Linda Trevor, ABR, CRS, ePRO, CHLMS, PMN

Friends,

Make sure you scroll all the way down this list of events. There are a lot of activities and opportunities to consider this month. Happy Holidays!!

Tree & Town Lightings:
Come out and enjoy an evening of tree lighting with your neighbors.

Fuquay-Varina (12/4)
Wake Forest (12/5)
Garner (12/5)
Wendell (12/5)
Wake Forest (12/5)
Knightdale (12/5)
Cary (12/6)
Durham (12/6)
Raleigh Capitol (12/10)
Holly Springs (12/12)

Check each town page for more information.

Holiday Parades:
These towns bring out the marching bands, floats and Santa for their holiday parades.

Garner (12/6)
Knightdale (12/6)
Apex (12/6)
Rolesville (12/7)
Fuquay-Varina (12/7)
Zebulon (12/7)
Holly Springs (12/13)
Wake Forest (12/13)
Cary (12/13)
Chapel Hill (12/13)

Check each town page for more information.

Holiday Festivals:
Enjoy arts, crafts, food, music and activities during these town festivals.

Cary Ole Time Winter Festival (12/6)
Christmas on Salem Street in Apex (12/6-8)
Holly Springs Main Street Market (12/12)

Santa Sleigh & Train Rides:
Don't miss out on these opportunities to ride with Santa and his elves.

Holiday Express at Pullen Park (12/10-12/14) 4pm-9:30pm; $5
Santa's Trolley (12/6, 12/13, 12/20) Mordecai Historic Park; 6pm & 7pm; Fee $10
Holiday Santa Trains. North Carolina Railroad Museum & New Hope Valley Railway; 11:00am Diesel, 12:15pm Steam, 1:30pm Diesel, 2:45pm Steam, 4:00pm Diesel; $6-$9; Fee
Complimentary Sleigh Rides. Brier Creek Commons; Friday 5:30-8:30pm, Saturday 5:30-8:30pm, Sunday 2:00-5:00pm; Free
Sleigh Rides & Cider: (12/6) Historic Oak View County Park; 5:00-7:30pm; Free

Santa Visits:

Cary Towne Center. Santa visits and photos are available November 7th to December 24th. Santa Claus will be available to hear children's wishes, Mon-Sat, 10am-1 pm; 2pm-5pm; 6pm-9pm; Sun, Noon-3pm and 4pm-6pm; Free
Crabtree Valley Mall. Tuesday-Saturday 9:00am-5:00pm; Sunday 12:00pm-5:00pm; Free
North Hills. Saturdays beginning on November 29th until December 20th, from 11:30am-2:30 pm; Free
Triangle Town Center. Santa visits and photos are available November 7th to December 24th. Mon-Sat, 10am-1pm; 2pm-5pm; 6pm-9pm; Sun, Noon-3pm and 4pm-6pm; Free
Streets at Southpoint. Santa visits and photos are available November 22th to December 24th; Mon-Sat, 10am-1pm; 2pm-5pm; 6pm-9pm; Sun, Noon-3pm and 4:15pm-6pm; Free

Other:

Tea with Santa. The Umstead Hotel and Spa; dates vary, 11:00am and 3:00pm; $38 per adult and $15 per child under age 10; (866) 877-4141
Cookies and Storytime with Santa 2008. East Regional Public Library; 3:30-5:00pm; Free; (919) 217-5300
Breakfast with Santa 2008. Apex Fire Station; 7:00am;$1-$5; (919) 362-6456
Pictures with Santa. Downtown Wake Forest; 11:00am-3:00pm; Free; (919) 570-1372
Santa and Mrs. Claus are coming to Wendell. Downtown Wendell; Free; (919) 365-6318

Free Events:

Moravian Candle Tea 2008. Raleigh Moravian Church; 12/6; 2pm-6pm; Free; (919) 787-4034
Santa's Workshop. Herbert C. Young Community Center; 10am-12pm; Free; (919) 460-4965
Christmas Concert featuring the Falcon Park Jazz Orchestra and special guest Santa Claus. Fuquay-Varina Chamber of Commerce. 7:00-9:00pm; Free
Holiday Lights Family Program. Raleigh City Museum; 1:00-4:00pm; Free; (919) 832-3775
Executive Mansion Holiday Open House Tours 2008. North Carolina Executive Mansion; Thur, Fri and Sat, 10am-5pm , Sun, 1-4pm; Free; (919) 807-7950
Sidewalk Carolers at Five Points. ArtSource at Five Points; 11:00am-2:00pm; Free; (919) 833-0013

Volunteer Opportunities:
It's never too late to start a new tradition. Here are a list of organizations looking for help this Holiday season. Click on the below link or call today for more information.

Western Wake Crisis Ministry
Holiday Dinner Collection Program
Christmas Toy Program

Christmas Card to Recovering Soldiers
Send an American Soldier a Christmas card this year.
A Recovering American Soldier c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Ave NW
Washington, DC 20307-5001

Thank you cards for our Troops in Iraq
If you go to LetsSayThanks.com you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq.

Toys for Tots 2008
Donation center at Crabtree Valley Mall; 10:00am-6:00pm; (919) 787-8993

Angel Tree Toy Program
A program developed to bring Christmas gifts to children who parents are in prison. Click on link above for more information.

NC Food Bank
No food donation is too small. Click on link above for more information.

Cary was just listed as the third safest town in the nation among municipalities with populations of 100,000 to 499,999 by CQ Press, publisher of the annual "City Crime Rankings 2008-2009: Crime in Metropolitan America". Just last year Cary was ranked fourth in the same category. Read the news release from the Town of Cary for more details.

Just a tidbit from one of most popular real estate sites on the Internet...

Supporting data from Zillow shows that Cary home values increased 0.62% in the third quarter of 2008. Isn't nice to have another national source confirm our good fortune in Wake County?

Recently updated on the Linda Trevor website is our Greater Raleigh area accolades list. Take a moment and read all of the honors Raleigh is receiving from around the nation. Here are just a few from this summer and fall:

#1 Most Political City
Men's Health, October 2008

#2 Best Performing City
The Milken Institute, September 2008

#2 Best City to Live, Work and Play
Kiplinger's, July 2008

#4 Best State for Business (North Carolina)
Forbes.com, July 2008

Congrats North Carolina!

For the fourth year straight North Carolina took the top spot as the Nation's #1 Business Climate. Read how Governor Easley has helped North Carolina achieve this high ranking by reading Site Selection's November 2008 cover story. Site Selection is a magazine of corporate real estate strategy and area economic development which ranks yearly the top business climates across the United States.