June 20, 2007

Published in Wake Forest, NC

            Commissioner Frank Drake fulfilled their request in his motion to amend the budget Town Manager Mark Williams proposed.

            The book, to be published by The Donning Company out of Virginia Beach, Va., will cost $29,640 plus shipping, Frank Smith said. They will order 1,500 books with both black-and-white and color photographs and illustrations, for delivery in early November 2008.

            “We believe the town will recoup the complete cost of the book,” Smith said. That would mean selling 848 books of the 1,500.

            The coordinator will work 20 hours a week at first, more as the 2009 centennial approaches. Smith said he or she would be supervised by a town employee.

            The events the committee plans are a kick-off New Year’s Eve celebration called either First Night or First Light, a birthday celebration in February for the date the charter passed the General Assembly, a special performance during Six Sundays in Spring, an event in conjunction with the Fourth of July, and a Christmas gala at the new town hall.

            Mayor Vivian Jones, who is a centennial committee member, noted that Williams already has $10,000 in the coming year’s budget for the centennial. Planning is in its early stages. “We haven’t gotten the budget together yet.”

            There may be some fund-raisers for the year-long celebration, and Smith said they want to keep costs to the public as low as possible.

            Commissioner Frank Drake asked who would write the book, and Smith said they are considering several people who might write different sections.

            Writing will probably be a volunteer position, Carol Smith said. “There is so much material available,” mentioning the historical information Town Clerk Joyce Wilson MMC has and the files at the Wake Forest College Birthplace. “We’re not sure we’re going to have to hire a professional writer.”

            The committee meets the second Monday at 5:15 p.m. in town hall.