Oak Ridge Today

Total solar eclipse Aug. 21 in Oak Ridge area path

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The path of totality for the solar eclipse in the United States on Aug. 21, 2017. (Submitted photo)

The path of totality for the solar eclipse in the United States on Aug. 21, 2017. (Submitted photo)

 

By Carolyn Krause

Note: This story was updated at 12 p.m. July 30.

On Monday, August 21, a total solar eclipse will blot out the sun starting at 2:31 p.m. for viewers in areas within an hour’s drive of Oak Ridge.

The 70-mile-wide path of totality will extend from Oregon to South Carolina, passing through Nashville, Murfreesboro, Sparta, Cookeville, Crossville, Sweetwater, Athens, and Clingman’s Dome. Oak Ridge will not quite be in the path of totality. The sky over our area will gradually darken starting at 1:03 p.m. It will be plunged into total darkness for up to two minutes and 40 seconds, depending on where you are. The sky should brighten at about 4 p.m.

Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown

Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown

 

See a map by NASA and a link to a Washington Post interactive map in this story.

The last time the moon’s shadows in a total solar eclipse crossed our nation from the Pacific to the Atlantic was almost a century ago. On June 8, 1918, the path of totality ran from Washington State to Florida. The next total solar eclipse to cross the U.S. will occur on April 8, 2024. [Read more…]

Flatwater Festival is Friday at Melton Lake Park

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The three Rotary clubs of Oak Ridge will hold a fundraiser on Friday, June 2, at five that’s full of fun. It’s called the Flatwater Festival, and it is open from 5 to 11 p.m. You can watch teams of two build boats of plywood with simple hand tools in two-and-a-half hours. Then you can watch them paddle their boats as they race across the lagoon at Melton Lake Park.

The event is free and you can listen to area bands Ridge City Ramblers, The Unnamed, and Four Leaf Peat, as they play folk, blues, and Irish/Appalachian music on the stage, starting at 5:30.

But bring money so your kids can play in a bounce house ($5) and you can be a contestant in a cornhole tournament ($10). You will also want to drink and eat. At the festival for a small price, you can buy beer, barbecue, and burgers. Other offerings include hot dogs, wine, ice cream, and bottles of “flat” water. [Read more…]

Learn about this summer’s total solar eclipse at ORICL

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Chip Bailey, seen here on the banjo, taught an ORICL course earlier this year on Celtic music in Ireland and Scotland and will teach a course this summer on Celtic music in eastern Canada. He is a teaching artist with the Tennessee Arts Commission. (Submitted photo)

Chip Bailey, seen here on the banjo, taught an ORICL course earlier this year on Celtic music in Ireland and Scotland and will teach a course this summer on Celtic music in eastern Canada. He is a teaching artist with the Tennessee Arts Commission. (Submitted photo)

Would you like to know more about the August 21 total solar eclipse, investing to make your retirement secure, famous Tennessee ladies, Emily Dickinson’s nimble mind, and the inventions of Knoxville’s Weston Fulton (“Edison of the South”)?

Do you have a hankering for learning about and hearing more Celtic music, as discussed and played by Chip Bailey, a teaching artist with the Tennessee Arts Commission?

Want to learn how to travel the world the easy way, write a memoir, crochet creatively, and do visual journaling? How to identify summer birds and butterflies on the Melton Lake Greenway, prepare and cook three Asian dishes, do cryptal varietal crossword puzzles, upgrade a computer, and determine when to replace your PC?

Read Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure” out loud with others? Hear about successful and healthy aging, calories and metabolism and “blue zones,” where people live the longest?

These are among the courses offered during the summer 2017 term of the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning, starting June 5 and ending August 4. [Read more…]

Come watch artists chalk the walks Saturday

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2014ouitanorthcutt

This chalk painting by Ouita Northcutt received the People’s Choice Award and first prize in the professional category at the 2014 Street Painting Festival. Last year’s festival was rained out. This year’s festival is Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016, at Roane State Community College in Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

 

The 16th annual Oak Ridge Street Painting Festival is drawing near—it will be held from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday (rain day on Sunday) at the Oak Ridge Campus of Roane State Community College.

Dozens of artists will be brushing up on their skills as they transform concrete sidewalk squares into colorful chalk paintings. The public is invited to this free festival organized by the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge in conjunction with Roane State.

While would-be Rembrandts are chalking the walks, young children will enjoy free activities from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday in the Kid Zone.

Music will be provided by Roane State music groups. [Read more…]

Oak Ridger wins Paul Bryant Alumni-Athlete Award

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On Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016, Jack Bailey of Oak Ridge and Demeco Ryans of Bessemer, Ala., received the University of Alabama’s Paul W. Bryant Alumni-Athlete Award during halftime of the Crimson Tide’s first home game against Western Kentucky. (Submitted photo)

 

On Saturday, September 10, Jack Bailey of Oak Ridge and Demeco Ryans of Bessemer, Alabama, received the University of Alabama’s Paul W. Bryant Alumni-Athlete Award during halftime of the Crimson Tide’s first home game against Western Kentucky.

The award, presented by the University of Alabama National Alumni Association, was bestowed on the two men at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

Bailey, past district governor of Rotary District 6780 (which has 3,200 Rotarians in 65 clubs in East Tennessee) and a graduate of Oak Ridge High School, is the first male track and field athlete to receive the award in its 29-year history.

Ryans played football for the Crimson Tide from 2002 to 2005 and in the NFL for 10 years.

The award honors them for “their exceptional accomplishments regarding character, contributions to society, professional achievements, and service to their fellowman.” Past recipients include Bart Starr, Ozzie Newsome, Lee Roy Jordan, Bill Battle, Mal Moore, Joe Namath, and Sylvester Croom Jr. [Read more…]

Street Painting Festival on Oct. 1 seeks artists, sponsors

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2014 Owl Chalk Painting

A winning chalk painting at the 14th annual Oak Ridge Street Painting Festival, held in October 2014 at the Oak Ridge Branch Campus of Roane State Community College. (Submitted photo)

 

Do you enjoy drawing upon your artistic skills as you sketch a face, animal, or colorful scene? Then you might like “painting” pictures in chalk on a sidewalk.

You are invited to sign up as an artist for the 16th annual Oak Ridge Street Painting Festival. The festival showcases the talents of artists of all ages and provides a fun time for the community.

This popular event will be held from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, October 1, on the sidewalks of the Oak Ridge Branch Campus of Roane State Community College. (The rain day will be Sunday.) Artists may start their chalk paintings on Friday afternoon, September 30.

The art must be completed at 4 p.m. Saturday, October 1, so it can be judged before 6 p.m., when artist awards will be announced. If you win a first prize or the People’s Choice Award, you will receive a $50 cash award as well as recognition.

The festival is organized and hosted by the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge. Its purpose is to raise funds for scholarships for students at Roane State Community College. [Read more…]

Golf tourney on Sept. 23 to support Scarboro community garden

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The Rotary Club of Oak Ridge is hosting a Golf Classic tournament at Centennial Golf Course on Friday, September 23, to raise money to build a community garden in the Scarboro community in Oak Ridge. (Photo via Rotary Club of Oak Ridge on Facebook)

 

The Rotary Club of Oak Ridge is hosting a Golf Classic tournament on Friday, September 23, to raise money to build a community garden in the Scarboro community in Oak Ridge.

The Rotary Golf Classic will have a shotgun start at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, September 23, at the Centennial Golf Course off Edgemoor Road.

Here’s the rest of the schedule:

  • Registration begins at 11:30 a.m.
  • A putting contest will be held at 12:30 p.m.
  • Awards will be announced at 6 p.m.

[Read more…]

Social media the topic of ORICL fall kickoff at Roane State in Oak Ridge

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Joe Jarret

Joe Jarret (Submitted photo)

 

An expert on legal issues associated with social media will kick off a lecture series sponsored by Roane State Community College and the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning, or ORICL.

Joe Jarret’s lecture, titled “Social Media: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” will begin at 3:15 p.m. Thursday, September 15, in the City Room of the Coffey-McNally Building on the Oak Ridge Branch Campus of Roane State Community College. It’s free, and the public is invited. Refreshments will be available in the lobby after Jarret’s talk.

The event in Room A-111 also launches the fall series of courses offered by ORICL, a nonprofit organization that provides a wide variety of classes for area residents who love learning. Those classes start in mid-September, and registration can still be taken during the September 15 event. [Read more…]

Free Medical Clinic’s fundraiser: Carolina Beach Bash on Saturday

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Michael and Lissie Beehan Free Medical Clinic Fundraiser 2016

Michael and Lissie Beehan practice their “celebrity” dance. (Submitted photo)

 

 A fundraiser for Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge on Saturday features auctions, music, dancing, and dinner

A brand new grandfather clock. An elegant condo surrounded by dozens of golf courses near Orlando, Florida, that’s available in October. A lovely condo on Crescent Beach in Florida. A Gatlinburg getaway, which includes a luxury cabin stay and event tickets.

An elegant tea for eight. A fine wine dinner for 26 in a garden setting and an Italian dinner for 20 at the Olde Towne Event Center in Oak Ridge.

A one-year membership at National Fitness, flowers for a year, and a signed and framed Ed Westcott photograph of Manhattan Project workers celebrating the end of World War II. [Read more…]

Johnny Majors, standout halfback, winning UT coach, to teach ORICL course

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Johnny Majors

Johnny Majors, standout halfback and winning coach at the University of Tennessee, will teach a course at ORICL. (Submitted photo)

 

Register by Aug. 17 for fall term

Want to feel more relaxed, less fearful, and flexible during this election season? Consider taking courses presented by the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning, or ORICL, on yoga, meditation, and tai chi.

As a Tennessee football fan or coach, would you like to take a course from Johnny Majors, College Football Hall of Fame standout halfback and winning coach at the University of Tennessee? He will tell about his life and the secrets of coaching to win.

Would you like to know more about driverless cars, Mozart, the Vikings, Russian fairy tales, Chinese diagnosis in medicine, and who should have power and why?

Learn about Indonesia, Myanmar, and Thailand? Explore supernatural phenomena, mitochondria, research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Spallation Neutron Source in Oak Ridge, and the God question. [Read more…]

Class on Islam starts Sunday at First Presbyterian

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Phillip-Sherman

Phillip Sherman

Phillip Sherman, associate professor of religion at Maryville College, will present a free course on Islam for five Sundays at 1 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, which is at the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Lafayette Drive.

The classes will start this Sunday, January 10, in the fellowship hall of the sanctuary building.

“This will be an excellent opportunity to separate fact from fiction with respect to the beliefs of our Muslim brothers and sisters,” said the Reverend Sharon Youngs, church pastor. The lecture-and-discussion course, which will end on February 7, is open to the public.

With about 1.6 billion followers, or 23 percent of the global population, Islam is the second-largest religion (after Christianity) by number of adherents (Muslims). According to many sources, it’s the fastest-growing major religion in the world. Most Muslims are of two denominations: Sunni (75 to 90 percent) and Shia (10 to 20 percent). [Read more…]

‘Blue Christmas’ gathering at First Presbyterian on Tuesday

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Sharon Youngs

Sharon Youngs

The holiday season can be difficult for many folks. It can be marked by sadness and disappointment. The color of Christmas for some is blue, not “merry and bright,” red and green.

Recognizing this truth, the staff of First Presbyterian Church (Oak Ridge Turnpike at Lafayette Drive) will hold the third annual Service of Memory and Hope on Tuesday, December 8, at 6:30 p.m. in the church sanctuary.

The service will provide comforting words and music for those who find the holiday season difficult.

In addition, “Everyone who desires a quiet, reflective worship experience will find it in this service,” said the Rev. Sharon Youngs, church pastor.

“It is a helpful way to remember loved ones who are no longer with us, to gather strength for present challenges and to simply be still in the midst of a bustling, frantic season,” Youngs said.