Oak Ridge Today

Scarboro-Oak Ridge 85 honored in events this week

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The 85 students who integrated Oak Ridge schools in 1955 are being honored in events this week.

The “Rooted in the Community” reunion events have been organized by the Scarboro Community Alumni Association. They are scheduled from Thursday, September 2, to Sunday, September 5.

“The event honors those Scarboro-Oak Ridge TN 85 students who integrated the schools as well as the Scarboro teachers,” said John Spratling in a recent interview. Spratling is the vice president of the organization and the Scarboro endowment fund established to honor the teachers and students by supporting enrichment programs such as ACT Prep Testing, leadership training, scholarships, and youth community service projects, a press release said.

“In 1955, 85 courageous young African American students from the Scarboro community were asked to be the first to enter all-white Robertsville junior and Oak Ridge High School in Oak Ridge, Tennessee,” the press release said. “The reunion honors those 85 students and the Scarboro School teachers that provided inspiration and tools to prepare them for this new journey.”

[Read more…]

Knoxville journalist to discuss misinformation, disinformation at Lunch with League

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Jesse Mayshark

A Knoxville journalist will discuss misinformation and disinformation during Lunch with the League in Oak Ridge on September 21.

Jesse Mayshark is co-owner, editor, and publisher of the Compass, a news website covering Knoxville and Knox County government, politics, and business.

The topic of the September 21 talk is misinformation, disinformation, and the differences between the two; their causes; and impact on political processes, including redistricting, a press release said.

It said Mayshark has a variety of experiences as a journalist, having served as editor of Knoxville’s former weekly, Metro Pulse; as a copy editor and freelance music writer for The New York Times; as a reporter for the Knoxville News Sentinel and the Mountain Press in Sevier County; and as a regular contributor to the music magazine, No Depression.

[Read more…]

Cars for Canines is Saturday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Explore Oak Ridge will host the second annual Cars for Canines event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, at Melton Lake Park. (Photo submitted by Explore Oak Ridge)

Explore Oak Ridge will host the second annual Cars for Canines event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, August 21, at Melton Lake Park.

The event will consist of a car show sponsored by Summer Knights Cruisers, food trucks, live music, vendors, demonstrations, and pet-friendly fun all to benefit the Oak Ridge Animal Shelter and Anderson County Humane Society, a press release said.

This event is free, and everyone is welcome, including your four-legged friends, the press release said.

Car show registration is $20 and begins at 10 am. All classic cars, hot rods, and motorcycles are welcome to enter. Awards will be given to the top 25 vehicles and door prizes will be given during the event for registered vehicles, the release said.

[Read more…]

UT Aboretum Society Butterfly Festival will be online

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Photo submitted by University of Tennessee Arboretum Society

The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society’s Sixth Annual Butterfly Festival will be available online beginning Saturday, September 18, a press release said. This year’s Butterfly Festival will again be virtual with outstanding lectures and special video programs for children, the release said.

The festival will go live online at 10 a.m. September 18 and remain available for you to watch at your convenience. You may register to be emailed the links for these free programs at www.utarboretumsociety.org. Registration for this event is required. These programs will be recorded, and closed captioning is available, the press release said.

Co-sponsored by the UT Institute of Agriculture, this event has become one of the most popular events annually with more than 2,000 people attending in 2019. Due to the uncertain nature of COVID-19 precautions, this year’s festival has been filmed in advance to be presented online. “This will be a different festival than in the past as there are no on-site activities, but we are excited to bring the public some great online options,” the press release said.

“To celebrate the spirit of the festival, we invited the public to order and decorate wooden butterflies,” the release said. “These butterflies will be on display throughout the month of September around our Visitors Center. We invite you to enjoy this display whenever you visit the Arboretum during September.”

[Read more…]

Events to mark Hiroshima, Nagasaki anniversaries, call for nuclear abolition

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

OREPA Peace Cranes at Y-12
Sharon O’Hara-Bruce of Lake Orion, Mich., ties a peace crane to a fence set up in front of the Y-12 National Security during a previous ceremony recalling the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945, near the end of World War II. (File photo)

Events planned in Oak Ridge and Knoxville on Friday and Saturday will commemorate the U.S. bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, near the end of World War II, as organizers call for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

“There is a new energy for abolition,” said Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance. “Here and around the globe, actions and events will echo the demand of the international community in the Ban Treaty: nuclear weapons states give up their weapons.”

A press release from OREPA cited the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Under that treaty, the international community outlawed nuclear weapons, organizers said. The treaty was passed by 122 nations in June 2017 and entered into this past January, the press release said.

“There are only two possible endings to the story of nuclear weapons,” said Beatrice Fihn, director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, 2017 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. “Either we end nuclear weapons, or they will us. There is no other possible ending.”

[Read more…]

Battery research to be discussed Tuesday, Aug. 10

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

John Bates, independent consultant for battery development and former researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will speak about solid-state lithium and lithium-ion batteries on Tuesday, Aug. 10, at 12 noon to Friends of ORNL. The lecture is open to the public. To view the virtual lecture, click on the talk title on the homepage of the www.fornl.org website and click on the Zoom link on the page describing the lecture.

“I will give a brief history of the development of intercalation cathode materials such as lithium cobalt oxide and a review of some of the research on thin-film batteries at ORNL and other organizations,” Bates said. “I will list a few of the perceived applications of these batteries for powering small devices. Successful commercialization of thin-film batteries encourages the view that the daunting problems facing large-scale solid-state batteries are solvable but perhaps not as soon as advertised.” [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Community Band has Back to School concert Sunday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Community Band (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge Community Band will have a Back to School concert in Alvin K. Bissell Park on Sunday evening.

Oak Ridge schools started a new school year this week.

Sunday evening will feature casual, relaxing music performed by the Oak Ridge Community Band, a press release said. The concert is free, and it will start at 7 p.m. It is a great opportunity for family and friends to enjoy an entertaining program of music featuring popular selections that children and students know and love but that also appeal to listeners of all ages, the press release said.

Sunday evening’s performance directed by conductor Shaun Salem is focusing on familiar and well-liked numbers including “Young Person’s Guide to John Williams” with “Raiders March,” “Prologue from Hook,” “Theme from E.T.,” “Hedwig’s Theme,” and Disney movie favorites “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “The Incredibles.”

Other compositions on Sunday’s program will be band director Shaun Salem’s mysterious “Ghost Ship” and John Powell’s “How to Train Your Dragon” featuring “This is Berk,” “Move Ahead,” and “Coming Back Around.” The band will also perform Rossano Galante’s “Mt. Everest” and Percy Grainger’s “Children’s March: Over the Hills and Far Away.” [Read more…]

Beauty of Giving: Free haircuts offered

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Atomic City Sportsmen Club and Oak Valley Baptist Church have invited students to kick off the new school year with a fresh free haircut and style during the annual Beauty of Giving event today (Sunday, July 25).

Participating barber and beauty shops will open at 2 p.m. and provide haircuts and styles to children on a first-come basis, a press release said. Participating shops include High Maintenance, The Pro’s 2, Fade to Black, and Fresh Master Cuts in Oak Ridge.

An event advertisement said the event, Beauty of Giving, is from 2 to 7:30 p.m.

[Read more…]

Jimmie Allen to perform at Secret City Festival

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Allen was named New Male Artist of the Year at the 2021 Academy of Country Music Awards

One of country music’s hottest rising stars will perform on the first night of the Secret City Festival in Oak Ridge this fall, a press release said.

Jimmie Allen, who made history as the first black artist to launch a career with two consecutive No. 1 hits on country radio, including his debut single “Best Shot,” and his latest single “Make Me Want To,” was named ACA’s best new male artist of the year in 2021, a press release said.

“We are excited to bring a rising talent to perform in Oak Ridge,” said Naomi Asher, marketing chair of the festival. “Our lineup this year will appeal to a wide array of people and include all the fun activities and vendors that festival-goers have been used to seeing for years.”

The festival is scheduled from September 24-26 at Alvin K. Bissell Park. Doors open at 6 p.m., with the opener taking the stage at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at https://www.secretcityfestival.com.

[Read more…]

Secret City Improv Festival announces September lineup

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The lineup has been announced for the first Secret City Improv Festival in Oak Ridge this fall.

The festival is scheduled for September 24 and 25 at the Historic Grove Theater in Oak Ridge.

Two rounds of submissions made up the qualification process for the Secret City Improv Festival, a press release said. The priority consideration period concluded on Friday, July 16. The final submission will conclude on August 13.

“We are excited to announce the first 16 teams that have been selected,” the press release said. “The selection of teams features a diverse lineup of styles, team size, and show format.”

The selections include both local improvisation teams and teams representing nine other states, the release said.

[Read more…]

Summer Sessions concerts start Saturday with Sierra Hull

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Summer Sessions concerts start this summer with a performance by Sierra Hull in Oak Ridge on Saturday.

Hull, a native of Byrdstown, Tennessee, is an accomplished singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist who made her first Opry appearance  at the age of 10, a press release said. Her vocal debut album, “Secrets,” was released in 2008 and peaked at number two on the Billboard Top Bluegrass Albums chart. Hull has received numerous International Bluegrass Music Association nominations and received the Bluegrass Star Award presented by the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation in 2013, the press release said.

Opening for Hull will be The Po’ Ramblin Boys, a bluegrass band formed in the Great Smoky Mountains.

All Summer Sessions concerts are free and will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. at the pavilion in Alvin K. Bissell Park at 1401 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge. The concerts are sponsored by ORNL Federal Credit Union.

[Read more…]

Anderson County Fair continues through Saturday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Anderson County continues Friday and Saturday.

The six-day fair in Clinton began Monday. The fair includes rides, animals, informational booths, music, events, and food, among other activities. You can see a schedule here: Schedule of Events | Anderson County Fair, TN | July 15-20 (andersoncountyfairtn.com).

[Read more…]