02/10/2026
🐐✍️📓📰
During the three years we have been publishing Wayne Week, there has been a constant request from many of our readers.
They want a dedicated sports section — an all-local, quality sports section.
So, at long last, we did a thing to make that happen — and we wanted you all to be the first to know before the section goes live in the Feb. 15 edition of the paper.
We hired the best sports journalist in Eastern North Carolina.
We did not ask Aviel Smolka to join the Wayne Week family because he is an award-winning journalist and photojournalist.
But he is.
We did not decide to make him an integral part of our newspaper’s expansion effort because he has covered this community for nearly a decade.
But he has.
No, the reason is far simpler — and, frankly, more significant.
You see, Aviel has a gift that not many in this profession possess.
He has an ability to immerse himself in the stories — and the people — he is covering.
Said a different way, he allows himself to experience those moments before he shares them.
Then, he takes the reader on that journey.
If you have been to a local sporting event in the last eight years, you have likely seen Aviel among the crowd.
You have witnessed him fist-bump members of the student section and high-five cheerleaders.
You have seen players and coaches run to the sideline before the game to pay him their respects.
You have watched him connect with star athletes and unsung heroes alike.
But you have not — at least in our opinion — seen all he is capable of just yet.
Well, get ready.
The future of sports coverage in Wayne County starts now.
And in our opinion, it’s going to be a bright one.
So, if you see “Avi” around, welcome him to the Wayne Week family.
If you have a story idea, share it with him at [email protected]
And in the meantime, we’ll see all you sports fans this weekend.
Haven’t joined us yet? A special subscription rate is now available — the link is in the comment section of our Facebook post — to celebrate our newest hire. 📸 by
