Grace Writers of Grace Lutheran Church in Oak Ridge is putting together an anthology to be published in spring 2017. If you would like to contribute an essay, poems, or a piece of fiction, please use the guidelines below and submit no later than midnight, December 31, 2016.
Please use a readable 11/12-point font such as Times New Roman or Arial and submit up to three poems or one essay or piece of short fiction. Work should be inspirational but need not be religious.
In addition: [Read more…]
If you want to get some exercise early in the new year, you can go on a short hike during the Third Annual New Year’s Walk at the University of Tennessee Arboretum on Monday.
The free walk is offered by the UT Arboretum Society. It starts at 9:30 a.m. Monday, January 2, at the UT Arboretum Auditorium. There, you will be greeted by fellow hikers and offered coffee, hot chocolate, and snacks, a press release said.
At 10 a.m., the group will leave for a guided walk that will last about 45 minutes, the press release said. The hike will follow a forest trail and will visit the Elmore Holly Collection, giving participants the opportunity to see the hollies still covered with berries. [Read more…]
Keep Anderson County Beautiful, or KACB, is the recipient of a 2016 Keep America Beautiful/Lowe’s Community Partners $20,000 grant. In mid-December, Keep Anderson County Beautiful said it is building an outdoor chess board at Robertsville Middle School as part of the grant. (Photo by Keep Anderson County Beautiful via Facebook)
Keep Anderson County Beautiful, or KACB, is the recipient of a 2016 Keep America Beautiful/Lowe’s Community Partners $20,000 grant, a press release said. Keep Anderson County Beautiful announced on its Facebook page that it has building an outdoor chess board at Robertsville Middle School as part of the grant.
The KACB grant is being used to improve the landscaping at Robertsville Middle School, the press release said. The goal is to develop a pleasant campus with shade structures, benches, picnic tables, trees, and other vegetation.
In mid-December, Keep Anderson County Beautiful, a nonprofit, volunteer organization, announced on its Facebook page that it is building an outdoor chess board at Robertsville Middle School as part of the grant.
This is part of the first phase in a larger plan to make RMS a center of outdoor community activity, to enhance the students’ day-to-day lives, and to improve the campus by giving it a more park-like atmosphere and additional recreational sports areas, the press release said. [Read more…]
Submitted
Is there anything better than homemade macaroni and cheese? Perhaps there is, but when it comes to one of the ultimate comfort foods, it’s at the top of the list. To change it up a bit, the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church Stone Soup team will put away the soup pots and instead prepare that cheesy goodness for the Stone Soup Free Community Meal on Friday, December 30.
Join us in the Social Hall for dinner from 5 to 6 p.m. for the homemade meal of the “Best Ever Macaroni and Cheese,” fresh fruit, and brownies. Takeout will be available from 5 to 6 p.m. ORUUC is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike (close to traffic light number 2) in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]
Bob Fulcher (Photo courtesy Tennessee Arts Commission)
A Clinton folklorist was was one of 10 people to be presented with a 2017 Governor’s Arts Award, Tennessee’s highest honor in the arts.
Folklorist Bob Fulcher of Clinton won a Folklife Heritage Award. He is the first folklorist to receive the Tennessee Folklife Heritage Award. Fulcher is the park manager of the Cumberland Trail State Scenic Trail.
Among the distinguished artists honored are Kallen Esperian, Amy Grant, and Vince Gill, a press release said.
The awards were announced Thursday by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and First Lady Crissy Haslam.
The recipients will be acknowledged during a private ceremony in March 2017 at the Tennessee Residence. Awards are made in three categories: Distinguished Artist, Arts Leadership, and Folklife Heritage. [Read more…]
Guests at the Gala Evening at the Children’s Museum on December 2 contributed $6,260 for the fire relief effort as Clinton auctioneer Bear Stephenson extended the auction of a Gatlinburg activities package to accept contributions for organizations supporting the community and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park after the wildfire that spread from the park into Gatlinburg earlier that week. (Submitted photo)
The generosity of Gatlinburg merchants in providing an auction package for the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge Gala resulted, in return, in generosity from the Children’s Museum and Gala attendees, who opened their wallets to support Gatlinburg and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park after the devastating Chimney Tops fire.
Guests at the Gala Evening at the Children’s Museum on December 2 contributed $6,260 for the fire relief effort as Clinton auctioneer Bear Stephenson extended the auction of a Gatlinburg activities package to accept contributions for organizations supporting the community and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park after the wildfire that spread from the park into Gatlinburg earlier that week.
Martha Hart first raised the idea of donating to fire relief efforts by donating the proceeds from the Gatlinburg activities package back to the community. Hart, whose family owns Karen’s Jewelers, was helping manage the silent auction with her family as a volunteer at the Gala and suggested moving the Gatlinburg activities package from the silent to the live auction. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association has unveiled a new guide to the historic sites of the “Secret City” of Oak Ridge. The Manhattan Project, Secret City Pocket Guide was prepared by the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association in cooperation with the National Park Service and the Oak Ridge Schools.
The 44-page guide measures only 4 inches by 7 inches in size, so it easily fits in your pocket, a press release said. It tells the story of the Manhattan Project’s first major nuclear site, Oak Ridge—created less than a year after the Pearl Harbor attack. The guide is priced at $5.
The new guide is packed with historic photos, an introduction to the new national historical park, a driving map of Oak Ridge’s heritage sites, and fascinating factoids on the people who built one of the most amazing technical achievements in history, the press release said.
The guide’s author, Martin McBride, is a member of the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association Board and a retired nuclear safety division director from the U.S. Department of Energy. [Read more…]
Your end-of-the-year financial donation can help make a big difference for Ecumenical Storehouse, an organization that is best known for seeking donations of household items for distribution to people in need.
But what many don’t know is that financial contributions are always greatly appreciated by the nonprofit, volunteer organization to help pay for scarce items in high demand, such as heaters and blankets during cold weather and for help with operating expenses.
Many of the clients served are from among the vast number of Appalachian poor in the area. Others have lost everything in a fire or natural disaster. Still others were formally in abusive situations and need emergency assistance to establish a new home. Clients are referred to Ecumenical Storehouse by various social service agencies and churches. [Read more…]
Information from WYSH Radio
As WYSH Radio first reported on Friday, a real-life Grinch struck in Anderson County on Thursday. But thanks to the generosity of the community, this holiday tale had a happy ending.
The co-founder of Toys for Rocky Top, Tennessee Kids—Joe Paris—and his brother were going home after an event on Thursday, where volunteers had wrapped hundreds of toys to be distributed to children in need during their annual Christmas party set for this past Saturday night.
The men had loaded up their respective trucks with the Christmas gifts and were on their way home when Paris’s brother’s truck—which had a bad alternator to begin with—broke down by the side of Briceville Highway. The men decided to lock the truck and come back for it the next day, leaving about 150 gifts in the back of the truck, along with a photo backdrop loaned to them by a Clinton photography studio and a new alternator the men had purchased earlier in the day to replace the one in the green Ford Ranger that ultimately broke down. [Read more…]
Two drop-off locations will be available for residents who want to recycle their Christmas trees after the holidays. The program is offered by the City of Oak Ridge.
Signs will be posted in both locations. The drop-offs are:
Trees will be accepted any time through January 29, 2017. On Saturday, January 14, and Saturday, January 21, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department employees will be available to assist with unloading trees at the Big Turtle Park drop-off location from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., a press release said. [Read more…]
A float by Second Baptist Church featuring a large sleigh and reindeer won first place in the Dec. 1, 2012, Christmas parade in Clinton. (File photo courtesy of Janet Hawkins)
Reminder: Clinton’s traditional Christmas Parade of bands, floats, and other processional entries will begin at 6 p.m. today (Saturday, December 17). This year’s theme is “Once Upon A Christmas.”
Information from WYSH Radio
A real-life Grinch struck in Anderson County on Thursday.
Organizers of Saturday’s Rocky Top Christmas Party were driving near the intersection of Highway 116 and Andy’s Ridge Road in Briceville on Thursday evening after a wrapping party, where volunteers had wrapped presents for children in need in the northern part of Anderson County, when their green Ford Ranger’s alternator went out and they stopped by the side of the road.
The occupants of the vehicle locked the truck and went to call for help.
But while they were away from the vehicle, someone smashed in the windows and ransacked it. [Read more…]
