Oak Ridge Today

Give the gift of hope through financial donations to Ecumenical Storehouse

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Your end-of-the-year financial donation can help make a big difference for Ecumenical Storehouse, the organization that is best known for seeking donations of household items for distribution to people in need, a press release said.

But what many don’t know is that financial contributions are always greatly appreciated by the nonprofit, all-volunteer organization to help pay for operating expenses and for scarce items particularly in need, such as heaters and blankets, during cold weather.

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, the press release said. Clients are referred to Ecumenical Storehouse by various social service agencies and churches. [Read more…]

Roane State campuses closed Dec. 16-Jan.1 for holidays

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Roane State Community College campuses will be closed Saturday, December 16, through Monday, January 1, for the holidays.

The college will reopen Tuesday, January 2, and spring classes will begin on Tuesday, January 16, a press release said.

Registration and other self-service options are available through the Roane State website at www.roanestate.edu.

For more information, visit www.roanestate.edu or call 1-866-GO2-RSCC (1-866-462-7722).

Senior Center offers free guitar lessons

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Guitar Intermediate Class

Free guitar lessons for senior citizens will begin with an orientation class on Friday, Jan. 5, 2018, at 10 a.m., at the Oak Ridge Senior Center, which is at the Oak Ridge Civic Center at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike. This is a picture of a previous intermediate guitar class. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

 

Free guitar lessons for senior citizens will begin with an orientation class on Friday, January 5, 2018, at 10 a.m., at the Oak Ridge Senior Center.

Regular classes will begin on Friday, January 19, 2018, and are open to area seniors age 50 and older. All levels of guitar players are welcome, a press release said.

Beginner’s lessons start at 9 a.m. with intermediate lessons to follow. Bass guitar lessons are also included. Wendall Cook, who has many years of experience playing and teaching, will conduct the lessons, the press release said. [Read more…]

UT Arboretum Society has New Year’s Walk on Jan. 1

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The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society has its Fourth Annual New Year's Walk at the UT Arboretum at 901 S. Illinois Ave. in Oak Ridge on Monday, Jan. 1, 2018. (Photo by UT Arboretum Society)

The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society has its Fourth Annual New Year’s Walk at the UT Arboretum at 901 S. Illinois Ave. in Oak Ridge on Monday, Jan. 1, 2018. (Photo by UT Arboretum Society)

 

If you are overloaded on football, food, and festivities, the University of Tennessee Arboretum Society is offering a great alternative: The Fourth Annual New Year’s Walk at the UT Arboretum on Monday, January 1, 2018.

The arboretum is at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

“Start out the year on the ‘right foot’ by joining the walk that begins at 9:30 a.m. at the UT Arboretum Auditorium, where 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 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.

“This is an easy walk on the trails and is suitable for all ages. The Arboretum Society encourages everyone to come out to enjoy an outdoor respite before heading home to watch the bowl games on TV.”

This is a free program offered by the University of Tennessee Arboretum Society. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge announces holiday closures, changes

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All City of Oak Ridge administrative offices will be closed on Monday, December 25, and Tuesday, December 26, to observe Christmas. Other closures and adjustments to city services and facilities because of the holidays are listed below:

  • Household Trash and Recycling Collection—Pick-ups will run on a one-day delay during Christmas week
  • Waste Connections Convenience Center—Closed Sunday, December 24, and Monday, December 25
  • Oak Ridge Civic Center—Closed Friday, December 22, through Tuesday, December 26
  • Scarboro Community Center—Closed Monday, December 25, and Tuesday, December 26
  • Centennial Golf Course—Closed Monday, December 25

The extended closure of the Oak Ridge Civic Center is due to gym floor refinishing, a press release said. While the rest of the building will reopen to the public on Wednesday, December 27, the gymnasium will not reopen until Thursday, December 28. [Read more…]

CNS Y-12 community fund announces $150,000 in grants to 16 nonprofits

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Anderson County EMS received a grant from the CNS Y-12 Community Investment Fund. The grants were announced on Dec. 6, 2017. (Photo by CNS Y-12)

Anderson County EMS received a grant from the CNS Y-12 Community Investment Fund. The grants were announced on Dec. 6, 2017. (Photo by CNS Y-12)

 

Sixteen nonprofit organizations in 11 East Tennessee counties received roughly $150,000 in grants from the Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC (CNS) Y-12 Community Investment Fund.

Anderson County EMS was among the grant recipients. The recipients were announced during a December 6 reception at Y-12’s New Hope Center.

Consolidated Nuclear Security manages and operates the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas. The CNS Y-12 Community Investment Fund is managed by the East Tennessee Foundation, and it was created in 2014 by CNS. A similar fund is managed by the Amarillo Area Foundation, a press release said. [Read more…]

UT executive David Millhorn, a UT-ORNL leader, died Monday at 72

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David Millhorn

David Millhorn

 

KNOXVILLE—David Millhorn, University of Tennessee senior vice president emeritus and national laboratory relations advisor, died on Monday in Knoxville. Millhorn, who joined UT System Administration in 2005 as vice president for research and economic development, was 72.

In July, Millhorn transitioned to his most recent role with the university after having served as UT senior vice president and vice president for research, outreach, and economic development since 2016 and president of the UT Research Foundation since January 2014.

Two years after Millhorn’s service as a member of the UT president’s staff began in 2005, he took on the additional role of UT executive vice president and served in both that capacity and as vice president for research until 2016, a press release said.

Millhorn oversaw multiple, unprecedented achievements for the university’s research enterprise, the press release said. Among those, UT’s contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to manage Oak Ridge National Laboratory—in partnership with Battelle Memorial Institute of Ohio—earned two five-year extensions, in 2010 and 2015, without having to re-compete. [Read more…]

Blankenship Field renovations could start in January, be complete by June

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The renovation work at Blankenship Field and Jack Armstrong Stadium could start in January and be complete by June, officials said Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

The renovation work at Blankenship Field and Jack Armstrong Stadium could start in January and be complete by June, officials said Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

 

The renovation work at Blankenship Field and Jack Armstrong Stadium could start in January and be complete by June, officials said Thursday.

The work will be done with help from a $496,000 state grant and an equal match from the Blankenship Field Revitalization Foundation, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release.

“The funds, totaling roughly $1 million, will be used to make a number of upgrades to the facility, including, but not limited to: installation of synthetic turf, concrete walkways, synthetic track, new fencing, signage for the Cedar Hill Greenway trail head, and additional restrooms,” the press release said.

The state grant for the Blankenship Field renovations is from the Local Parks and Recreation Fund, and it has been approved by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

On December 11, Oak Ridge City Council voted to amend an earlier resolution to include all the enhancements specifically outlined within the grant contract. The expected date for project completion is June 1, 2018, the press release said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Schools the first in Tennessee to earn AdvancED STEM district-wide certification

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Oak Ridge Schools is the first district in Tennessee—and only the second entire district in the world—to earn district-wide STEM certification from AdvancED, officials said Friday. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The picture above includes administrators from Oak Ridge Schools and Oak Ridge High School. (Photo by Oak Ridge Schools)

Oak Ridge Schools is the first district in Tennessee—and only the second entire district in the world—to earn district-wide STEM certification from AdvancED, officials said Friday. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The picture above includes administrators from Oak Ridge Schools and Oak Ridge High School. (Photo by Oak Ridge Schools)

 

Oak Ridge Schools is the first district in Tennessee—and only the second entire district in the world—to earn district-wide STEM certification from AdvancED, officials said Friday. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Oak Ridge High School received STEM certification from AdvancED on Friday, making the Oak Ridge school district the first entire district in the state to be STEM-certified by AdvancED, a press release said.

“Oak Ridge High School is also the first comprehensive high school in the state to earn this distinction as an entire school, as opposed (to) certifying a single STEM program area,” the press release said.

The release said that AdvancED implements a research-based framework and criteria for the awareness, continuous improvement, and assessment of the quality, rigor, and substance of STEM educational programs. [Read more…]

Cantata ‘Joy’ & special singer presented by Grace Lutheran Church

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Colette Boudreaux

Colette Boudreaux

 

Christmas 2017 brings in a wealth of musical experiences old and new at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church of Oak Ridge.

“Joy,” the cantata by Joel Raney, will be presented by the Chancel Choir on December 17 at the traditional service at 11:15 a.m.

Then on December 24, two Christmas Eve services will feature special music by the bell choir and youth choir, plus the late service will feature Colette Boudreaux, an operatic soprano from the New York area. The family service begins at 7 p.m. on December 24, and the Candlelight service begins at 9 p.m.

Boudreaux, who grew up in Knoxville, will sing “Rejoice Greatly” from Handel’s Messiah. Boudreaux keeps a busy performing schedule, and she also teaches voice and dance, is a professional choreographer, and to pay forward what she has learned, directs productions for high schools that have no formal theater programs. She recently started a professional theatre company in Easton, Pennsylvania, along with her husband, John Andreadis. Everyone is invited to attend. [Read more…]

Greg LeMond, three-time Tour de France winner, to speak at fundraiser Tuesday

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lemond-composites-greg-lemond-2-oct-12-2016-web

Greg LeMond, three-time Tour de France champion, celebrated the announcement of LeMond Composites, a new company he co-founded, during a ceremony on Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 12, 2016, at Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge. The company is expected to make composite bicycles and carbon fiber, and invest $125 million and create 242 new jobs. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Greg LeMond, the only American to win the Tour de France, will speak about “The Adventure of My Life—from the Tour de France to Carbon Fiber” on Tuesday in a fundraiser for Oak Ridge Playhouse and 1in6.org, a press release said.

The talk is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, December 12, at Oak Ridge Playhouse in historic Jackson Square in Oak Ridge. It’s presented by UT-Battelle.

Event tickets (and pre-event reception tickets) are available at www.orplayhouse.com. One hundred percent of the proceeds will be used to support both Oak Ridge Playhouse and 1in6.org, the press release said.

LeMond won the Junior American Road Race in 1977, made the Olympic team in 1980 (but America boycotted), and continued to rise in the ranks of international cyclers, ultimately winning the Tour de France three times, the press release said. His first win in 1986 was followed by a near-fatal hunting accident, requiring months of recuperation. This comeback climaxed when LeMond won his second Tour de France in 1989 by a mere eight seconds, the press release said. After being invited to the White House by Ronald Reagan and named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year in 1989, LeMond won his third Tour de France in 1990. LeMond retired from professional racing in 1994; two years after his retirement, he was inducted into the US Bicycling Hall of Fame. [Read more…]

Help ADFAC through Dine & Donate today

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On Monday, Dec. 11, 2017, thirteen restaurant locations throughout Anderson County will donate a portion of their sales to support Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC). The event, Dine & Donate, happens on the second Monday of each month. (Submitted photo)

On Monday, Dec. 11, 2017, thirteen restaurant locations throughout Anderson County will donate a portion of their sales to support Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC). The event, Dine & Donate, happens on the second Monday of each month. (Submitted photo)

 

On Monday, December 11, thirteen restaurant locations throughout Anderson County will donate a portion of their sales to support Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC). The event, Dine & Donate, happens on the second Monday of each month.

Monday, December 11, is an opportunity to sample fresh subs from Subway’s five locations in Anderson County, a press release said. The restaurant is featuring Reuben’s at this time, either corned beef or turkey, the release said.

“It’s all fresh at Subway,” the press release said. “Rolls for subs are baked fresh each day, as are the cookies. In addition, the vegetables are washed and freshly sliced every morning.” [Read more…]