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Jason, creator of the “Today in the Quay” Facebook page, shares how he built a positive hub for Fuquay-Varina updates over 12 years, growing to about 30,000 followers. He discusses moderating the page, highlighting youth sports and local business openings, and supporting standout athlete Sarah Strong’s early recognition. Jason also reflects on Fuquay-Varina’s rapid growth, community events, new attractions, and excitement around the upcoming Target, and he plugs his Facebook page and newsletter with over 7,000 subscribers.
00:00 Meet Today in the Quay
02:59 Why He Started It
04:36 Fuquay Growth and Vibe
05:38 Courtroom vs. Facebook
06:58 Spotlight on Youth Sports
08:25 The Sarah Strong Story
14:52 Businesses and Local Buzz
17:04 Awards and Wide Reach
20:52 Balancing It All
22:32 Favorite Annual Events
23:51 24 Hours in Fuquay
25:46 Target and What’s Next
28:15 Where to Follow and Newsletter
29:26 Wrap Up and Thanks
Creators and Guests
What is What’s Up, Wake?
What’s Up, Wake covers the people, places, restaurants, and events of Wake County, North Carolina. Through conversations with local personalities from business owners to town staff and influencers to volunteers, we’ll take a closer look at what makes Wake County an outstanding place to live. Presented by Cherokee Media Group, the publishers of local lifestyle magazines Cary Magazine, Wake Living, and Main & Broad, What’s Up, Wake covers news and happenings in Raleigh, Cary, Morrisville, Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, and Wake Forest.
54 - Whats Up Wake - Fuquay
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[00:00:00] [00:01:00] . Today's guest is someone, many in our community feel like they already know, even if you've never met him in person. As the creator behind the wildly popular Facebook page today in the Qua, he's helped residents stay connected to what's happening in Fuqua Arena for 12 years.
What started as a simple way to keep locals informed [00:02:00] has grown into a daily must check for residents looking for everything from restaurant openings to town happenings and feel good community moments in a world that's so divided. His page is a positive place to go for good celebratory news in our area.
Today we get to meet the person behind the post and learn what inspires him to keep Fuqua Arena connected, one update at a time beyond social media. He serves our area as an attorney, and recently retired as town commissioner after 10 years, giving him a unique perspective on both the civic side of Fuquay Marina and everyday voices of its residents.
Melissa: Please welcome to What's up? Wake Jason, lunch. It's nice to see you. Thank you for being here. I feel like I'm meeting Oz because I have personally followed your your page for so many years and I've never met you. So welcome, Oz. Thank you for inviting me. You're very welcome.
I'm so glad you could be here. Really. My first [00:03:00] question is, I mentioned that you started the page 12 years ago. But what made you think, you know, what the internet is missing is, is a Fuke Wave arena page brought to you by a local attorney? Well, the, the idea for the page really came from the, the. Growing town of Fuqua Arena and the need to, I felt like, have a lot of events, not all of them.
Jason: 'cause you never can find everything but what was going on, on one page. Mm-hmm. So, so, and that was my thought process. If I could just create one page where people could go to find out, um, what was going on in town rather than all these. It was at a time when a lot of little pages were, you know, popping up on Facebook for this and that, and I thought, well, that'd be just great.
Almost as if I was like a glorified calendar. Mm-hmm. That people could come, but maybe go into the events a little more than just, you know, having a date and a time and a place. So that's how it started. And, and I'd also just been elected as [00:04:00] commissioner for the Town of Qua Arena in December of 2013.
So I, I thought this would also be a little thing that I could do to give back and hopefully would take off and, um, people would embrace it. And, and it got, I actually, when I started, I got comments that we don't need this. You know, we don't need another Facebook page, we don't need something to share events.
It was kind of, you know, ironic that, that, that I, I felt like it was needed. And then I, I received feedback that, why would you bother? And so that was discouraging and I thought, well, maybe I shouldn't do this, but I thought otherwise. Mm-hmm. And here we are, so. How would you describe being a Fuqua Arena resident for so long and being town commissioner, all the things that you do to give back to the community, how would you describe Fuquas personality?
I think Fuqua Arena is got that close small town vibe, but with 50,000 people, yeah, it's grown a ton. Especially since [00:05:00] COVID, right? Yes. There's been a big boom since COVID. Yes. Big boom and, and. What I came into in 2013, 14 in town leadership is not what we see today. Mm-hmm. We were, that explosion was starting and the infrastructure needed to catch up to what was coming.
All the building. All the developers that wanted to, you know, build in Fuqua Arena and all the people that wanted to move here grandparents that wanted to follow children. It, it, it really has transformed, you know, in those last in that last decade. Mm-hmm. You know, from what it was then. Okay. I mentioned in the intro that you're an attorney, you're a local attorney, you have your own law firm, which is harder arguing a point in the courtroom or moderating a Facebook page.
I, I think this might sound surprising, but I feel like moderating, moderating a Facebook page, I'm not surprised one bit because you have to, you have to, um address the [00:06:00] challenge of, you know, maybe a, a prosecutor or a judge doesn't deal with you, but it just seems that much more stressful. When a community member doesn't agree with you and they want to, you know, challenge you or, you know, call you fake news.
Yeah. Or, or, or say something to the effect to undermine what you're trying to do, which is just post about positive things. Yeah. But even when you're, you know, essentially focused on the positive, it's amazing sometimes how. You know, the, the need to bring in negative comes. So, yeah, I mean, I, I'm, I'm sure that there's times that you just wanna say, okay, Jerry, I'm just trying to post about a tree lighting ceremony.
Melissa: Come on. You know? But with the courtroom, there's decorum. Mm-hmm. You know, you're expected to act professionally and on Facebook, it's the wild, wild west. So I, I'm not surprised at all that you're, that you're saying that that is harder. You like [00:07:00] to highlight youth sports? Yes, I have noticed that. Yes.
Why is that? Well, for um, starters, it was just the easiest thing to find, you know, in terms of news. I could go on, um, social media or um, other places and just figure out what was going on in youth sports. But the other thing I really liked about youth sports was it was something I could be a part of. I could show up and actually report the games while being there.
Jason: Talk to the parents, the players. It, it, it really gave me a sense of community for my page. Yeah. And sports really do bring a sense of community because, um, you know, there's two teams. Let's say you're at a, a Fuqua Arena High School basketball game. You've got two GA and now there's another high school and Quas.
Melissa: Mm-hmm. So you got to pull in the Willow Spring fans as well. Yes. And, and juggle that. You and I have a common friend that's also in the sports world. Um, I have known the strong family, Danny Strong, his daughter Sarah. I've known them [00:08:00] for many years. I've got two sons who have been a part of the Strong Center since they were little, and now my oldest is about to graduate high school and we just don't talk about that.
Sure. Um. Now Sarah Strong. For those who don't know, she is a key pivotal member of the Yukon Women's Huskies basketball team. Yes. Yukon Huskies Women's basketball team. Yes. And tell us how U came to know them and, just tell us a little bit about them, your relationship with them. Sure, sure. Well, I love talking about that family.
Jason: Um, you know, they brought so much excitement to our area when Sarah was just 14 years old. She was playing col. She was playing high school basketball at Fuqua, Rina High School, and I just started becoming aware of this super talented. Young lady that was, yeah, [00:09:00] she was a force back then. Yeah. She was just scoring 20 or more than 25 points a game.
Crazy amount of rebounds, maybe 19 rebounds a game. I said, I've never seen anything like this, and she's a freshman, so. That began being intrigued, like, who is this young lady that is just like nothing I've ever seen. And, and at that point when she came on, you know, the sports scene, I had already been doing the page for quite some time.
And I had covered so many you know, children in youth sports, but I had never seen anything like this. So I, I became very intrigued and, and followed her games and the accolades and they piled up quickly. Mm-hmm. You know, the, the awards, the, the, but one thing I noticed. Was that she wasn't getting the attention I felt like that she should get.
And I remember I, I wrote to a reporter from Sports [00:10:00] Illustrated and I said to the reporter, I said, we have got this young lady in this town called Fuqua Verina that is. Unbelievable, please. And I wrote to a reporter from WRIL with the same email and I said, you know, she's, she's getting the point, she's getting the rebounds.
She's, you know, max Preps is saying she's, you know, among the best in the country, but we're not getting the stories. And here's just little old me out there reporting. But we have, you know, this once in a generation player. That needs to be talked about. Also, we have the Strong Center, which was developing and mentoring athletes at that time.
Mm-hmm. And doing such good work led by, um, her father Danny, and Danny played at NC State. Yes. So he was a big name in his own right. Yes. And so I felt like, you know, we were blessed and honored to have this in our town. And that I felt like we just needed more [00:11:00] recognition. But that never, that never, um, really came until down the road when, you know, she was just discovered and noticed and closer maybe to when she was winning state championships.
Yeah. And her, when she went to school in Sanford and at Grace, I believe, and, and she was, and she was winning all these, you know, now national accolades, so. Um, I, you know, I had never reached out to Danny and I had never, you know, done anything to contact the family. But I was contacted by the Strong Center when she was named the Gatorade Player of the year after her senior year, and they asked me to come down and they said, we want you to do a really exciting thing, drum roll.
We want you. To be the community member that talks about Sarah in the Gatorade video. Wow. And I, I had, I felt like this, just, just so I felt so honored. Like, and, and I went [00:12:00] to the, so they were really, that was their chance to acknowledge that you had been, you know, speaking on her behalf. Yes. Yeah. And so I went down there and that's when I met Danny, and that's when I met Sarah.
And, you know, I've, I've continued through her college career, which has been, you know, now she's considered by many to be the best player in America or in the World College player. And, and I have just, and she's only a sophomore here. She's only a sophomore. Yeah. Yeah. And, and I continue doing what I'm doing and, um, a really beautiful thing happened recently.
Um, I was contacted and I. I was asked if, um, Danny and some others could come to my office and I said, sure. And, and, you know, I'd had contact with Danny in between then, you know, in terms of, in terms of, you know, what I do as a local journalist, you know, but, but, so he came down and, um, he surprised me with a national championship jersey.[00:13:00]
Signed by Sarah saying, thank you for all you do. Wow. And that meant the world to me. It's up in my office. Yeah. And you know it, it's things like that that. Make you really feel appreciated. And, and it also showed me, you know, I, I felt like, you know, little old me and the best player in the world and she's taking the time to thank me.
Melissa: They are incredibly humble people and generous and, you know, all, all the great adjectives we can give. They, they really are genuine people. But it's also got to show you, um, and you just kind of wanna go to your naysayers Yes. About your, your little Facebook page. Yes. That now has 30,000 followers. 30 like thousand followers.
Jason: Look at this jersey. Look. Yes. Look. And, and, and one other thing I forgot to mention about that. Recently, this just happened. Danny gave me the opportunity to write a story, which I published about the early [00:14:00] years of Sarah. So I put together a, a, a story with Danny and Coach Streeter and other people that have worked with her and may have been one of the first to write the Sarah Strong story.
From the beginning, and that was really cool. Yeah, I felt very honored, honored that they entrusted me. I felt like a real journalist. Yeah. Yeah. I bet. A real writer. Yeah. You made it. Yes. [00:15:00] And, and speaking of Coach Streeter Streeter has been instrumental and the, the. My family and my son's, um, basketball being one of, one of my older son's, first coaches, and we love Streeter.
Melissa: So high Streeter. Um, and if anybody's looking for a phenomenal basketball coach and trainer, look him up. Um, Jeff Streeter. Other than sports, what excites you the most?
Jason: I love [00:16:00] reporting about new businesses coming to town.
Melissa: Okay.
Jason: I love, you know, I love sharing that with the community. I've recently become a board member on the Qua Arena Chamber.
I love working with, you know, Dustin Williams and his team and his, his team of one Christie, who's just phenomenal to, to, um, help promote small businesses in the town. And, and I did that before I was. You know, associated with the chamber. That's something that I feel like brings our community together when we can talk about a business and people can get excited and then they, you know, come to the grand opening and, and then they continue frequenting the business after the hoop laws is over, you know, of being a brand new business.
That, to me, if I can have any part in getting that engine running for a small business. That to me is a lot of gratification that I, that I felt like I played some little part in, you know, letting the public know that they're out there and they're open. [00:17:00]
Melissa: And one thing that is happening now is American Idol.
We've got an American Idol, um, contestant that is from Quana.
Jason: Yes.
Melissa: And one who's, I think it's her mom is from Fuqua, is that right?
Jason: Yeah, yeah. The, yeah. Her mom is from Fuqua. And she is competing as well. And, and so I'll tell you, when I highlighted both of those artists, um, my page really grew again because that was so exciting to, you know, have either somebody with ties, um, to the community.
Or strong ties, or someone from here who, um, didn't go to high school here, but is living here now. And I believe he may have gone to high school in Holly Springs, but is from this area. Yeah. And, and is, um,
Melissa: and they're good. Yeah. So let's just say that
Jason: Yeah, they're, they're, they're really good. I mean, both of them, you know, absolutely looked like American idols, um, in terms of their talent.
And [00:18:00] so getting to be a part of that, you know, was exciting, you know, to, to share that And. Do do an interview. So
Melissa: you are now a two time Maggie Award winner, winning for best local social media account this year. Congratulations. Thank you. And I've already mentioned that your page has recently reached 30,000 followers.
And you told me that it's really only about half of the pages followers are Fuqua residents. I'm one of them. I'm not a resident. I am a Raleigh resident, but I've I have followed you for a long time. What do you think resonates so much with people? Both in and out of Fuqua about your page?
Jason: Well, I think a lot of people that follow my page used to live in Fuqua.
'cause I've been around now for 12 years as of now. You know, March was the celebration of 12 years. So and so, a lot of people that started with my page may not live there anymore and are still [00:19:00] following it 'cause they want to, um, follow their hometown or their, the town they previously lived in. But then also, um, you have just people who are curious about what's going on in Fuqua Verina.
You have people who have grandchildren who didn't move to Fuqua with them, you know, who, who are following what their grandkids are doing in sports. And, and then, you know, we have followers, few all over the world. You know, people stationed, military, stationed different places, keeping up with what's going on in the town of Fuqua Arena.
But I am fascinated that one out of every two follower of the pa followers of the page does not live in the town with a page that's so hyperlocal.
Melissa: Well, I do think, and I've learned a lot having this podcast. Raleigh is a very unique city in that we've got all these amazing towns so close by mm-hmm.
And that it's just a hop, skip, and a jump to get over to Fuqua. I, I live over near Lake Wheeler. Mm-hmm. So [00:20:00] I'm, you know, on the side of, of Raleigh that I'm right next to Apex and I'm right next to Fuqua, and I'm right next to Garner. You know, I'm, I can be in any of these towns in less than 10 minutes, so mm-hmm.
I think we are unique in that sense. So maybe. The people that are following that don't live in Fuqua. It's because Well, we're right there and we can come, we can. I, I love that TJ Maxx. It's my favorite TJ Maxx in any town.
Jason: That was a big deal.
Melissa: I, I first learned about the TJ Maxx coming from your page and I cannot even, even tell you.
I was a little bit too excited about that. And we're gonna get to target in a little bit too, 'cause Target is coming, um, in, in just a few days. Um, how has this page. Changed how you see your community?
Jason: Well, I, I feel like it's kept me first, you know, in the loop about everything going on, but it, it, it helps me to see it as a smaller community as were anything.
[00:21:00] But because, you know, even though I haven't met everybody on the page, those who frequently comment share and engage, you know, engage with it. I feel like I know them because I see the, you know, I see a lot of the same names all the time. So I feel like it, it makes a exploding town in terms of population and growth development that much smaller, you know?
And it makes me see the town also in a very, you know, positive light. 'cause I only put positive, you know, um for the most part. Occasionally, occasionally, you know, I'll say something that's not. That positive, but, but I would say that, you know, 95% of what I post is all positive.
Melissa: Yeah. I mean, and you're never really controversial or anything.
It, it, it really does seem to be a, a overwhelmingly positive space on Facebook, which is very rare. You are a full-time lawyer with your own law firm. You run a page with [00:22:00] a ton of followers. Like we've said, you recently retired as town commissioner, not to mention you're also a husband and a father.
Jason: Mm-hmm.
Melissa: So I'm gonna ask, how do you do it all?
Jason: One thing at a time. Yes. You know, I, I try to compartmentalize, um, when I work on certain things, when I go home, I'm with my family.
Melissa: Mm-hmm.
Jason: But, but today in the qua is kind of just, you know, it pops up at all times because people will send me messages, you know did you see this is opening?
Did you see this is closing? But you have to have. A pause where you can spend time with the family, you know, and just shut all that out. The, the courtroom, the law firm you know, that we run two Airbnbs. Um you have to compartmentalize that and, and make time for that. Um, and you know, it may pop up again, but, but what I'm trying to say is you really just need to.
To, to [00:23:00] thoughtfully have time for the family. Yeah. 'cause it's just so easy to always be somewhere else and to always be going to an event just with the chamber alone. Mm-hmm. You know, you could go to a ribbon cutting or a after hours or some kind of educational thing all the time. But I, I tried to, I tried to be involved and to be present.
'cause you can't not be there, especially when you're serving a town, but very
Melissa: true.
Jason: You know, it, it's like, um, mayor John Byrne once said to me when I first started, he said, do your best, but you can't be everywhere all the time.
Melissa: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And as same as being a, a husband and dad and every, every other role that I just named off for you, what is your favorite event that happens every year in Fuqua Rena?
If you had to name one.
Jason: Yeah, I, I, um, I think from the town, I love Celebrate Fuqua, you know, because it's a time where the town really comes together. You [00:24:00] have the booths, you have the music, the shows, you know, it's, it's, it's like our little festival that we have once a year.
Melissa: When
Jason: is that? Our rain or shine?
It's usually in the fall. Um, okay. And, and it's rain or shine and, and we have it and it's, it's. You know, depending on the year will depend on some of the boosts. Like in election year you'll see some of the politics, but at the end of the day, it's always about community. Mm-hmm. You know, and, and it's always about the businesses in our town.
So I love Celebrate Fuqua. Um I also love the Women's Club Charity Ball. Every year they do a wonderful job getting together and raising, raising money for charities and, and, and so, you know, I love the towns event, but I also love events that give back to the community.
Melissa: Let's say you have a friend or a family member who's visiting Fuqua Marina for the first time.
They've only got 24 hours. [00:25:00] What do you tell them is the, the must go and see things to do and, and places to go?
Jason: Well, I, I think that, um, you know, I'm a lover of history. And I will definitely tell people to go to our downtowns. 'cause that's what, that's, that's where our heritage is. That's what keeps us feeling small.
That's, you know, I used to live in one of the old houses in the downtown. I mean, I mean, I, I, I always tell people to visit the downtown. But now, you know, we've changed, you know, we've got different things to do. We've, we've just opened up a family entertainment center m Wally's, that I just wrote about, which is,
Melissa: I just
Jason: went there.
Totally. Awesome.
Melissa: It is, it's amazing.
Jason: Can you believe that's in a town the size of Fuqua Arena? Yeah, that we have laser tag and we have bowling and they can do private events.
Melissa: I'm hoping to interview him coming
Jason: up, not. Not to take away from that interview, but it it is, it is a, um, it's a neat place.
Melissa: Yeah.
Jason: And so, and that's what we were really [00:26:00] lacking, like if you were coming into the town and you wanted to have some kind of thing other than shopping, you know, some kind of entertainment center for family and, and so, so I would say, I would say to go. There as well, and then visit our art center. That's one of the things that I really, oh,
Melissa: I have not been there.
Jason: Worked hard to get into Fuke wave arena that, um, my forefathers and mothers tried to fight to get it, but we're not successful in getting it because of the size of the town. Well, now we have it and there's shows there and events there, and there's always something going on. So, um, I would say that, and if you happen to be there at this time of year, you know, we, they, the town does follow me to Fuqua concerts, you know?
Mm-hmm. And, and those are really awesome. So. One thing I've heard said about Fuqua is we got a lot going on. You know, we got a lot going on.
Melissa: You do have a lot going on, and I know that everybody is very excited about the target. Yes. That I, that I mentioned earlier. Yes. It's opening, um, within the next couple weeks, I think [00:27:00] March 16th, something like that.
Jason: Yes, yes.
Melissa: What are you most excited about and looking forward to in terms of a new business or a new restaurant that's coming up?
Jason: Well, I, I'm excited first about the target because I, I think that that is something that I've heard, you know, people say, even though there's one in Holly Springs, they didn't wanna have to leave their town or go in.
They wanted, you know, I've heard people say for years, why can't we just shop in our own town? Why do we have to, you know, go to Holly Springs or Apex or C or Raleigh, you know, why can't we have the things that they have? And so I'm excited about Target and then, you know, I just recently heard the Target's gonna have some neat things and I haven't been in there yet.
I got invited to some VIP event there, which I'll be excited to get to preview it. Definitely, you know, you know, but, but, but,
Melissa: um, I'll be your plus one to that,
Jason: but I, I'm really excited about just. Seeing what has evolved. 'cause it's gonna be the biggest one, I think, in the area. And then I haven't, you know, I've heard rumors, but I [00:28:00] haven't heard anything publicly announced yet about what's supposed to go around it.
So, but, but when I was on the town board, you know, the thought was that that would be the catalyst for all the different, you know, businesses that would be around it. And we'd have something that, you know, mirrored what you see in other towns, um, with, um, retail shopping and, and that accessibility in our town.
You know, 'cause 'cause I know people may say, well why do you have to have that if you have it in the next town over? Well, why can't we have it in Fuqua Arena? You also have to remember that there are people coming from Harnett County who, you know, where I work, who would shop there that don't have a target in Lillington, you know, or Andrew, which is exploding.
Mm-hmm. So, so it's, it's catering to more than just people in Fuqua Marina.
Melissa: Let's remind everybody where to find you on Facebook. Are you on Instagram as well or is it just Facebook?
Jason: I, I, I am, but I don't really keep up with it. Okay.
Melissa: Yeah.
Jason: So just Facebook? Yeah.
Melissa: Okay. So it is [00:29:00] today in, in the Qua.
Jason: Mm-hmm.
Melissa: Um, is the Facebook name and if you're, you know, not if you're one of the four people who do not already follow, you look up today in the Qua on Facebook. Mm-hmm. And you also have a newsletter too?
Jason: Yes. Um, in 2021, I started a newsletter and it came from the day, if you recall, there was a day that Facebook went out and it was outage.
Yes.
Melissa: It was the darkest day in history.
Jason: Yeah, it was the darkest day and I thought, what am I gonna do now? I've lost all my followers, and that's when I said I need something permanent. And so I set up a newsletter on mailer light, and we have over 7,000 subscribers that I mail out. Additional positive news, but more in a story form than a Facebook post.
Melissa: So is that also where we can find what you wrote about Sarah Strong that you mentioned?
Jason: Yes.
Melissa: Okay.
Jason: Yes. It's, it's in that newsletter, but, but you have to subscribe to get it, and I don't have it where you can get back issues, but I put it on the Facebook page.
Melissa: Great.
Jason: Because I won't, because that was such a cool story.
I want everybody to get to read it, [00:30:00] so.
Melissa: I cannot thank you enough for being here today. I can't thank you enough for all the good that you're doing in Fuqua, Verina, and keep up all the positivity that you're putting on the world. Thank you for, thank you for having me.
Thank you for being here today. [00:31:00]