Good afternoon Cary! As I work to build upon the Cary Digest, I’d love to get a renewed sense for when you all enjoy reading, what else you’d like to see covered, and any future events or happenings you’d like us to work towards.

To that end, I’ll be adding a few simple polls up here at the top for a few weeks to help better plan going forward and today we have a short one on timing of these emails:

Anyway, here’s what you can expect in Today’s issue:

— Mason from Cary Digest

Barkitecture is a nonprofit design competition that brings designers and communities together to raise funds for local animal rescues through innovative pet architecture and community engagement.

They are seeking more volunteers for their event on October 10th to help greet guests, support rescue partners, and wrangle pets (and their owners). Learn more about volunteering at this event in Downtown Cary Park at the button below or check out their website to learn more.

It's here! BEYOND: The Cary Film Festival starts Thursday night and runs through Sunday at The Cary Theater downtown.

If you're new to the festival this year here are some notes:

My advice from last week still stands! If you can only make one day, make it Saturday. That's when most of the films and their creators are showcasing.

Grab dinner on Chatham between blocks, catch a Q&A, and give some indie filmmakers a big screen and a full room of Cary locals. I'll be there some this weekend as well, so come say hi if you spot me.

P.S. Want to advertise in Cary Digest this month? Reply to this email or reach out at [email protected]!

Since you'll be downtown for the festival anyway, do yourself a favor and start the morning at Annelore's on West Chatham Street. It's a German bakery a short walk from The Cary Theater. Pretzels, strudel, cakes, and breakfast pastries made authentically by Annelore and Norbert Gstattenbauer of Germany.

Fun fact for our Raleigh friends as well: their stand at the State Farmers Market may look familiar as they operate there through the weekend as well.

This place can get pretty busy on the weekends so if you’re making it in for the festival be sure to get there early or to plan a bit of downtime while grabbing your order.

If you’d like to provide any public input, check out the upcoming schedule of town meetings. There is a council meeting later today, a historic preservation one tomorrow, and a few others through the week. See the full calendar here.

A local family received some great neighborly support through a GoFundMe after a fire damaged a home over near Highcroft Elementary. The fundraiser has been paused as donations had been reached quickly over the weekend. The home was unoccupied during the blaze but the cause is still under investigation.

I know everyone is getting back into the groove after the long weekend (pretty sure I saw each of you in the traffic on the drive back yesterday 😉) but there are some great spots to check out + the film festival later this week.

Tuesday, September 8th: Casual Calligraphy Lettering - 6:30PM to 8:30PM · Downtown Cary Park. Bring a friend and learn some hand lettering, registration required.

Wednesday, September 9th: Birds and Bloomers - 8AM to 9AM · Downtown Cary Park again hosts a morning walk-and-look for the early risers with award winning naturalist Dr. Patrick McMillan. The tour includes bird watching and a tour of flowering plants, so bring your binoculars!

Thursday-Sunday, September 10th-13th: BEYOND: The Cary Film Festival - The Cary Theater is home to this 4 day film festival featuring pieces from all over. There are a few locals there as well with the main film day running on Saturday.

Saturday, September 12th: Cary Farmers Market - 8AM to 12PM · East Park Street near Downtown Cary Park. Weekly as always.

Saturday, September 12th: Carolina Circus Festival - 3PM to 10PM · Downtown Cary Park hosts a free family-friendly event hosted by the nonprofit Carolina Circus Festival. The bring together vendors and circus acts and raise awareness for mental health.

Heading into Raleigh instead? Hopscotch takes over downtown this weekend and there are a ton of other music events happening as well. Our sister newsletter The Raleighwood Inbox has the full week schedule of things to do over there.

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