Happenings

Lazy Daze

Arts & Crafts Festival

PHOTOGRAPHED BY JONATHAN FREDIN

Local swimmers MORGAN STICKNEY and HANNAH

ASPDEN both won gold medals at the Paralympics in Tokyo. Stickney, from Cary, will bring home two gold medals after coming first in the women's 400 meter S8 freestyle and swimming on the winning women’s 4x100 medley relay team. Aspden, who lives in Raleigh, took gold in the 100-meter women's backstroke S9 competition. Stickney and Aspden both train at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary and are coached by TAC Titans Associate Head Coach John Payne. triangleaquatics.org

TRADER JOE’S hosted a grand opening Sept. 10 at the new Park West Village location, at the corner of Morrisville Parkway and Chapel Hill Road. After months of renovations, the 10,600 square-foot store opened in the former Earth Fare space. It is the fourth Trader Joe’s in the Triangle and the ninth Trader Joe’s in the state.

The Coastal Credit Union Foundation

recently issued $157,500 in grants to benefit five nonprofit organizations in the community. In doing so, the foundation has surpassed $3 million in grants since it was formed in 2011. The August grants include $50,000 for the United Way of the Greater Triangle’s 10 to Watch Program. 10 to Watch addresses racial, gender and power disparities in leadership among the local nonprofit community. Another $50,000 grant was made to Boys and Girls Clubs Serving Wake County, to support Project Great Futures, which focuses on academic success, healthy lifestyles, and leadership and character development. Other grant recipients are Step Up Ministry, Alliance Medical Ministry and Triangle Family Services. coastal24.com/foundation

Dressing the Abbey, a costume exhibition that highlights fashion from television drama Downton Abbey, will open Oct. 23 at the North Carolina Museum of History. These original costumes worn by the stars of Downton Abbey depict fashions of the British aristocracy in the early 20th century. The costumes range from country tweeds and riding outfits; servants’ uniforms and footmen’s livery; to lavish evening attire crafted from sumptuous fabrics and decorated with intricate embroidery, lace and beading. The traveling exhibit will be on display through Jan. 17, 2022. ncmuseumofhistory.org

Rhonda Raney was recently named the new executive director of InterAct. Raney, who begins her role on Oct. 7, will lead the day-to-day activities of InterAct in its mission of saving lives, rebuilding lives, and securing safer futures for victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence in Wake

Howard Johnson, who

has been president of the Cary Chamber of Commerce for 35 years, announced his retirement effective Oct. 1. Mark

Lawson, senior vice president of economic development for the chamber, was named as Johnson’s successor. carychamber.com

Craig Setzer was recently named director of the Apex Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources

Department. He has been with Apex since 2005 and has held supervisory positions in both athletics and operations. The department currently manages 12 townowned parks, 16.6 miles of greenway, and over 617 acres of developed, undeveloped, and open-space parkland. Among Setzer’s priorities are the opening of a new senior

center

and the

completion of Pleasant

Park,

opening in 2022. A historical marker commemorating the segregated 1923 Friendship School was dedicated during a ceremony Aug. 22 at Apex Friendship Middle School. The marker was the result of nearly two years of effort by Larry Harris, the Friends of Friendship, and other supporters. Harris and Rebecca Ashley, media coordinator at Apex Friendship High School, unveiled the marker, located on Humie Olive Road in Apex. Roughly 50 supporters, including Apex Town Council members, Wake County School officials and three former students

of that first Friendship School, gathered to honor the community of Friendship and the lasting impact of the school where generations of Black children were taught. Larry Harris

Participants in the VICTORY RIDE TO CURE CANCER,

a cycling fundraiser on Aug. 28, raised nearly $400,000 to benefit cancer research. The fourth annual charity ride, hosted by the V Foundation for Cancer Research at NC State University’s Centennial Campus, had over 500 registered riders and nearly 200 volunteers. thevictoryride.org

RDU'S

OBSERVATION Park

recently reopened to the public, after closing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Popular with families and aviation enthusiasts, the park features views of the 10,000-foot primary runway, and it’s open daily from 9 a.m. to sunset. rdu.com/observation-park