Juneteenth and Summertime

👋 Good morning, Apex! Today is Thursday, June 19, 2025 and this is the 24th weekly issue of The Peak Weekly.

Here is what’s inside today:

📝 Intro: Quick thoughts from yours truly

📂 Miscellaneous: Some town-related notes that didn’t fit anywhere else

🗓️ Things to Do This Week: Events and activities this coming week in and around Apex

🏢 Local Business: The latest in local small business news

🏛️ Civil News: The latest from our local government

☀️ Kids + Summertime: Some random places to take the kids this summer

⏪️ ICYMI: A few things worth mentioning again, just in case you missed it

👀 A Look Ahead: A quick peak at things to know beyond this week

Intro:

Happy Juneteenth!

This Saturday will be the 5th Annual Juneteenth in The Peak Festival taking place from 12pm-7pm on Town Hall Campus.

There is a long list of really cool attractions including a Juneteenth history exhibit, local food vendors, performances and live music, bounce houses, golf simulator, wax museum, vendors and much more.

While the festival is certainly a celebration, it is equally a powerful opportunity for all of us to unite and reflect on the meaning of freedom, listen and learn, recognize the ongoing struggle for civil rights still very much exists, and to discuss the importance of making the country more equal and fair for everyone.

Hope to see you there!

Oh… and I can’t forget. A very Happy 18th Birthday (on Sunday) to my daughter, Isabella. You’re an adult now! Rent is due on the 1st. 😆 

Miscellaneous:

🅿️📱 Smart Parking Mobile App
You can now see real-time information about the number of available parking spaces in four of the parking lots within a short walk of downtown. You can download the app on iOS or on Android.

⚽️ Women’s Soccer League
Last week, I mentioned the 40+ women’s soccer league. There is a 30+ division as well! Fall Registration opens on July 11. Check them out here.

✨ SparkLab Open House
SparkNC introduces students to high-tech careers like cybersecurity, AI software development and computer systems engineering, all while earning a high school credit. Several Open Houses coming up.

🚜 Farmland Preservation Public Survey
Wake County is creating a Farmland Preservation Plan. Wake County encourages everyone who cares about the future of local farming to take the survey and help shape the path forward. The survey will be open until the end of July.

💼 Part-Time Summer Help (in review)
Last week, I mentioned that The Peak Weekly is looking for part-time social media help over the summer. I received a lot of replies from some very talented people. If you haven’t heard back from me yet, don’t worry! I unfortunately haven’t been able to look through everything yet but I will get back to everyone this weekend!
 

Things to Do This Week in Apex:

Today, June 19

🎯 Darts Tournament
7pm - 9pm | Southern Peak Brewery

Friday, June 20

🥒 18+ Pickleball Open Gym
12pm - 2pm | Community Center

🐶 Pints + Puppies: Adoption Option!
5pm - 8pm | Southern Peak Brewery

Saturday, June 21

🧑‍🌾 Apex Farmers Market
8am - 12pm | The Depot

🚘 June (Classic) Cars & Coffee
8am - 11am | Sweetwater

🫶🏿 Juneteenth in the Peak
12pm - 7pm | Town Hall Campus

🐝 Pollinator Week Special Event
5pm - 7pm | Apex Nature Park

🗑️ Rhythm & Reels: King Garbage
7pm | Nature Park Amphitheatre

🎤 Rudy’s Karaoke
9pm | Rudy’s Pub & Grill

Some Things to Do Nearby:

Saturday, June 21

Bombshell Summer Party
12pm - 11pm | Bombshell Beer Company (Holly Springs)

Out! Raleigh Pride
12pm - 7pm | Downtown (Raleigh)

NC Courage vs. Houston Dash
7:30pm | WakeMed Soccer Park (Cary)

Local Business

🌶️ No More Triple Dippers?!

Word on the street is that Chili’s in Beaver Creek is closing next week. No solid proof of this at the moment, so take this message with a grain of salt. However, several people in Facebook Groups have reported to hear this information from Chili’s employees. We’ll see what happens, but let’s go ahead and start speculating on what comes next lol. My vote is an Arby’s. Where are my Arby’s people at?!

☕️ Now Open - Haraz Coffee

Yemen coffee is the ancestral wild coffee beverage which ~95% of all other coffees we drink today originate from. Since its recent ability to be exported, it has become incredibly sought after and praised for being one of the best coffees in the world.

Now open every day from 7am - 11pm at 1750 Olive Chapel Rd (next to Publix in the old Wake Zone building).

Read the reviews

🥤 Spotlight - Sodabox

Ever try a dirty soda?

A dirty soda is a drink that mixes soda with cream and flavorings.

Four years ago, Scott tested this concept here in Apex from a shipping container over off 55. Since then, Sodabox has set up shop in a building nearby at 817 E Williams St.

Their Summer Menu drops tomorrow and it looks like they have entered their “Dirty Seltzer” era with new drinks like the Wow Wow Melon and Mint Condition.

Check out their full menu of drinks here

Civil News:

💡 Utility Billing Errors
To resolve your incorrect utility billing, fill out this form online.

🏚️ Tunstall House
Bids have been approved for the interior, exterior and site work for the Tunstall House. How the house will be used is still unknown but it’s good to see that we are moving forward on this.

⚾️ Pleasant Park Baseball Fields
A design for the baseball fields has been approved. Several options were presented. Ultimately, a 4-field design (with one field extending its centerline to 400’ to attract collegiate and semi-pro events) was approved. The approved plan did not include any additional parking.

🏞️ Environmental Education Center
A 1-story design for the Environmental Education Center at the Nature Center has been approved.

🗓️ Important Upcoming Dates

Monday, June 23
Apex Fire Department Public Engagement Meeting
6pm - 7:30pm | Town Hall

Tuesday, June 24
Regular Town Council Meeting
6pm | Town Hall

Wednesday, June 25
Parks/Rec Advisory Meeting
6pm | Town Hall

Kids + Summertime

When the summer boredom starts to set in, here are some random day-trip ideas to entertain the kids:

⛳️ Art Putt
Raleigh, NC
Art Putt is an interactive public art installation created by Artsplosure and activated by Downtown Raleigh Alliance. This installation features a mini-golf course with surrealist interpretations of all things North Carolina. It’s free and self-serve. Just use the lockbox code 0443 to access putters and balls.

🍨 Howling Cow Creamery
Raleigh, NC
Eat some great ice cream and look at some cows! Located on NC State’s Lake Wheeler Farm, The Creamery provides focused agricultural education through seeing, tasting, and doing. See some pictures on Instagram.

🚂 NC Transportation Museum
Spencer, NC
Have a train-loving kid? This is a must-see. It features antique cars, an authentic train depot, and a 37-bay Roundhouse that includes 25 locomotives, dozens of rail cars and more. The museum offers seasonal train rides, including the popular Day Out with Thomas and the Polar Express.

🐅 Carolina Tiger Rescue
Pittsboro, NC
Carolina Tiger Rescue is home to thirteen species of animals, including tigers, lions, cougars, and kinkajous. Many of the animals have been rescued from dire situations where they were kept as pets, props in roadside zoos, or as residents of failing sanctuaries. The animals live in large, naturalistic habitat enclosures.

🌊 Lions Water Adventure
Kinston, NC
It’s a ROARIN’ good time. 3 water slides, 5k square foot kiddie pool with fountains and dump bucket, 550’ long lazy river, snacks and a 32’ tall water slide tower. It’s a little bit of a drive, but worth it!

🤿 Fantasy Lake Adventure Park
Wake Forest, NC
A 65-acre crystal lake that is sectioned off for scuba diving, an inflatable water park, kayaking, paddle boarding. And… an area for pickleball.

In Case You Missed it:

🚀 LaunchAPEX Applications Now Open
LaunchAPEX is a free program that offers business training through Wake Technical Community College, access to financial resources, business mentoring, and networking with other entrepreneurs. Applications are open until July 15.

🏨 A Sweet(water) Hotel
Construction of the 125-room Tempo by Hilton hotel will begin this year and will open Q4 2026. It will feature 4,000 square feet of meeting space in addition to a rooftop bar and separate restaurant/bar on the main floor.

🅿️ Saunders Lot Update
Project is on track and within budget. Paving is slated for completion by the end of July which will reopen the southern lot to the public with close to 200 new spaces and then construction will start on the gravel lot.

Now Open

🐶🐈‍⬛ Peak Paws Advanced Veterinary Hospital
24/7/365 Emergency Veterinarian & Urgent Care
Website | 📍 791 Haybeck Lane

🍣 Sora Sushi Ramen
Website | 📍 930 Broadstone Way

🍨 Mama Bird’s Ice Cream* 
Website | 📍 2700 Stokesdale Ln

A Look Ahead:

June 28, 2025
Mayor Gilbert ‘In the Community’ Town Hall
10:30am | Apex Elementary Ball Field

June 28, 2025
She Farms Apex
9am - 2pm | See Link for Participating Farms

June 28, 2025
Rhythem & Reels: Shrek
Dusk | Nature Park Amphitheater

June 28, 2025
Art Camp for Grown Ups
10am - 3pm | The Studio

July 3, 2025
Fireworks Frenzy
5pm - 10pm | Hunter Street Park

July 4, 2025
Olde Fashioned Fourth of July
9am - 1pm | Downtown Apex

July 17, 2025
Family Trivia Night
6pm - 8pm | Apex Senior Center

A Final Note:

Thank you for taking time out of your day today to read this week’s edition of The Peak Weekly.

As always, if you have any ideas of how to make this newsletter better, want to nominate a local business or organization to be featured, or anything else, please respond to this email or email me directly at [email protected]

See you next Thursday... 😘