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It will time to renew friendships,
to contemplate the past, to celebrate the present and future. It will be the
centennial celebration for the Royall Mills village.
It will take place Saturday, Nov. 3,
at Glen Royal Baptist Church, which along with the Wake Forest Church of God
defined the village as much as the Royall Cotton Mill.
The day will begin at 10:30 a.m. in
the Glen Royal sanctuary with a short ceremony during which Jamie Cox will talk
about the history of the mill. Cox, a former town planner who is now a Raleigh
lawyer, wrote “A Common Thread: Life at Royall Mill and its Village 1899 to
1996” before the village was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1999.
The village was incorporated as the
Town of Royall Mills in 1907, two years earlier than the Town of Wake Forest
was chartered to take the place of the Town of Wake Forest College. The mill
village was unincorporated in 1945.
After the opening ceremony, people
will be invited to dinner on the grounds, which will be a potluck event in the
fellowship hall and on the grounds outside as weather permits. People are
encouraged to bring a dish for the meal; the organizing committee will provide
all the needed paper products as well as coffee, tea, water and ice.
The afternoon, from 1 to 5 p.m., can
be spent in fellowship and in touring the homes that will be open for the
event. Village residents may be selling their art or their baked goods; many of
the houses will be open so that former residents can visit them.
Also, Ed Morris, the executive
director of the Wake Forest Birthplace Museum, will be in the church library
with a scanner to scan and return any photographs anyone may bring that will
help illustrate the live of the village and those in it. He cannot scan
photographs that are in frames with glass; please bring them unframed.
In keeping with the sense of
community that continues in the village, paying for the event is being done on
a voluntary, individual basis. Claire Wall says the Church of God will provide
all the drinks and ice. The Wake Forest Birthplace Museum is donating $100
toward expenses. An anonymous town resident has donated $200 toward expenses.
Cox will bring 100 copies of his book and give them out free of charge. The
Wake Forest Historic Preservation Commission, which was largely responsible for
the village’s National Register listing, will be asked to make a donation on
behalf of the town.
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