Oak Ridge Today

Dogwood Regatta in Oak Ridge this weekend

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Dogwood Regatta

The Dogwood Regatta in Oak Ridge this weekend is expected to draw huge crowds of rowers and spectators from at least eight states, organizers said.

The rowers, who will range in age from teenagers to age 68, include high school and college-age competitors as well as adults, and they will travel from rowing clubs and schools across Tennessee, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, South Carolina, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Texas.

The Dogwood Regatta is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 25, and 8 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 26, at Melton Lake Park and Oak Ridge Marina. [Read more…]

Suck It Up Buttercup KTM 5k is Sunday, May 3

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The Suck It Up Buttercup KTM 5k is Sunday, May 3, in Oak Ridge.

The race is in memory of Kerry Trammell. Proceeds from the 2015 race will go to the Aven Crane Cancer Foundation and the Colton Stout Scholarship Foundation.

Th race starts at 8 a.m. May 3 on the peninsula of the Oak Ridge Marina on Melton Lake Drive. [Read more…]

Results announced for fundraising 5k run honoring Colton Stout

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Colton Alexander Stout

Colton Alexander Stout

Results are now available for a fundraising 5k run held at the Oak Ridge Marina Saturday morning in honor of a young firefighter and emergency medical technician who died in a car crash in January.

See the results here: Buy the Ticket Results.

The new Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride 5K Run honors the memory of Colton Stout, an EMT-IV/firefighter. It raises money for the nonprofit Colton Stout Scholarship Fund Inc.

Organizers said this year’s event proceeds will be used for two EMT or paramedic certification scholarships to help selected candidates follow their dream and pursue a career in the first responder field. [Read more…]

Volunteers, launch drivers needed for USRowing National Championship

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USRowing Youth National Championships Finals

The USRowing Youth National Championships Finals are pictured above in Oak Ridge in June 2013. (File photo)

USRowing is having its 2014 National Club Championship regatta in Oak Ridge from Wednesday, July 16, through Sunday, July 20.

The regatta is on Melton Hill Lake at the Oak Ridge Marina.

The Oak Ridge Rowing Association is seeking volunteers for this event, a press release said. No experience is necessary.

“This is a great way to get up close to some of the best racing in the country,” said Terry Holley, president of the Oak Ridge Rowing Association. “We are pleased that USRowing has chosen Melton Hill Lake once again as the venue for this prestigious event.” [Read more…]

Grand opening, ribbon cutting at New China Palace on Thursday

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New China Palace Restaurant Interior

The interior of the New China Palace restaurant on Central Avenue is pictured above.

 

The New China Palace restaurant will have a grand opening and ribbing cutting ceremony at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

The hour-long ceremony is sponsored by the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce.

The New China Palace, which has relocated from the Oak Ridge Marina, is now at 123 Central Avenue in the Jackson Square area. [Read more…]

Letter: Three Rotary clubs launch successful Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Festival

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Dragon Boats Close Race

 

To the Editor:

What happens when three Rotary clubs in an East Tennessee city work together? In Oak Ridge, a three-club collaboration over the past year culminated in a highly successful inaugural Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Race Festival. The exciting event was launched on Saturday, May 31, at the Oak Ridge Marina off Melton Lake Drive—one of the three best rowing venues in the United States.

The leadership of the event started with Mark Watson, Oak Ridge city manager and president of the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge. He met frequently with the presidents of the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary and Oak Ridge Sunset Rotary clubs, and they persuaded their club members to serve on the organizing committee and as volunteers at the festival. Key Rotarians who made the event successful were Leslie England, Keith Kahl, Jim Sumner, and Oak Ridge City Councilman Chuck Hope (who was in charge of logistics and served as a liaison between the Rotary clubs and the city of Oak Ridge).

By the third week in May, 30 teams, including one from Chattanooga and three from Kentucky and North Carolina, had registered. Three teams came from the Oak Ridge School System and three from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). [Read more…]

Photos: Dragon Boat Festival

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oak-ridge-dragon-boat-festival-19

 

Thirty boats participated in the inaugural Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Festival on Saturday at the Oak Ridge Marina at Melton Lake Park.

The event was organized by the three Rotary clubs of Oak Ridge: Rotary Club of Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary, and Oak Ridge Sunset Rotary Club.

Organizers were pleased with the participation and turnout, and they’ve already announced that next year’s festival will be on May 30, 2015.

A dragon boat is a long, low boat adorned with a snarling dragonhead at the boat’s front end, as in the Chinese tradition. Dragon boat races have become popular events in many U.S. cities, ranging in size from Philadelphia to Knoxville. [Read more…]

Thirty dragon boat teams ready to race May 31

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Penny Behling Dragon Boat Steerer

Penny Behling of Dynamic Dragon Boat Races LLC of Knoxville takes over as steerer of this dragon boat during a race in Owenboro, Ky., and gets the team back on course. (Submitted photo)

 

The inaugural Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Festival will be held from 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 31, at the Oak Ridge Marina and Pavilion in Melton Lake Park.

The three Rotary clubs of Oak Ridge are launching this fundraiser for community nonprofit service organizations.

Dragon boat racing is the eighth-fastest growing sport in the world. And the races will take place on Oak Ridge’s signature rowing venue, considered one of the three best courses for regattas in the nation.

Starting at 9 a.m., 30 dragon boat teams—three from Kentucky and North Carolina—will race at least twice, with the 12 winners of two rounds racing in the third round.

The festival offers food and beverage vendors, beer garden, kids area at the pavilion with bounce houses and 15-minute martial arts lessons on the hour, two Tai Chi demonstrations, and awards ceremonies for winners of the morning Drummers Parade and the third round of dragon boat races. [Read more…]

Conference USA Rowing Championships in Oak Ridge on Saturday

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Tennessee Rowing

Image courtesy Tennessee Volunteers Athletics

 

The 2014 Conference USA Rowing Championships are in Oak Ridge on Saturday. The regatta is at Melton Lake Park and the Oak Ridge Marina.

The University of Tennessee will be competing against Alabama, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Old Dominion, Sacramento State, San Diego State, Texas, Tulsa, and West Virginia for the 2014 C-USA Title. The championship begins at 9:00 a.m.

For a schedule of events this Saturday, visit http://www.conferenceusa.com/championships/w-rowing-championship-14.html.

The regatta is hosted by the Oak Ridge Rowing Association.

Twenty dragon boat teams ready to race May 31

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Dragon Boat Races

Teams take part in the annual Dragon Boat Festival in Taipei on May 28, 2009. Originally the summer event was a time to ward off bad spirits but now it is a celebration of the life of Qu Yuan, a Chinese poet who opposed the corruption of the imperial court. More than 200 teams from Taiwan and abroad will compete in the three-day race. AFP PHOTO / PATRICK LIN (Photo credit should read PATRICK LIN/ AFP/ Getty Images)

 

Commit to a competitive sport and community support. 

That could be the motto of the inaugural Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Festival, a fundraiser for community nonprofit service organizations that will be launched by the three Rotary clubs of Oak Ridge.

Already at least 20 boat teams are being organized, with more expected to register soon at http://oakridge.racedragonboats.com/.

At least 15 companies and organizations have paid or pledged a total of more than $25,000.

The Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Festival will be held Saturday, May 31, at the Oak Ridge Marina and Pavilion in Melton Lake Park. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge building bathrooms, changing rooms at Melton Lake Park

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Oak Ridge Marina Bathrooms

Workers build a block wall, patch and texture the ceiling, and hang drywall for new bathrooms and changing rooms in part of the former New China Palace restaurant at Melton Lake Park.

One section of a former Chinese restaurant at Melton Lake Park has already been converted into a rental shop for kayaks and bikes.

Now, another part of the city-owned building at the Oak Ridge Marina is being converted into public restrooms and changing rooms for big events. The bathrooms, which will be open to the public, could open next month.

It’s one of the steps in implementing a waterfront development plan approved by Oak Ridge City Council in December 2009. That plan included such features as a new picnic pavilion, walking trails, new playground, permanent restrooms, enhanced lighting and landscaping, outdoor casual dining, and recreational equipment rental.

The bathrooms will include multiple stalls, and the city will open the changing rooms for large events, such as regattas (rowing races). That will double the restroom capacities, said Pat Fallon, operations and maintenance manager for the Oak Ridge Public Works Department. [Read more…]

Adventures Outdoors rents kayaks, bikes at Oak Ridge Marina

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Kayaks under Melton Lake Drive

Above, kayaks from Adventures Outdoors are taken through a tunnel under Melton Lake Drive. (Photos courtesy Karen Lloyd)

Adventures Outdoors is open again, renting kayaks, bicycles, and stand up paddle boards at the Oak Ridge Marina.

The company has a new, larger, remodeled home inside part of the former New China Palace restaurant on the waterfront and a new five-year lease with the city, said Karen Lloyd, Adventures Outdoors owner.

Adventures Outdoors has 20 kayaks, including boats for one and two people, a new kayak launching dock, and five-person pedal boats. The rentals includes bikes for adults and children, as well as Trikkes, which are three-wheeled “carving vehicles.”

Lloyd said Adventures Outdoors opened for the season on April 1 and will remain open through Oct. 31. [Read more…]