. They will be $5 each at the gate. Children 6 and under are allowed in for free.
Early Saturday morning Wake Forest police officers will begin clearing parked cars and making sure no one parks along North Main Street so that the parade can flow easily.
Several thousand children with parents, bikes, dogs, skates, hula hoops and wagons are expected to be in the free parade. Line-up begins at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Juniper and North Main, and the parade begins at 10.
This year, instead of looping around North Main median, the parade participants will march directly to Holding Park for Art-in-the-Park and Games-in-the-Park from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Police officers and Fourth volunteers will be along the new route which goes from North Main along North Avenue, a left turn onto Wingate, another left turn onto Durham Road and then a right onto College leading to the park.
Volunteers are still needed to sell tickets at the gate Friday night and sell concessions inside the stadium. Also, more volunteers are needed for the activities in Holding Park and the Community House.
Get in touch with Fourth Chairman Rhonda Alderman if you can help. Find here at 812-9121 or fireworklady@aol.com.