2010 Christmas at Twilight

The 6th Annual Christmas at Twilight will be held this year on November 20. The celebration has found a home on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and the change in the start time to an earlier 2:00 in the afternoon, has worked well for many families with small children. Expect to find many of your favorite things at Christmas at Twilight again this year. There will be an Elf Shoppe with activities for the children, and antique cars and hay rides.

The Taste of Wallace will offer a variety of foods, as will the food vendors. Entertainment will be going on throughout the event, the shop owners on Main Street will be offering special sales and refreshments, craft vendors will be set up along the streets, and elves and other Christmas characters will be parading through town. And of course, the celebration would not be complete without a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus!

Mark your calendar and make plans with family and friends to spend the day and start your holiday season in Downtown Wallace for Christmas at Twilight 2010

2010 Christmas Parade Marshal-John Levings

The 2010 Wallace Christmas Parade Marshal has been announced. John Levings has been chosen for the honor this year. John has owned the Sears Hometown Store for the past 14 years, and during that time he has been an active member of our community.

John served as the Wallace Chamber of Commerce president for two years, and currently sits on the Wallace Parks & Recreation Board, and the Wallace Revitalization Association. John is also the president of the Methodist Men, and is president of the Pastor Parrish Committee of the Wallace Methodist Church.

Please join us in congratulating John on his selection!

Chamber sponsors political forum

The Wallace Chamber of Commerce was host to the major political candidates who are running for office in the 2010 November elections. The forum welcomed candidates running for Duplin County Commissioner, North Carolina House, North Carolina Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives.

All of the candidates present did a wonderful job of presenting their platforms and positions. They were strong in their explanations of why they felt strongly about certain points, they shared their backgrounds and the reasons they were running for office.

Many thanks to Sheila Young and Lou Powell for all of their efforts to make this event happen, and thanks to everyone who came out and supported this event. We are very proud of the citizenry of Wallace for their involvement in the voting process.

The State of the Town Address-2010

Wallace Mayor Charley Farrior delivered his “State of the Town” message to the Wallace Chamber of Commerce in what has become an annual tradition. The mayor reported that:

· After 12 years in working to build a new waste treatment plant, the project is underway and near completion.

· A new fire truck, able to spray both water and foam, has been purchase to replace an older engine. Hopefully, the acquisition of this piece of equipment will result in lower the insurance premiums for businesses.

· The Wallace Women's Club building which was damaged by arsonists, has been restored, and is available for rental.

· Plans are in the works to extend the existing runway at the Wallace airport by relocating the road adjacent to the airport into an adjacent field. A longer runways allows for larger aircraft to land in Wallace.

· After six years of dedicated effort to resolve the issues with the storm drainage system in Wallace, the success of those efforts was realized in the past weeks of record rainfall. Streets and drainage areas that previously would have flooded, performed very well with the recent 19 inches of rain.

· The Wallace Depot is now complete with the completion of the shed restoration project. The work was performed entirely by volunteers, and funded through donations.

· The implementation of Radio Read Meters has resulted in a cost saving to the town of $33,975.00 and has resulted in more accurate meter reading and billing.

· Mayor Farrior announced a that a new member of the Wallace Police Force has been hired with the acquisition of a K-9 Officer.

Mayor Farrior pointed to the positive growth spearheaded by the move Walmart made to US 41 Hwy., and the positive and negative results of the businesses that located with them. While the move has resulted in 2 additional shopping centers being built, and new businesses locating in Wallace because of that, it has also meant that existing businesses moved with the retailers. Some of those businesses were from the downtown area. Mayor Farrior expressed the concern that the Town Board feels over the situation, and announced that a meeting is scheduled with various members of the business community and two outside consultants. One of the consultants was instrumental in the efforts that gave birth to the Wallace Revitalization Association years ago.