🗞️ Kernersville's VFW Post 5352 elects its first female commander

🗞️ The Carolina Classic Fair draws 212,000 visitors despite losing a Saturday to Isaias

🗞️ Forsyth Medical Center delivered more than 400 babies in August, its busiest month in years

🗞️ Your Tuesday in Kernersville: summery sunshine, morning meetups and early voting on Thursday

☀️ Sunny | High: 81°F | Low: 59°F

Summer isn't quite finished with us. Expect wall-to-wall sunshine Tuesday with a high near 81 and only a light west breeze. Skies stay clear tonight with a mild low around 59, and Wednesday turns even warmer, with sunshine and a high near 84.

For the first time since it was chartered on Jan. 7, 1946, Kernersville's VFW Post 5352 has a woman at the helm. Members recently elected Rhiannon McDevitt, who had been serving as senior vice commander, to succeed Commander Todd Walter, the Kernersville News reports.

McDevitt now leads more than 500 local veterans and auxiliary members. She is a U.S. Army veteran who served from 1997 to 2003, including a deployment to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and was honorably discharged as an E5 sergeant. Her grandfather and two uncles served in the Army before her, and she used the GI Bill to earn a bachelor's degree in liberal studies and an associate's degree in social work.

In a note to members, McDevitt credited Walter with bringing the post back from "the brink of financial ruin" and said she accepts the role with a deep sense of responsibility. "The Veterans of Foreign Wars is more than an organization. It is a living promise," she wrote.

McDevitt has belonged to VFW posts in Pilot Mountain and Clemmons, but she joined Kernersville's post three years ago after seeing what it was doing. "It was a better fit for me so it is worth the drive," she said.

Her goals are to grow membership, especially among younger veterans, and to make the post more family-friendly and community-minded. She wants to change the image of the VFW as just a canteen. "I think it makes a difference to have family-friendly and community events," she said. Weekly dance hall nights with live bands are on the calendar, a coffee bar downstairs is under discussion, and the post will host a Trunk or Treat on Saturday, Oct. 31, from 4 to 8 p.m. with a haunted house, a pumpkin patch, a costume contest, a showing of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and free hot dogs, chips and drinks for children in need.

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The Carolina Classic Fair wrapped up its 144th year on Sunday with about 212,000 visitors, according to WFMY, even though the remnants of Hurricane Isaias forced the fairgrounds to close for all of Saturday. Weekday crowds actually grew, with 2,607 more weekday visitors than in 2025, and the fair logged 2,000 more competitive entries than last year, including its biggest pumpkin in recent memory.

Fairgoers were generous, too. They donated 14,000 school supply items for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, 27,725 pounds of food and about 2,500 bags of clothing for Goodwill of Northwest North Carolina.

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Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center's labor and delivery unit delivered more than 400 babies in August, its highest monthly total in recent years, FOX8 reports. More than 3,000 babies have been born at the hospital so far this year, which officials say is right on pace.

Helping keep it all running smoothly is perinatal nurse coordinator Cherilyn Rice, a 22-year labor and delivery veteran who juggles scheduled inductions, C-sections and high-risk pregnancies with the unit's doctors and nurses. She also makes time to meet nervous patients before their procedures. "One of the most rewarding things is knowing that when I have that touch point with that patient, they come in a little more at ease," Rice said. She delivered two of her own children at the hospital, and that experience is what drew her to work there.

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October is feeling a lot like August this week. Here's what's happening today and what's coming up.

Summer's encore. Expect a sunny Tuesday with a high near 81, a mild, clear night around 59 and an even warmer Wednesday near 84.

Morning meetups. The Moms Morning Meetup gathers at Kyle's Coffee from 9:30 a.m. to noon, and Kernersville Newcomers and Neighbors meets at 10 a.m. at VFW Post 5352, with a guest speaker from the Alzheimer's Association. Tonight, Bingo Night runs from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at 210 N. Main St.

Planning Board follow-up. The Planning Board met Monday night on the proposed rezoning at 1425 Hampton Plaza Dr. We'll pass along its recommendation once the results are posted.

Early voting starts Thursday. One-stop early voting opens Thursday, Oct. 15, at the Paddison Memorial Branch Library and runs through Oct. 31.

Weekend preview. The Weldon Park Apartments Farmers Market is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the Welden Village Picnic at the Park follows on Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m.