COMMUNITY CARNIVAL

Pony rides, clowns, live comedy and music are on tap Saturday at The Lodge at Wake Forest, a retirement community that features independent living at 1151 S. Main St.

The fun starts at 2 with hot dogs, hot dogs, hamburgers, salads, iced tea, lemonade, cotton candy and snow cones, all of which will be available until 6.

At 6, dance to the sounds of Imitations, a band that will crank out tunes from the 50s, 60s and 70s, including plenty of beach music and Motown.

Carnival games, a bounce house and face painting are lined up for the day, so come say hello to The Lodge's residents at this grand opening celebration.

For more information or directions, call 554-8768.

FREE CONCERT

The Joshua Long Band will play a free show tonight from 7 to 9 on the Commons at North Hills as part of the center's Emerging Artists series.

Joshua cites influences as diverse as David Bowie, Daughtry, Stevie Wonder and Lenny Kravitz on his MySpace page at www.myspace.com/ impossiblerealities.

Joshua will perform with bassist Jon Pritchett and drummer Josh Mitchell.

North Hills is at Six Forks Road and the Beltline. For upcoming shows, visit www.northhills-raleigh.com.

OOPS! BAD DATE!

The dates for the Mother-Daughter Book Club at North Regional Library, as reported here last week, have been changed.

The inaugural meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 21 and following meetings will be at 6:30 p.m. on the third Thursday every other month in the North Regional Library meeting room.

The first book the club will read is "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E.Frankweiler" by E.L. Konigsburg.

The club is open to girls 9 to 12 with an adult.

Call 870-4000 to sign up.

A HELPING HAND

For nearly 30 years, volunteers with Hospice of Wake County have provided families in Wake and neighboring counties with help caring for family members with advanced illnesses. Hospice volunteers not only help patients in their homes, they assist with tasks such as fundraising, administrative support and speaking on the nonprofit's behalf.

It takes an army of such volunteers to keep Hospice going. A 15-hour training class is being offered from 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 11, 13, 18, 20 and 25 at 1300 St. Mary's St. This training will offer an informative overview of the nonprofit's mission and philosophy and will help equip volunteers with the skills and confidence to visit patients in their homes, hospital, nursing home or assisted living facility. Attendees decide in what capacity they can help.

For details, visit www.hospiceofwake.org or call 719-7116

Contact us at 836-2828 or nrnews@newsobserver.com, and we'll do our best to get the word out to our 75,000 readers. Please send submissions at least a week in advance of your event.