The Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department has started a 3-on-3 men’s basketball league for the winter 2017 program.
This new league is designed for recreationally spirited athletes seeking a fun and friendly environment where they can get some exercise while enjoying a fun and social basketball program, a press release said.
The deadline for team registration is Friday, December 30. [Read more…]
Workers remove dirt for the eighth rowing lane on the Oak Ridge Rowing Course on the Clinch River along Melton Lake Drive on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Workers have been removing dirt this month for the eighth rowing lane on the Oak Ridge Rowing Course on the Clinch River on the east end of town.
More than 250 truckloads of dirt had been removed as of November 16, according to Laurel Patrick of First Place Finish Inc., which received a $548,350 contract to add the eighth lane during a special meeting in September. The work will include a precast concrete block retaining wall and associated dredging and site work.
Oak Ridge officials announced in late October that the speed limit on a section of Melton Lake Drive would be temporarily reduced for at least three months starting Monday, October 31, while the eighth rowing lane is built, and part of the Melton Lake Greenway will be closed as necessary.
The speed limit has been reduced from 45 miles per hour to 25 mph along Melton Lake Drive between Amanda Drive and Palisades Parkway. The change will remain in place for a minimum of three months starting October 31. Signs were to be installed to warn drivers of the reduced speed limit. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Woman’s Club and the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department will sponsor the annual Christmas tree lighting and reception on Dec. 2, 2016, at 6:30 p.m. (Submitted photo)
The Oak Ridge Woman’s Club and the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department will sponsor the annual Christmas tree lighting and reception at 6:30 p.m. December 2.
Participants should gather at the Secret City Commemorative Walk on the east side of the Oak Ridge Public Library parking lot for a brief ceremony, a press release said. A reception with seasonal music and entertainment will be held in the Oak Ridge Civic Center gymnasium immediately following the tree lighting. Light refreshments will be served.
Visit the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks website at orrecparks.org for information about other city events and programs.
Mark Watson
Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson will discuss the pending move of the Senior Center to the Civic Center during a November 21 meeting.
It’s a special work session of the Oak Ridge Senior Advisory Board, and it’s scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Monday, November 21, in Room 54 of the Senior Center on Emory Valley Road.
The Senior Advisory Board recommended earlier this year that the Oak Ridge Senior Center be located at the Civic Center and Alvin K. Bissell Park.
The Oak Ridge Senior Center is currently located in a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road. It’s been there since 1999. [Read more…]
Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge
Volunteers are still needed to help with the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department’s 2016 Children’s Halloween Party. The deadline to sign up is October 26, the day before the event.
The party is scheduled for Thursday, October 27, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Oak Ridge Civic Center. Volunteers are needed to help run carnival games, work in the “scary room,” help with toddler activities, and assist in the craft room, a press release said.
All volunteers must be 16 and older unless working under the supervision of an adult. Volunteers are given an event T-shirt and a pizza dinner at the conclusion of the event. To volunteer, call the Civic Center information desk at (865) 425-3450. [Read more…]
A section of Melton Lake Greenway will be temporarily closed during construction of the eighth lane on the Oak Ridge Rowing Course.
The project will require approximately 500 feet of greenway to be removed and replaced at the end of construction, a press release said. The affected area is located along Melton Lake Drive between Amanda Drive and Palisades Parkway.
Due to the restricted project work zone, a temporary bypass is not expected to be feasible, the press release said. The specific start date for the closure has yet to be determined, but signs will give notice to those in the area once the closure begins. Trail users are asked to be cautious and observe all trail closure barricades and signage. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department will host the 2016 Children’s Halloween Party on Thursday, October 27, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Civic Center. The party is primarily for preschool and elementary aged children. Older children attending with their families are welcome, a press release said.
Volunteers are needed to help run carnival games, work in the “scary room,” help with toddler activities, and assist in the craft room. All volunteers must be 16 and older unless working under the supervision of an adult, the press release said. Volunteers are given an event T-shirt and a pizza dinner at the conclusion of the event.
Activities include carnival games, inflatables, toddler game room, Halloween cartoon videos, face painting, concessions, glow room, and craft room. The “Scary Room” is a haunted castle theme and is suitable for younger children. A hayride is planned for Bissell Park, weather permitting, the release said. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Chapter of the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks will be hosting the fourth annual Drug Awareness Day at the Oak Ridge Municipal Pool located at 172 Providence Road, on Saturday, June 18.
Drug Awareness demonstrations will be held from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. inside the pool area. Hundreds of prizes will be given away to those participating in a drug awareness activity. Some of the prizes include T-shirts, coloring books, swim noodles, beach balls, and Frisbees.
This event is a partnership with Anderson County Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department, Roane County Anti-Drug Coalition, and the Tennessee Meth and Pharmaceutical Task Force. [Read more…]
A few options have been considered, and Anderson County will now study whether to move the General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge to a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
A few options have been considered, and Anderson County will now study whether to move the General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge to a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road.
Related to that proposal are plans to move the Oak Ridge Senior Center, which is now at the Emory Valley Road building, to the Oak Ridge Civic Center on Oak Ridge Turnpike.
Also up for a possible move is the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department. That department now occupies part of the Civic Center, where the Senior Center could move, but the department’s administrative offices could move to a vacant building on Badger Road that once housed Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic.
The idea is that moving the administrative wing of Recreation and Parks to the Badger Road building could free up space for seniors at the Civic Center, which in turn would help create space at the county-owned building for the General Sessions Court. [Read more…]
A city board has recommended that the Oak Ridge Senior Center be located at the Civic Center on Oak Ridge Turnpike, and the board will ask the City Council to consider $50,000 for conceptual studies, possibly in April. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
An Oak Ridge board has recommended that the city’s senior center be located at the Civic Center and Alvin K. Bissell Park, and the board will ask the City Council, possibly in April, to consider $50,000 for conceptual studies.
The Oak Ridge Senior Center is currently located in a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road. It’s been there since 1999.
Some senior center users have been advocating for a new home for years, arguing that they didn’t voluntarily leave the former Wildcat Den (the Midtown Community Center) and that their current home has a number of deficiencies. But despite those efforts, the senior center remains on Emory Valley Road.
The current effort to find a new home has been under way since last year and picked up in January, said Linda McGhee, senior programs recreation manager in the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department. [Read more…]
Hundreds of children hunt about 15,000 eggs during the annual Egg Hunt at Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge on Saturday, April 12, 2014. (File photo)
The Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department will host the 2016 Egg Hunt at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 19.
Hundreds of children are expected to participate in this annual spring event. More than 15,000 candy and prize-filled eggs will be hidden in Bissell Park with a first-, second-, and third-place prize egg in each age group.
This event will be held rain or shine, so participants should dress for the weather, a press release said. If severe weather prevents hiding the eggs outdoors, they will be given away in the gym, and a drawing will be held for the prizes. [Read more…]
Disc golf is growing in Oak Ridge and East Tennessee, and children enjoy it as well. (Photo by Savanna Schubert)
Note: This story was updated with maps at 1:35 p.m.
Football, baseball, and basketball are the main sports you think of when you are talking about sports in East Tennessee, but that is changing. There’s a new growing game on the horizon, and it’s disc golf. Although it’s been around for several decades, the sport is reaching people from all over the world, including Oak Ridge.
Oak Ridge has two courses: Carl Yearwood Park and The Mounds Course in Groves Park. Disc golfers from all over Oak Ridge and surrounding counties come to play the elevated tee pads and the challenging holes.
Clint Burner, an avid disc golfer, said the game is growing.
“The ambassadors of this sport have been playing for 35-plus years,” Burner said.
“The physical activity and being able to play outside really draws people to this sport, and playing the game makes them love it,” Burner said. [Read more…]
