🗞️ Free box fans for the heat wave: who qualifies in Forsyth County

🗞️ Artisan Summer Market returns to Kernersville July 17-18

🗞️ The cooling gadget everyone is buying this summer

🗞️ Stay cool and sleep better when it is this hot

🌞 Sunny and hot | High: 98°F | Low: 73°F

Another hot one, with strong sun and a heat index near 101. Drink water, take breaks in the shade or AC, and check on older neighbors. See today's first story for how some folks can get a free fan.

With the heat holding on, there is real help for neighbors who need it. The Forsyth County Department of Social Services is handing out free electric box fans as part of "Operation Fan Heat Relief," a statewide summer program that runs through Oct. 31 while supplies last.

To qualify, you must be a Forsyth County resident who is at least 60 years old or an adult with a disability, and live in a home where the heat poses a threat to your health and well-being. To request a fan, complete the application online or call DSS at 336-703-3501 for details. If you have an older or medically vulnerable neighbor, this is worth passing along, a simple fan can make a dangerous week a lot safer.

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Mark your calendar for a weekend of handmade finds. The Triad Craft & Arts Guild brings its annual Artisans Summer Market to the Paul J. Ciener Botanical Gardens Carriage House on July 17 and 18, running 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. Expect a little of everything from makers across the area, including jewelry, embroidered pieces, quilts, paintings, home decor and woodworking.

The guild draws artists from Kernersville, Walkertown, High Point, Statesville, Winston-Salem and Lewisville, and has put on the market every year since 2018. Organizer LaDonna Crist said the group of about 20 members keeps it local and juried, and is always open to quality crafters who want to join. You can learn more on the guild's Facebook page or at triadartsandcraftguild.

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If you have seen people walking around with what looks like headphones around their neck, this is it, and it is one of the hottest sellers of the summer for good reason. The TORRAS COOLiFY Air is a wearable neck fan that wraps around your shoulders and blows a steady, bladeless breeze up toward your face and neck, hands-free. It is light, rechargeable, and quiet enough to wear at a ballgame, on a walk, in the yard or at your desk.

For a Kernersville summer like this one, it is an easy way to take a little personal air conditioning with you wherever you go. This is an affiliate link, so if you buy through it you help support Hey Kernersville at no extra cost to you.

Check it out: TORRAS COOLiFY Air neck fan

Hot nights are miserable, and they wreck your sleep right when you need the rest. The good news is a few small moves make a real difference. During the day, keep the sun out by closing blinds and curtains, and go easy on the oven, dryer and other heat-makers in the evening. When it cools off outside, open windows on opposite sides of the house to pull a cross-breeze through, and let a fan push that air where you sleep.

At bedtime, lighter is better: breathable cotton or linen sheets and loose, thin pajamas help sweat evaporate. Counterintuitively, a warm (not cold) shower about an hour before bed helps your body shed heat faster afterward, and a glass of cool water before you turn in keeps you from overheating overnight. Sleep experts say a bedroom around the mid-60s is ideal, so aim for cool, dark and quiet. If your home stays dangerously hot, do not tough it out, head somewhere air-conditioned, and check on family and neighbors who may be struggling in the heat.

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