Patriot Day, Screaming Eagles and Fall Productions

👋 Good morning, Apex! Today is Thursday, September 11, 2025 and this is the 36th weekly issue of The Peak Weekly.

On Tuesday, I was in attendance when the Mayor and Council officially proclaimed today as “Patriot Day” in the Town of Apex to encourage residents to never forget the horrific events of 9/11, and to show respect and appreciation for first responders in Apex and around the country.

In addition to the nearly 3,000 innocent civilians who lost their lives in this horrific attack, 9/11 marked the single largest loss of first responders in a single day in American history with the deaths of 343 Firefighters, 71 Law Enforcement Officers, 8 Paramedics and 55 Military Personnel.

I invite you to join me in remembering and mourning all of those individuals, including their families, friends and communities who were affected, and to also extend a thank you to our first responders here in Apex who help keep us safe. 💜 

🇺🇸 Patriot Day Ceremony
Today’s Patriot Day Ceremony was organized by the American Legion Post 124 and takes place at 9:30am on the corner of Saunders St and N Salem St.

Salem Street from Chatham to Center and Saunders Street from Commerce to Salem will be closed from 9am until 11am.

From 12pm - 6pm today, the Red Cross will be at the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints hosting a blood drive in honor of 9/11.

I do also want to mention a couple of other important proclamations that were made by the Town this week:

🇪🇸 Hispanic Heritage Month
September 15 - October 15, 2025 is Hispanic Heritage Month in Apex. While we celebrate Hispanic and Latino communities beyond this month, from September 15 to October 15 we give extra recognition to the many contributions made to the history and culture of the United States, including important advocacy work, vibrant art, popular and traditional foods, and much more. The Latino population in the United States is 68 million people, making it our nation’s largest racial or ethnic minority (20% of the population). Apex’s Hispanic Heritage Month Learning Lunch takes place on September 18, as well as the Latino Arts Festival on September 27!

🇮🇹 Italian American Heritage Month
October is Italian American Heritage Month in Apex. This is is celebrated every year to honor and recognize the centuries of achievements, successes, and valuable contributions of Italian immigrants and Italian Americans. Currently, there are over 26 million Americans of Italian descent residing in the United States. This makes Italian-Americans the fifth largest ethnic group in our nation. Make sure to add Festa Italiana to your calendar which takes place on September 20!

Miscellaneous:

👥💬 Apex Town Council Candidate Forum
There are 8 candidates running for the 3 available Town Council seats up for election this November. This Saturday, September 13 from 3:30pm - 5:30pm, you can attend a public, non-partisan event to hear directly from the candidates. The Apex Town Council Candidate Forum will take place at the John M. Brown Community Center.

Register for the Event Here

🗄 Data Storage Facility
By now, you are likely aware of the proposed data center. But if you aren’t up-to-date, or if you have questions, then I have the answers.

First, here is a tentative/projected (subject to change) timeline: The proposal will first be heard by the Environmental Advisory Board. This could happen as soon as the hearing on 9/18. It would then go to the Planning Board Meeting on 11/10, followed by the Town Council Meeting (with 2-3 new faces) on 12/9.

Word on the peakway is that the very first topic to discuss during the Apex Town Council Candidate Forum on Saturday will be this very topic.

Here are a few ways to become an expert on data centers and the Apex / New Hill data center proposal:

→ Dr. Michelle’s Incredible 8-Minute Presentation to Council on 9/9

→ The Peak Way’s Comprehensive Written Overview

→ Protect Wake County Coalition’s Website

→ Protect Wake County Coalition’s Facebook Group

🦅 Apex Police Adopts Screaming Eagles
The Apex Town Council approved a motion brought by Apex Police Chief Johansen to adopt the Golf Company, 426th Brigade Support Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (the famed “Screaming Eagles”) as part of the America Supporting Americans Adopt-a-Unit Program. Volunteers from APD will work with other community groups, businesses and Town employees to coordinate activities in support of this military unit and its families (care packages, holiday support for families, etc).

🎭 Christmas Play and Musical Auditions
The Halle Cultural Arts Center will be hosting its 2025 Christmas Play (Asterix, The Little Star) and Christmas Musical (Jingle Bell Jukebox). Ages 10 to adult are eligible to audition. Audition Dates: October 14 & 15. Learn more and sign up here

🌲 Christmas Tree Pre-Orders
Christmas Tree pre-order pricing at Neighbor Boy Farms is now through the end of the month. Pre-order your tree here and then pick up Nov 20 - Dec 7.

🚧 Olive Chapel Closure
NCDOT said in a Tuesday press release that the section of Olive Chapel is expected to reopen in late January.

🏆️ Apex Chamber 2025 Award Nominations
Submit your nominations for this year’s Large Business of the Year, Small Business of the Year and Citizen of the Year by Monday, Sept 22. The Citizen of the Year award is described as making, “outstanding contributions to the Apex community through their efforts, which has made a significant impact on the town and its citizens.” I’m not saying that sounds like the weekly email newsletter writer who puts in hours every week for free with no ads to drive awareness to local events, businesses and other causes. But I’m also not not saying that. Anyway, you can vote here!

Things to Do This Weekend in Apex:

Friday, September 12

👕 Mabopane Marketplace
7am -12pm | Mabopane Foundation
(and Saturday 10am - 1pm)

🍩 Coffee with a Cop
8am-9am | Dunkin’

💃 Latin Night on Salem Street
Starting: 9pm | Oaklyn Springs Brewery

🛢 Rare & Vintage Event
Featuring barrel-aged beers from Incendiary Brewing
Starting: 11am | Peakway Taps

🍂 Neighbor Boy Fall Fest
Friday - Sunday | Neighbor Boy Farm

Saturday, September 13

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

🧓 55+ Health/Wellness Fair
9am - 12pm | Apex Senior Center

🧇 Community Town Hall w/Mayor Gilbert
9:30am - 11am | Waffle House

🚶Sidewalk Sale
Starting: 10am | Downtown Apex

🍁 Fall at Stars Hollow
10:30am - 3:30pm | The Studio

🐾 Eco Kids: Animal Signs Discovery Walk
1pm - 3pm | Harris Energy & Environmental Center

☘️ Halfway to St. Patrick’s Celebration
Starting: 2pm | Doherty’s Irish Pub

Sunday, September 14

🦈 Sharktoberfest
Starting: 12pm | Vicious Fishes Brewery

Wednesday, September 17

🎬️ Wednesday Morning Movie
How to Train Your Dragon
10am - 12pm | The Halle

🔠 Music Bingo
7:30pm - 9:30pm | Rudy’s Pub & Grill

Local Business Updates

🥂 Fratelli’s Delicatessen
Yesterday, Fratelli’s in Sweetwater held their 1-Year Anniversary Celebration. We recently spoke with Fratelli’s and have shared their story here. Also… they have Music Bingo tonight (and every Thursday) from 6-8pm.

🍍 Playa Bowls
Playa Bowls in downtown Apex is in its soft opening right now. Their hours are 10am-6pm. The official grand opening is this Saturday, September 13 at 10am. The first 100 guests will receive a free bowl & a custom Playa t-shirt. They will also move to their official hours, which will be 8am-9pm daily.

👗 Monroe Boutique
Monroe Boutique is closing by the end of the month. Get 50% off their remaining inventory now through next weekend. (or shop online and use code: SEPT50)

⚕ Black Diamond Chiropractic and Sports Performance
The Grand Opening celebration is tomorrow (Friday) with an official ribbon cutting alongside the Chamber at 12pm. Office tours every 30 minutes, live demonstrations, $300 in prize giveaways, special new patient offers and more. Details here.

⬆️ ⬅️ North Left Mercantile
This fall, North Left Mercantile downtown will be hosting several workshops from bouquets to bath salts and paint nights to holiday celebrations. The first one will be on Tuesday, Sept 16: Teacup Bouquet Workshop with Diana (owner of Jordan Lake Farms). The next will be Wednesday, Oct 8: Autumn Watercolor Workbook with Artfully Apex. Get tickets and view the full schedule of events here.

☕️ Turkish Coffee Lady
I’m a week late on this, but Happy 1st Anniversary to Turkish Coffee Lady! If you’ve never been, head over to Olive Chapel Professional Park and see why people on Google are saying things like, “One of my favorite places for morning coffee or a casual breakfast” and, “Delicious coffee, amazing traditional sweets, and a warm, welcoming atmosphere.”

🩰 Starpath Dance Academy
Starpath Dance Academy offers dance classes in Apex and in Cary, in a variety of styles, for ages 2-18. This Saturday, Sept 13 from 4pm-5:30pm is Sparkle Day! This is a free event where you can meet the staff, make a craft, have some treats and take part in a dance demonstration. This event is designed primarily for ages 3-7 and will take place at the Cary location (10130 Green Level Church Rd). Pre-register here to receive a free gift bag.

🎃 Porch Perfect NC
Dress your porch up this Halloween! Allyn is a mom of 3 living in Apex who runs a small seasonal porch decorating business, Porch Perfect NC. Check out her work on Instagram or on her website here.

Utility Update:

Recent Billing Errors
There has been quite a bit of concern in the community about incorrect utility billing. The Town Manager has concluded that the service dates on your utility bill are incorrect, but the amount owed listed on your utility bill is correct.

• Last Friday, the Town released a video where the Town Manager responds to billing concerns: “What we’ve learned is that it’s the dates, not the dollars, that are incorrect.”

• On Tuesday, Manager Vosburg communicated that the actual average billing cycle over the last 6 months is the correct 30-day period; it’s just an issue of the dates being printed incorrectly on the bill.

During public comments, a concerned citizen asked an excellent question: “That (service dates) is the core data on a bill. If your time of service isn’t even correct on the bill, how can we as residents trust that anything else on the bill is accurate?” Watch the Full Statement Here

Solar Incentives
Following those comments, another concerned resident spoke about solar credits. He said that he received communication from the Town which stated that Apex solar power customers will no longer be able to use solar credits to offset any of their non-electrical usage, the primary reason he upgraded to solar to begin with. He stated, in part, “We all want to encourage the implementation of solar power and yet we’re doing something that is completely counter productive.” Watch the Full Statement Here

Recalculation Requests
For those who requested a recalculation, the Town stated that BerryDunn has completed their audit on each of those accounts. The Town is now ‘reconciling’ those and will then mail letters to all of those who requested the review which they anticipate to begin this month.

This process is a direct contradiction of what the Town Manager, Council, and staff told us they were going to do during the meeting with BerryDunn and in the video they made where they specifically stated, “Instead of waiting until all of the recalculations are done and then informing each resident, we’ll be doing that on a rolling basis.” Instead, I’m sitting here at day 109 still waiting as they did the opposite of that and decided to collect all of the results from BerryDunn first, then spend some time with those results inside the walls of Town Hall, and then will share it with us. 👍️ 

Fall Productions

Come see these incredibly talented high school students put on a show! These shows are open to the public and the Fall Productions are just around the corner!

💍 The Importance of Being Ernest
October 16-18 | Apex High School

🏹 Marian, or The True Tale of Robin Hood
October 23-25 | Middle Creek HS

👨‍⚖️ 12 Angry Jurors
November 21 - 22 | Apex Friendship HS

A Look Ahead

September 18, 2025
CommUniversity: Engaging Next Generation Leadership
6pm | Apex Senior Center

September 19, 2025
Apex Community Dance
7pm - 9pm | The Halle

September 20, 2025
Festa Italiana
11am - 7pm | Town Hall Campus

September 21, 2025
Classical Concert Series
3pm | The Halle

September 25, 2025
Explore S’more
6pm - 7:30pm | Nature Park Amphitheater

September 27, 2025
Latino Arts & Culinary Festival
3pm - 9pm | The Depot

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... 😘