Achievers
In its 2024 Best Schools listing, Niche ranked Salem Academy the No. 1 Best Boarding High School in North Carolina. In addition, Niche ranked Salem Academy — the only all-girls, boarding and day high school located on a college campus with a STEAM focus in the United States — the No. 5 Best Private High School and the No.5 Best College Prep Private High School in North Carolina. Niche awarded Salem Academy an A+ Overall Grade, the highest grade an institution can earn.
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Wake Forest University Professor of Music Peter Kairoff has been inducted into the Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame in a ceremony in New York, N.Y. The Hall of Fame recognizes educators who “foster passion, creativity and discipline in the next generation of piano artists.” He joins distinguished educators from across the U.S. and Canada.
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Kairoff has been with the department of music since 1988. He has also served as the longtime director of Casa Artom in Venice, Italy.
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The numbers are in: 270,190 guests attended the Carolina Classic Fair, including 16,805 attendees on Sept. 29, the largest opening day since 2013. Overall attendance was up 18% over 2022’s Carolina Classic Fair, which had a total attendance of 229,761.
In addition to an uptick in attendees, the fair also experienced an increase in the number of competitive entries, which includes everything from livestock and produce to canned food items, flowers and arts and crafts. The fair received more than 400 competitive entries versus 2022, landing at 19,325 entries for the 2023 Carolina Classic Fair.
Many days featured special offers and free entry for school children, veterans, seniors and special education groups. Deer Park Natural Spring Water sponsored School Day on Oct. 2 with three school supplies equaling free admission. More than 10,000 school supply items were collected for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools during that drive.
To help Crisis Control Ministry, attendees donated at least five non-perishable food items to gain free admission to the fair on Oct. 4. With the help of Crisis Control Ministry volunteers, more than 36,000 pounds of food were donated.
Activities
Wake Forest University School of Divinity is hosting more than 25 scholars and health leaders at an international symposium on religion and health.
The “Baobab Gathering,” named after the iconic African tree that sustains life, began Oct. 13 and continues through Oct. 17 and will include a public forum at 5 p.m. Oct. 16 in the Porter Byrum Welcome Center at Wake Forest University. The event is organized in collaboration with Love Out Loud, a local faith-based nonprofit committed to partnering with organizations working together for the flourishing of Winston-Salem.
The forthcoming publication, “Handbook on Religion and Health: Diagnosis, Prognosis,” represents an international collaboration by scholars, healthcare professionals, and health advocates from the United States, Africa, and Europe. The handbook will address the intricate intersections of religion and health on a global scale. Chapters will examine a wide array of issues, ranging from food security and health justice to bioethics, social determinants of health and the leading causes of life.
Announcements
Mountain Valley, a nonprofit hospice & palliative care organization, will host a Pediatric End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium course on Nov. 10. The course will be held at the Cornerstone Baptist Church in Mount Airy.
Designed to provide education to nurses, nurse practitioners, social workers, DNPs and pediatric care providers, the class will provide valuable information surrounding the unique needs of pediatric patients in end-of-life care.
The course will include an introduction to palliative care, pain assessment and management, symptom management, ethical and legal issues, cultural and spiritual considerations and communication skills. It is open to all and the $50 registration includes lunch, snacks and eight CE hours for nurses.
To register, visit www.mtnvalleyhospice.org/peds-elnec.
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Wake Forest University’s Hit The Bricks raised a record-breaking $301,722.22 for cancer research during this year’s event.
More than 1,700 students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends ran or walked laps around Hearn Plaza during the eight-hour relay race held Oct. 5.
Money raised supports the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist.
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Lowes Foods, a Carolinas-based grocer, is opening a fifth store in the Charleston market in Summerville, S.C. The Summerville store will be 50,887 sq. ft. and will anchor a new retail center between two large Berkeley County residential developments. The new Lowes Foods store, scheduled to open in 2025, is on the northeast side of the 5,000-acre Nexton community.
In addition, Lowes Foods has acquired Foothills IGA Market in Marble Hill, Ga. This will be the brand’s first store in Georgia. The store will continue to operate as an IGA for the next few months and will become a Lowes Foods store sometime in early 2024.
Along with the expansion, Lowes Foods will be making the difficult decision to close two stores. Food Country purchased the location in Stuart, Va., at the end of September. The store in Yadkinville will be closing at the end of this month. Employees in the Yadkinville store are being given opportunities in other Lowes Foods.
In addition to Summerville and Marble Hill, Lowes has previously announced new stores in Aiken, S.C., and Kannapolis, Concord, Indian Land and Winterville in North Carolina. A new store in Pittsboro opened in June of this year.
Awards
For the second year in a row, Tripadvisor has named The Restaurant at Gideon Ridge in Blowing Rock a top dining destination. In their 2023 Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best Awards, the online travel review giant ranked The Restaurant at Gideon Ridge as No. 2 Fine Dining Restaurant and No. 3 Date Night Restaurant in the United States. It is the only North Carolina restaurant honored in either respective category this year.
The Restaurant at Gideon Ridge owners are Cobb and Cindy Milner.
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Christopher Cook, owner of Alliance Insurance Services in Winston-Salem, has been named Agent of the Year by the Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina. The award was announced last month during IIANC’s annual InsurEXPO.
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Winston-Salem Historic Inns has announced that one of their properties, Summit Street Inns — comprised of the Jacob L. and Myra Ludlow House and Benjamin J. and Rosa H. Sheppard House — is the award recipient of the Gertrude S. Carraway Award of Merit from Perservation NC. Owners Eric Alspaugh and Lou Baldwin accepted the award at Preservation NC’s Annual Conference, held Oct. 4. This milestone is “a major move for Winston-Salem Historic Inns on its mission to uphold the authenticity and integrity of historical homes in Winston-Salem.”
On the Move
Josh Plummer has joined Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey as an associate. He earned his J.D. degree from Wake Forest University School of Law in 2023, and while attending, he was a teaching assistant, research assistant and participated in the veteran’s legal clinic.
L.J. Rush, who has served as a culinary instructor and interim program director of GTCC’s culinary and hospitality department, has been named the department’s program director. Rush has an associate degree from Wilkes Community College, with a diploma as a food preparation specialist.