Oak Ridge Today

Centrus donates $2,500 to ADFAC

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Centrus Donates to ADFAC

Centrus Energy Corporation’s Jeff Cooper, right, presents the 2015 Corporate Membership contribution to ADFAC’s Executive Director Annie Cacheiro, left, and Corporate Committee members Ray Smith, second from left, and Barry Stephenson. (Submitted photo)

 

Centrus Energy Corporation donated $2,500 to ADFAC and became the first 2015 Grand Benefactor Corporate Member, the nonprofit organization’s Corporate Committee announced this week.

Jeff Cooper, Centrus’s Lead Cascade Project Manager, recently presented the donation to Ray Smith and Barry Stephenson, ADFAC Corporate Committee members.

“This corporate contribution is going to help lead the way for other corporate contributions for ADFAC,” said Smith, who is a member of the ADFAC Board of Directors. “It’s so appreciated and will truly help AFDAC fulfill their mission of ‘neighbors helping neighbors.'” [Read more…]

Russell, scientist and environmental advocate, to be interviewed Thursday

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Liane Lee Russell

Liane Lee Russell

Scientist and environmental advocate Liane “Lee” Russell will be interviewed in a Thursday meeting of Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning and Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association.

“She will share her many and varied experiences both as a highly successful scientist and truly dedicated and equally effective environmental advocate,” a press release said.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 9, at the Midtown Community Center at 102 Robertsville Road in the historic Wildcat Den.

“You will not want to miss this opportunity to interact with one of the most famous scientists in Oak Ridge’s history,” organizers said. [Read more…]

Boys and Girls Club Memorial Scholarships announced

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Boys and Girls Club of Oak Ridge Scholarships 2015

Pictured above from left to right are Ann Likens, Boys and Girls Club unit board
chair; scholarship recipients J. Lynn Dillon, Zach Kassner, and Ragan Anderson; Lawrence Hahn,
executive director emeritus; and Adam Wilson, unit director. (Submitted photo)

 

The Boys and Girls Clubs of the Clinch Valley recently awarded its scholarships for 2015.

The 2015 Boys and Girls Club of Oak Ridge Memorial Scholarships are in honor of Mike Anderson, Charles Burger, David Hahn, Kevin Hurt, Charles Kennedy, Baxter Underwood, and Jim Vines.

The 2015 recipients are J. Lynn Dillon, Zach Kassner, and Ragan Anderson.

Patterson, Dodson to lead United Way fundraising campaign in 2015-2016

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Gene Patterson

Gene Patterson

Art teacher Jim Dodson and Gene Patterson, a former television anchor who now works at Y-12 National Security Complex, will co-chair the 2015-2016 fundraising campaign for United Way of Anderson County, a press release said.

It’s a period of transition and change, the release said, and Dodson and Patterson will “lead the charge as UWAC kicks off its fresh campaign to raise money for local agencies.”

Patterson has been delivering local news for more than 30 years, as an anchor at both WBIR and WATE. He also served his community as deputy to the Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe, focusing on city initiatives and facilitating community task forces. In 2015, Patterson joined the communications team at Consolidated Nuclear Security at Y-12 in Oak Ridge.

Dodson has taught art in the Oak Ridge Schools system since 1987, and has been recognized as both the Tennessee Art Educator of the Year and the National Middle School Art Educator of the Year. In 2015, Dodson received the Distinguished Educator Award and was appointed to the Humanities Tennessee Board. His efforts to establish student art exhibitions all over Tennessee have earned more than $7 million in scholarships for his students. [Read more…]

Area lawmakers announce $72,190 in Anderson County arts grants

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Tennessee legislators announced Friday that seven arts grants worth $72,190 have been awarded to six organizations in Anderson County.

The recipients include the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Community Playhouse, Oak Ridge Civic Music Association, Oak Ridge Community Art Center, Tennessee Mountain Writers, and Appalachian Arts Craft Center.

The grants include two grants with a combined total of $20,800 for the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge in the categories of Arts Education-Community Learning and Partnership Support.

The other grants include: [Read more…]

Battle of the bands helps Hospitality Houses at MMC

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Doc Rock Check Presentation

Local physician band Second Opinion donated $2,211 to Methodist’s Hospitality Houses, the band’s health charity of choice, when they competed at Doc Rock. Pictured from left are Sandra Jernigan, Knoxville Academy of Medicine Alliance member; John Jernigan, MD, Second Opinion drummer and retired otolaryngologist; Kim Maes, Hospitality House coordinator at Methodist Medical Center; and Ken Luckmann, MD, Second Opinion band member and retired gastroenterologist. (Photo submitted by Covenant Health)

 

Second Opinion, an Oak Ridge-based physician band, has donated $2,211 to the Hospitality Houses of Methodist Medical Center. The donation was from the band’s participation in Doc Rock for Health, an annual battle of the bands, which was hosted by the Knoxville Academy of Medicine Alliance at Knoxville’s Old City earlier this year.

On June 19, Kim Maes, coordinator of the Hospitality Houses, was presented with the check. The houses have been the band’s longtime charity of choice for the event. Their participation has helped raise more than $10,000 for the Hospitality Houses.

Methodist’s Hospitality Houses primarily provide free lodging to families and patients who travel to Methodist for cancer treatment, as well as other outpatients who require extended treatment. [Read more…]

UCOR contributes to ADFAC as benefactor sponsor

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UCOR ADFAC Donation 2015

UCOR President and Project Manager Ken Rueter, right, presents the 2015 Corporate Membership contribution to ADFAC’s Ray Smith, left, Board of Directors and Corporate Committee member, and ADFAC’s Executive Director, Annie Cacheiro. (Submitted photo)

 

UCOR recently contributed to Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties as a benefactor sponsor for ADFAC’s 2015 Corporate Membership Campaign, a press release said.

UCOR President and Project Manager Ken Rueter presented the contribution to ADFAC representative Ray Smith and Executive Director Annie Cacheiro. UCOR is a partnership between URS and CH2M Oak Ridge LLC.

Smith, an ADFAC board member and Corporate Committee member, said: “This campaign is geared toward encouraging area corporations to support the very important mission of helping those most in need in our community. UCOR has been a corporate member for several years and we greatly appreciate their continued generosity.” [Read more…]

Record crowds: Secret City Festival was ‘tremendous success’

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Secret City Festival Concert 2015

A concert crowd at the 2015 Secret City Festival in Oak Ridge. (Photo by Robert Welton)

 

The 2015 Oak Ridge Secret City Festival drew record attendance, despite the heat, organizers said. Concerts by the Marshall Tucker Band and Three Dog Night attracted the highest number of spectators in festival history.

“We were ecstatic with the turnout for both concerts,” says, Marc DeRose, executive director of the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We knew the bands would be popular but didn’t expect to see quite so many people. It was outstanding!”

Attendances for The Marshall Tucker Band and Three Dog Night were more than 2,200 and more than 3,500, respectively. The previous record was 2,300 for the Rick Springfield concert in 2013.

“After seeing how many tickets were sold at the gate for Friday’s Marshall Tucker concert, we decided to move the concert fences back to accommodate the expected additional 1,000-plus spectators for Three Dog Night,” DeRose said. [Read more…]

Girls Inc. Elite Awards honors Nikki Caldwell on July 15

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Nikki Caldwell

Girls Inc. will honor Nikki Caldwell on Wednesday, July 15. Caldwell is an Oak Ridge native, former University of Tennessee basketball all star, and current women’s basketball head coach at Louisiana State University.

She is also an “elite alumni” of Girls Inc., a press release said. The awards will also honor current elite member Semaj Clark of Oak Ridge, the release said.

The inaugural Girls Inc. Elite Awards ceremony is scheduled from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 15, at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville. All proceeds will go directly into expanding current programming to improve program content while increasing the number of girls served, the press release said. [Read more…]

Emory Valley Early Learning Center receives ‘Gold Sneaker’ designation

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In front row, left to right, are Nina Vasquez, Kwan Davis, Brock Smith, and Tommy Meredith. In back, from left to right, are Patty Campbell, Anderson County Health Department nutritionist; Terry Frank, Anderson County mayor; Terry Peek, director of the Emory Valley Early Learning Center; and Jennifer Enderson, president of the Emory Valley Center. (Photo courtesy of Anderson County Health Department)

In front row, left to right, are Nina Vasquez, Kwan Davis, Brock Smith, and Tommy Meredith. In back, from left to right, are Patty Campbell, Anderson County Health Department nutritionist; Terry Frank, Anderson County mayor; Terry Peek, director of the Emory Valley Early Learning Center; and Jennifer Enderson, president of the Emory Valley Center. (Photo courtesy of Anderson County Health Department)

 

The Emory Valley Early Learning Center in Oak Ridge recently completed all requirements to be considered a “Gold Sneaker” facility by the State of Tennessee.

And on June 10, Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and employees of the Anderson County Health Department presented Emory Valley Learning Center with its Gold Sneaker incentives. The Gold Sneaker Initiative designation, developed by the Tennessee Department of Health, is an enhanced certification for daycares in Tennessee and requires that these centers maintain rigorous standards of physical activity, nutrition, and a tobacco-free campus, a press release said.

“The team at Emory Valley Center was so proud of their recognition, as they should be,” Frank said in the press release. “A focus on health and wellness during the early years is assuredly an investment in a healthy adulthood. I congratulate their wonderful team’s hard work and commitment meeting the standards of the governor and the Department of Health.” [Read more…]

Children’s Museum summer camps continue in July

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Imagination Station Summer Camp continues at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge through July, inviting children to experience garden to table fun, create with chocolate and other culinary treats, learn from the artistic masters, fashion designs in clay, and many more adventures.

The summer camps, through July 31, offer activities for children ages 3-5 in preschool classes and for children entering grades 1 through 7. Clay camps with professional clay artist Sherrie Carris will be offered throughout the summer for children ranging in age from 4-13.

The week-long camps are offered Monday through Friday each week. Fees for a single camp are $125 for members and $135 for non-members. For combo camps, morning and afternoon, fees are $210 for members and $220 for non-members. Payment may be made by phone with Visa, MasterCard or Discover, by check, or online through PayPal.

Camps for the week of June 29-July 3 are: [Read more…]

Photos: Record-setting crowd at Three Dog Night concert

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Secret City Festival Crowd at Three Dog Night Concert

Although numbers weren’t immediately available, organizers said a record-setting crowd attended the Three Dog Night concert at the Secret City Festival on Saturday. Here’s a panoramic view from the stage. (Photo by Jon Hetrick)

 

Numbers weren’t immediately available, but organizers and volunteers said a record-setting crowd attended the Three Dog Night concert at the Secret City Festival on Saturday night.

Here are a few photos by Jon Hetrick and John Westcott. [Read more…]