The Oak Ridge High School Cheerleaders, coaches, and boosters invite the community to their Burrito Breakfast.
This year’s breakfast will be held from 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday, May 1, at Gallo Loco.
Tickets are $5 each and available from any cheerleader or at the door. [Read more…]
The Other One Diner and Dive is moving from Grove Center to Oak Ridge Turnpike, the restaurant announced Tuesday morning.
Because of the move, the restaurant will be closed for the rest of the week.
When it re-opens, the restaurant will now be located at 1938 Oak Ridge Turnpike in the old Magnolia Tree restaurant.
[Read more…]
The Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival will feature three renowned storytellers on June 5. This year’s festival, led by volunteers from three Oak Ridge Rotary clubs, will be virtual because of COVID-19 concerns.
The featured storytellers will be Andy Offutt Irwin, Bil Lepp, and Kim Weitkamp. They are known to audiences nationwide for their wit, wisdom, and abilities to make audiences laugh, cry, and reminisce, a press release said.
Information on ticket purchases, prices, and additional workshops will be announced later. The evening show will be 8 p.m. Saturday, June 5.
[Read more…]
The first Secret City Improv Festival in Oak Ridge is scheduled for September.
The festival had originally been scheduled for October 2020, but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a press release said.
The rescheduled festival will now be Friday, September 24, and Saturday, September 25, this year at the Grove Theater.
The festival is a spin-off festival from the “perennially fun and spontaneous Gatlinburg Improv Festival,” the press release said.
“Our goal for the Secret City Improv Festival is to provide an environment to foster networking opportunities and collaboration for improv teams from all around,” the press release said. “Our mission is to showcase a diversity of teams and styles on the stage and to foster growth through workshops.”
[Read more…]
Ross Lynn Freeny, a U.S. Department of Energy photographer who helped document current and historic activities in Oak Ridge, died on January 14. He was 62.
Freeny, a University of Tennessee graduate who lived in Maryville, had been a photographer for DOE since 1992. He taught photography classes at Pellissippi State Community College. He died at Blount Memorial Hospital on January 14. He had battled cancer.
Freeny could often be seen taking photos at DOE events. For example, he took photos at the opening of the K-25 History Center in February 2020.
[Read more…]The Oak Ridge Public Library will have new hours beginning Monday, November 2.
The Main Library will be open Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
The Main Library will also be open from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Thursday mornings for patrons at high risk of COVID complications only.
The Children’s Room will be open Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
[Read more…]
By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer
Crisp, clear weather greeted a fall tradition in Oak Ridge’s historic Jackson Square on Saturday, October 17, with artists of all ages creating colorful chalk art on the sidewalk.
By mid-morning during the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge’s annual Street Painting Festival, many of the participant’s creations were taking form, and each artist’s hands were covered with a chalk patina.
Launched in 2000, the festival is facilitated by the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge to support scholarships for Roane State Community College students through the nonprofit Roane State Foundation. Both participants and onlookers followed pandemic guidelines, wearing masks and practicing social distancing.
“We are so fortunate to continue our partnership between Roane State Community College, The Rotary Club of Oak Ridge, and the Jackson Square Merchants Association to present the annual Street Painting Festival,” said Rotarian Jim Dodson, the event’s creative director.
[Read more…]
There will not be a Secret City Festival this year, organizers said Thursday.
In April, organizers had announced that the festival, which is normally in June, was postponed. But no new date was announced at that time.
On Thursday, the Secret City Festival board of directors said they have explored every option to have the festival in 2020, but “we have determined that we cannot provide the level of excellence this year that we wish to.”
[Read more…]
A chalk art event on Saturday will promote a proposal to build a downtown area that could include apartments and condominiums, restaurants and stores, and green space and an outdoor performance space at Wilson Street on the north side of Main Street Oak Ridge.
The chalk art event is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 23. It will feature 15 professional artists, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release.
It’s called “Paint the Town with Chalk,” and it will help people visualize what the downtown area could be like, the press release said.
Oak Ridge was built to help make the world’s first atomic bombs as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II, and officials say the city was built without a distinct downtown for national security reasons. Now, they are trying to change that.
The goal is to transform the Wilson Street area into the city’s new downtown, according to a presentation last fall by Oak Ridge Community Development Director Wayne Blasius.
The downtown area could include:
[Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Public Library started curbside pickup of library materials on Monday, May 18. The library will have its roof replaced this summer, and there is no re-opening date yet.
Here’s how the curbside pickup works:
[Read more…]
The Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival and writing workshops scheduled for June have been canceled because of COVID-19.
But there will be a virtual storytelling festival on Saturday afternoon, April 18. Part of the proceeds will be used for COVID-19 relief, organizers said.
The Third Annual Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival had been scheduled for June 6 at the Historic Grove Theater in Oak Ridge. The writing workshops had been scheduled for June 4 and 5 at the University of Tennessee Arboretum.
“This is a challenging time for everyone, and this was a difficult decision,” organizers said. “However, we know that our top priority as a nation right now is to keep as many people as possible healthy.”
[Read more…]
The Lavender Festival, one of Oak Ridge’s most popular festivals, has been postponed to 2021 as the city, state, and country try to limit the spread of COVID-19.
“After consulting with Oak Ridge city officials, and in light of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, we regret to announce that Lavender Festival 2020 will be postponed until June 19, 2021,” said Barbara Ferrell, a Jackson Square business owner and Lavender Festival Committee member. “We agree with city officials that Lavender Festival’s crowd and limited area make it an unsafe event as the COVID-19 virus continues to circulate in our community.
[Read more…]