Oak Ridge Today

ORUUC Free Community Meal celebrates seven years today

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The community is invited to join in the celebration of the seventh birthday of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church Stone Soup Free Community Meal on Friday, September 29. On the menu will be taco salad, Mexican rice, fresh fruit, and of course, birthday cake for dessert.

An assortment of nonperishable family friendly groceries will be available for free to anyone in need. Dine in or take out will be available from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. ORUUC is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge.

“While many of our guests are our food insecure neighbors, we want to start our eighth year making sure that we emphasize that the community meal is open to anyone who would like to come,” said program co-coordinator Jinx Watson. “There are a lot of connections that are made, not only among the guests, but also among the guests and the team. We enjoy dining with them and love the opportunity to celebrate someone’s birthday, hear news about their families, and build friendships. For some, attending is as much about the welcoming atmosphere as it is about the meal.” [Read more…]

Tai chi demonstration at Oak Ridge Senior Center on Wednesday

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Ahead of United Nations International Day of Older Persons on October 1, the Taoist Tai Chi Society is hosting a special demonstration at the Oak Ridge Senior Center. On Wednesday, September 27, at 11 a.m., a Taoist tai chi instructor will show how practicing tai chi contributes to healthy aging, a press release said.

Program organizers say the gentle motions of tai chi offer health benefits for all ages, but the practice often appeals to seniors looking for ways to improve strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance. The motions are also gentle and low impact, exercising the skeleton, joints, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and all connective tissue, with very low risk of injury. [Read more…]

Tennessee State Museum will have fall bus excursion to Oak Ridge

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The Oak Ridge History Room (Image courtesy American Museum of Science and Energy)

The Oak Ridge History Room (Image courtesy American Museum of Science and Energy)

 

The Tennessee State Museum will have its fall bus excursion to Oak Ridge on Saturday, November 4. It will be a one-day guided trip to the former “Secret City,” a press release said.

“Local historian Ray Smith will join the bus in Oak Ridge and accompany the group on its stops at the American Museum of Science and Energy, the Y-12 History Center, as well as drive by other locations,” the press release said. “Don’t miss this chance to see the museum before it closes at the end of the year and moves to a new, smaller location.”

Nestled in the foothills of the Appalachians, the area that is now Oak Ridge was created when the U.S. government started buying up more than 50,000 acres of land for one of three major sites for the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal project to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II. (Besides Oak Ridge, the other two major sites were Hanford, Washington, and Los Alamos, New Mexico.)

“Even Governor Prentice Cooper didn’t initially know what was going on as he complained about 1,000 Tennessee families losing their homes,” the press release said. [Read more…]

Environmental impact of deregulation is topic at Democratic Women’s Club

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Axel Ringe

Axel Ringe

Axel Ringe, conservation chair for the Sierra Club’s Tennessee Chapter, will discuss “The Environmental Impacts of Government Deregulation” as guest speaker at the Monday, September 25, meeting of the Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club. The meeting will be at 6 p.m. at Swifty’s Atomic Grill, which is at 119 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

Ringe is a retired scientific analyst and program manager with the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information, or OSTI. A graduate of Cornell University, he has made a second career as a volunteer with the Sierra Club, a press release said. He has held numerous offices within the Tennessee Chapter and Harvey Broome Group since joining the club in 1996, and currently serves as conservation chair for both the state chapter and the local group. [Read more…]

Yoga Peace Day is Saturday

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Peace begins with you! On Saturday, September 23, in honor of International Day of Peace, the yoga group at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church is hosting an event, “Yoga Peace Day,” that is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Presenters of the day will include Serene White, who will lead a restorative yoga session; Amanda Caldwell, who will lead a guided meditation with a slide show; and Jan Coe, who will treat everyone to a sound immersion concert, a press release said. There will be a blessing led by Reverend Tandy Scheffler to dedicate the new peace pole installed on the property, the press release said. [Read more…]

Montessori School of Oak Ridge closing after 40 years

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The Montessori School of Oak Ridge is pictured above.

The Montessori School of Oak Ridge is pictured above.

Note: This story was last updated at 9:45 a.m. Sept. 22.

After 40 years, the Montessori School of Oak Ridge is closing.

There will be a silent auction on Saturday, September 30, at the Montessori School from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., a press release said. School items and miscellaneous games will be in the auction. The school is located at 728 Emory Valley Road in Oak Ridge. There will be office equipment, furniture, and small appliances also.

Opened in 1977, the Montessori School of Oak Ridge is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation chartered by the State of Tennessee for operation as a parent-owned cooperative. It is certified by the Tennessee Department of Education for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, and it has been “dedicated to providing a high quality Montessori program to children ages 2 to 6 years from all racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds.” [Read more…]

ORHS Band performing with UT Pride of Southland Band on Saturday

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Seniors in the 2017 Oak Ridge High School Wildcat Marching Band are pictured above with a new banner. (Photo courtesy Merny Hughey)

Seniors in the 2017 Oak Ridge High School Wildcat Marching Band are pictured above with a new banner. (Photo courtesy Merny Hughey)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10 a.m. Sept. 25.

The Oak Ridge High School Wildcat Marching Band is performing with the Pride of the Southland Band this Saturday at the University of Tennessee and UMass football game.

The WildBand will participate in the march to the stadium and the patriotic themed halftime performance, a press release said.

“Kickoff at noon makes an early rehearsal call at UT of 7:15 a.m. tough but absolutely doable,” the press release said. “We were happy to rearrange our fall competition schedule in order to accept the invitation from Dr. Don Ryder, director of bands at UT. With all four band directors in the Oak Ridge Schools system being alumni of the Pride—Spence Milligan and Mike Spirko (also former Pride drum major) at ORHS, Sean Rutherford at Jefferson Middle School, Elizabeth Reams at Robertsville Middle School—it will be a homecoming for them as well as a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the ORHS Band students.”

There is an added connection since there are currently six ORHS alumni marching with the Pride, two of whom have siblings currently in the WildBand. The six are Delaney Thurston, Maggie Nathan, Kaitlin Ledden, Marah Yaun, Hunter Gray, and Matthew Martin. [Read more…]

‘Magnificent Gemstones of the World’ show at Karen’s Jewelers Sept. 21-23

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Gary Bowersox displays his book, "Gemstones of Afghanistan." (Submitted photo)

Gary Bowersox displays his book, “Gemstones of Afghanistan.” (Submitted photo)

 

A leading expert on gemstones of the world, Gary Bowersox will bring his exhibit of more than 10,000 gems to Karen’s Jewelers in Oak Ridge. The gem show, “Magnificent Gemstones of the World” from September 21-23, will include more than 100 different types of gemstones, many collected by Bowersox on his travels throughout the world.

Bowersox, an explorer, gem hunter, and author, has searched for emeralds, rubies, and sapphires, among other gemstones, in central Asia, riding on horseback to remote caves in Afghanistan where dynamite and grenades have been used by local miners to uncover precious gems. He has hiked through the Hindu Kush and ridden camels, mules, sheep trucks, and tanks to explore remote mines in Asia, a press release said.

The stars of the gem show include a 70-carat Afghanistan emerald pendant and a 51-carat Tajikistan ruby with matching earrings. The show, featuring rough and cut gemstones and jewelry, will include aquamarine, garnet, tourmaline, lapis lazuli, amethyst, topaz, and kunzite, as well as emerald, ruby, and sapphire. The Smithsonian-style exhibit features gems often seen only in museums.

The gem show and sale will be from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday and Friday, September 21 and 22, and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, September 23 at Karen’s Jewelers, 1120 Oak Ridge Turnpike. Oak Ridge is one of 11 U.S. cities where his show is being presented this year. [Read more…]

Many community organizations support the Oak Ridge International Friendship Bell

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The three Oak Ridge Rotary Clubs present a check for $10,000 for the Peace Pavilion that will house the International Friendship Bell, at the kickoff for the fundraising campaign last year. From left, they are last year’s Rotary Club presidents, Devrin Kuipers, Oak Ridge Sunset Rotary Club; Jennifer Campbell, Rotary Club of Oak Ridge; and Emily Jernigan, Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club. Accepting the check are Pat Postma and Alan Tatum, co-chairs of the International Friendship Bell Citizens Advisory Committee. (Photo by D. Ray Smith)

The three Oak Ridge Rotary Clubs present a check for $10,000 for the Peace Pavilion that will house the International Friendship Bell, at the kickoff for the fundraising campaign last year. From left, they are last year’s Rotary Club presidents, Devrin Kuipers, Oak Ridge Sunset Rotary Club; Jennifer Campbell, Rotary Club of Oak Ridge; and Emily Jernigan, Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club. Accepting the check are Pat Postma and Alan Tatum, co-chairs of the International Friendship Bell Citizens Advisory Committee. (Photo by D. Ray Smith)

 

When local organizations step up to support local initiatives, communities experience success.

“Communities that organize and work with a goal in mind benefit and prosper far more than those that don’t,” said Pat Postma, co-chair of a group leading a fund drive for a new Peace Pavilion for the Oak Ridge International Friendship Bell.

Postma is pleased that many local organizations have contributed to the Friendship Bell drive, seeing it as a sign of strong community support when organizations that raise funds for their own causes contribute to other community initiatives, as well. They join contractors, businesses, local governments, and individuals that are supporting the effort, a press release said.

Among the first organization to contribute to the drive was the Girl Scouts Oak Ridge Service Unit, which observes the United Nations International Day of Peace annually at the Friendship Bell and has established friendships with Girl Scouts from Oak Ridge’s sister city in Japan, the press release said.

“The Girl Scouts of Oak Ridge made a donation of $1,000 when we had a visit from our sister Girl Scout Troop 37 in Naka, Japan, in 2014,” said Jerry Luckmann, community service coordinator for the Oak Ridge Service Unit, which covers about 30 troops in the Oak Ridge area. [Read more…]

Lunch with the League features police chief on Tuesday

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James T. Akagi

James T. Akagi

The Oak Ridge League of Women Voters will host Lunch with the League on Tuesday at 11:45 a.m. at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church on Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The speaker will be Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi.

The public is invited, and there is no cost to attend.

The lunch, which will last until about 1 p.m. Tuesday, will be in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, which is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Akagi will talk about current issues in the City of Oak Ridge and surrounding areas that are affecting police activities—including opioid usage, immigration, and school safety, a press release said. [Read more…]

Groundbreaking for Friendship Bell Peace Pavilion is Thursday

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The new Peace Pavilion for the International Friendship Bell at Alvin K. Bissell Park will feature a cantilever design. (Submitted image)

The new Peace Pavilion for the International Friendship Bell at Alvin K. Bissell Park will feature a cantilever design. (Submitted image)

 

Groundbreaking ceremonies for the new International Friendship Bell Peace Pavilion will take place at 5 p.m. Thursday, September 21, at the bell’s new location in Alvin K. Bissell Park, just west of the Oak Ridge Civic Center.

Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch will be master of ceremonies for the groundbreaking. The Oak Valley Baptist Church Choir will present a music program relating to the friendship and peace theme of the event. Pat Postma and Alan Tatum, co-chairs of the International Friendship Bell Citizens Advisory Committee, will take part in the ceremonies.

Major donors—including UT Battelle/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, and CNS-Y-12—will participate in breaking ground for the new pavilion, a press release said.

The bell, created for Oak Ridge’s 50th birthday, is expected to bring its message of peace and friendship to the thousands of visitors expected at the Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Oak Ridge, the press release said.. The new pavilion for the bell came about after city officials discovered that structural beams in the original bell house had severely deteriorated. [Read more…]

Y-12 has emergency management exercise on Wednesday

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The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Emergency response personnel from the National Nuclear Security Administration and Consolidated Nuclear Security—along with federal, state, and local emergency management personnel—will conduct an emergency management exercise Wednesday, September 20, in and around the Y‑12 National Security Complex.

During this exercise, people near Y-12 may observe police and other emergency response vehicles, as well as responders simulating activities, a press release said. These activities are part of the exercise, the release said.

This event is one of several emergency management exercises conducted on a regular basis at the U.S. Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration facilities in Oak Ridge. These exercises test the ability of emergency personnel to respond quickly and effectively to emergency situations and ensure that the public, Y-12 employees, and the environment would be protected in the event of an actual emergency occurring on the Oak Ridge Reservation, the press release said.

Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC operates the Pantex Plant, located in Amarillo, Texas, and the Y-12 National Security Complex, located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, under a single contract for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration.