🗞️ Three traveling memorials are coming to the Kernersville VFW this weekend

🗞️ Relief for Kernersville traffic: the Macy Grove Extension is almost finished

🗞️ Juneteenth weekend in Kernersville: a drone show, fireworks and 'Aunt Dealy' at Körner's Folly

🗞️ JetZero breaks ground at PTI, and a new STEM jobs program comes with it

🌡 Hot and humid | High: 92°F | Low: 71°F

A hot, humid summer day with a high near 92 and partly cloudy skies. Stay hydrated and find some shade if you are out.

This weekend, Kernersville's VFW Post 5352 will host one of the most ambitious tribute displays the town has seen. “A Heroes Welcome” brings together three traveling memorials, the 9/11 Never Forget Mobile Exhibit, the Traveling Vietnam Memorial known as The Moving Wall, and the Traveling Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, along with the Wreaths Across America mobile education exhibit. It is all free and open to the public June 19 through 21 at the post, 618 Edgewood St.

Post Commander Todd Walter said it is the first time he knows of that all four exhibits have come together in one place. The display officially opens at 9:11 p.m. Friday, and the Wreaths Across America exhibit will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day. The Moving Wall, a half-size, 254-foot replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, has been touring the country for more than 30 years.

Friday night's guest speaker is retired New York Fire Department Lt. Joe Torillo, who survived the Sept. 11 attacks and now travels the country sharing his story. “One of our members and his wife had a vision to bring all three memorials here,” Walter said. Crews began setting up the exhibits on Tuesday.

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After more than two years of work, the Macy Grove Extension, a piece of the Kernersville loop, is nearly complete. The North Carolina Department of Transportation project will connect Piney Grove Road to Main Street and is expected to shave several minutes off local commutes.

“We've been waiting for a year for this. We're very anxious to get it finished,” said Piney Grove Road resident Karen Hughes, who said the new connector will cut out a long detour down Piney Grove and back up N.C. 150. The slowest stretch to build was a 40-foot rock hill that crews had to blast and haul away, producing more than 20,000 tons of stone, said NCDOT resident engineer Nicholas Librandi.

Crews are now working on curb and gutter, the median island and final paving. Librandi said the project is on track to finish on time and is built with Kernersville's expected growth in mind. NCDOT expects the extension to open to the public soon.

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Kernersville has two free Juneteenth events on Friday, June 19. A community celebration at Harmon Park starts at 6:30 p.m. with live music, food trucks, a drone show and fireworks. Earlier in the day, beginning at 4:30 p.m., Körner's Folly invites visitors to learn about the life of Clara Körner, known as “Aunt Dealy,” through a self-guided tour and a community arts project led by artist Leo Rucker.

Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, the day Union soldiers told the last enslaved people in Galveston, Texas that they were free. It became a federal holiday in 2021, and this year is the 161st anniversary of the end of slavery in the United States. Events run all weekend across the Triad.

Nearby, Winston-Salem hosts its 27th annual celebration Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. at Bailey Park in the Innovation Quarter, with a theme drawn from Langston Hughes' poem “I Too Sing America.” Old Salem will stage a reenactment Friday at St. Philips Moravian Church, and Greensboro, High Point and Colfax all have events of their own.

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One of the largest economic development projects in Triad history is officially underway. JetZero broke ground this week on its aircraft manufacturing complex at Piedmont Triad International Airport, a project projected to bring more than 14,500 jobs and a $4.7 billion investment when fully built.

To help local students compete for those tech jobs, the financial services firm Deloitte is expanding its “Believers” workforce program to the region. The year-long, STEM-focused effort aims to reach about 5,000 students and educators in Guilford County, with hands-on robotics, engineering and computer science, in partnership with UNC Greensboro, Guilford County Schools and the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce.

“When industry, higher education and public schools come together around a shared vision, we create opportunities that can transform lives,” said GCS Superintendent Whitney Oakley. The program kicks off this summer with an eight-day educator workshop. For Kernersville and the rest of the Triad, it is a sign of the high-tech jobs taking root in the region.

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