Oak Ridge Today

Pre-Festival Wednesday night: Children’s Movie Night features ‘Despicable Me 3’ at ORHS

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Children’s Movie Night tonight (Wednesday, June 6) will feature “Despicable Me 3” at Oak Ridge High School. It’s a pre-festival event for the Secret City Festival this weekend.

The movie is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. Wednesday at Ben Martin Track at Oak Ridge High School.

The first pre-festival event was Monday, a live radio broadcast by WDVX 89.9 FM, featuring Ridge City Ramblers and Kukuly and Gypsy Fuego.

Another pre-festival event this week, before the Secret City Festival on Friday and Saturday, is a Battle of the Bands at the pavilion at Alvin K. Bissell Park at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, presented by United Way of Anderson County, the Oak Ridge Youth Advisory Board, and MERLE FM.

There are many events scheduled for the Secret City Festival on Friday, June 8, and Saturday, June 9. [Read more…]

Pre-Festival tonight: WDVX live broadcast with Ridge City Ramblers

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Ridge City Ramblers

Ridge City Ramblers

 

A live radio broadcast show in Oak Ridge tonight will feature Ridge City Ramblers and Kukuly and Gypsy Fuego. It’s a pre-festival event for the Secret City Festival this weekend.

Ridge City Ramblers plays bluegrass, and Kukuly and Gypsy Fuego plays gypsy jazz, according to WDVX 89.9 FM, a listener-supported radio station that will broadcast the show live.

The concert is this evening (Monday, June 4). The music is scheduled to start at 6 p.m., according to WDVX and ORNL Federal Credit Union, which is presenting the show.

It’s the first in a series of free summer concerts in Oak Ridge called the “Summer Sessions” and presented by ORNL Federal Credit Union. Performers will include bluegrass and Americana bands from throughout the region. Future concerts will be held on the following Saturdays: July 21, August 18, September 8, and October 6. All concerts will be held outdoors at the pavilion in Alvin K. Bissell Park at 1401 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge. They are free. The full lineup can be found on ORNL FCU’s Facebook page or at ornlfcu.com/summer-sessions. [Read more…]

Movie screening, discussion to raise awareness of opioid epidemic

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Flyer_Chasing the Dragon_FINAL_Feb 20th_CMS

A movie screening and discussion on Tuesday will help raise awareness of the opioid epidemic in the community, a press release said.

The documentary “Chasing the Dragon” will be shown starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, February 20, in the Clinton Middle School auditorium. The screening and discussion are scheduled until 8 p.m. Parents, teachers, schools administrators, students, and other interested community members are invited to attend, the press release said. Students in grades 7-12 may attend with an adult.

The press release said there were 256 drug-related death cases in Knox and Anderson counties in 2016, according to the Knox County Regional Forensic Center. And the number continues to increase, the press release said.

“In an effort to combat the growing epidemic of prescription drug and heroin abuse, ASAP of Anderson, in cooperation with Anderson County EMS and in coordination with community partners in Anderson County, are hosting a screening of ‘Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict,’” the release said. “The FBI and DEA have released this documentary aimed at educating students, young adults, parents, and other community members about the dangers of dependence and addiction.” [Read more…]

Documentary focusing on school funding, privatization at Pellissippi on Thursday

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BackpackKnoxville 2017_11_09

The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge is urging members interested in school choice to attend a documentary at Pellissippi State Community College in Hardin Valley on Thursday.

The documentary is titled “Backpack Full of Cash.” It’s narrated by Matt Damon, and it’s described in an event flyer as a film “exploring the real cost of privatizing America’s public schools.”

In the United States, $600 billion per year is spent to educate children, a fact “near and dear” to proponents of privatizing, according to information provided by Kay Moss.

Filmed during the 2013-2014 school year in Nashville, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and other cities, the feature-length documentary narrated by Damon concentrates on how privatization is devastating public school funding, the information said. [Read more…]

Secret City Festival includes free concerts, art show, other activities this weekend

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Two weekends, counting Fridays. Two weekdays. Seven days of celebration, from June 2 through June 10, 2017, mostly at A. K. Bissell Park. And admission to all events is free of charge. (Photo and caption courtesy Celebrate Oak Ridge and Carolyn Krause)

Two weekends, counting Fridays. Two weekdays. Seven days of celebration, from June 2 through June 10, 2017, mostly at A.K. Bissell Park. And admission to all events is free of charge. (Photo and caption courtesy Celebrate Oak Ridge and Carolyn Krause)

 

The Secret City Festival features free concerts and other activities at Alvin K. Bissell Park this weekend. Organizers have posted an entertainment schedule for both days, which is printed below.

Organizers said parking is available at the west end of the park (enter via Badger Road), Oak Ridge High School, First Methodist Church, and various paid lots around town. Accessible parking is available at the Oak Ridge Public Library.

The TN Creates Juried Art Show begins at 10 a.m. daily in the Shep Lauter Room at the Oak Ridge Civic Center, and all other festival activities begin at 2 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. on Saturday, organizers said. Admission is free.

There are free water stations throughout the park and water and other drinks are available for purchase via vendors, organizers said. There are food vendors at the festival, and “we have plenty of cold beer and moonshine cocktails ready to go,” organizers said.

Other activities include a petting zoo, wildlife encounter, Home Depot area, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Traveling Science Fair, according to an event map, which is included below.

Here’s the entertainment schedule for Friday and Saturday: [Read more…]

CONTACT Care Line to bring new film ‘The Listeners’ to Oak Ridge

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Trainee Kortney Rist in the call room at Headquarters Counseling Center., from a scene in the documentary The Listeners. (Photo submitted by CONTACT Care Line)

Trainee Kortney Rist in the call room at Headquarters Counseling Center., from a scene in the documentary The Listeners. (Photo submitted by CONTACT Care Line)

 

Special one-time screening of a new documentary about suicide hotline volunteers; screening requires 80  tickets to be sold by Thursday, April 27

CONTACT Care Line will be hosting a one-time screening of “The Listeners” in Oak Ridge on Thursday, May 4.

“The Listeners” follows a cadre of new volunteer trainees in crisis and suicide prevention as they learn to answer suicide hotlines, a press release said.

“Through their eyes—and more importantly, their ears—the film examines mental health and suicide prevention strategies, volunteerism, and the life-saving power of empathy,” the press release said.

The event includes a brief introduction to the work of CONTACT Care Line and concludes with a 15-minute opportunity for questions.

The film is being screened through Tugg.com, a platform that helps organizations to host screenings in their local theaters. Tickets can be purchased at www.tugg.com/events/the-listeners-xxbt. [Read more…]

See the 2017 Secret City Festival schedule here

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Secret City Festival Flyer 2017

See the Secret City Festival schedule of events above. The events start Friday, June 2, and end June 17.

Sponsorship and vendor opportunities are available. For more information, contact [email protected].

Watch a free showing of movie ‘Psycho’ Oct. 20 at Princess Theatre in Harriman

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Roane State English professor DeAnna Stephens will introduce a free screening of “Psycho,” regarded as Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece of a psychological thriller, at 7 p.m. Oct. 20 in the Princess Theatre in Harriman.

The R-rated film, often described as “creepy,” is the tale of a woman on the lam who checks into the mysterious Bates Motel, apparently vacant except for proprietors Norman Bates and his mother.

The 1960 movie, now considered a classic, gives audiences a whole new perspective on taking showers and became Hitchcock’s biggest hit. [Read more…]

Knoxville Film Festival to screen ‘The Clinton 12’

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The Clinton 12

The Fourth Annual Knoxville Film Festival will present a special screening of the acclaimed documentary film “The Clinton 12” on Sunday, August 28, at 3 p.m. at the Regal Downtown West Cinema 8 in Knoxville. The screening is in honor of the 60th anniversary of the integration of Clinton High School in Clinton and the 10th anniversary of both the film and the opening of the Green McAdoo Cultural Center in Clinton.

Narrated by award-winning actor James Earl Jones, “The Clinton 12” tells the compelling story of the integration of the first public high school in the South as a result of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, a press release said. The title refers to the 12 black teenagers who, in the fall of 1956, were forced to attend the all-white high school in Clinton, Tennessee.

“The Knoxville Film Festival is proud to bring this story to our audience,” said Keith McDaniel, director of “The Clinton 12” and co-founder/executive director of the Knoxville Film Festival. “This has been, and continues to be, an important story about courage and determination. We want to make sure all East Tennesseans have an opportunity to see this film, and it is our pleasure to honor those who carried the torch of equality and changed our nation.” [Read more…]

Reminder: ORHPA celebrates 70th anniversary of end of WWII with special showing of historic movie

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The Beginning or The End

A historic Ed Westcott image of the original showing of the movie, “The Beginning or the End”—The Story of the Atomic Bomb and Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

 

Reminder: A 70th anniversary celebration of the end of World War II will feature a special showing of the historic movie “‘The Beginning or the End,’ The Story of the Atomic Bomb and Oak Ridge.”

This movie was Hollywood’s first attempt to tell the fascinating story of the creation of the world’s first atomic bomb in the massive, top-secret Manhattan Project. The movie was originally released in 1947, just two years after the end of the war. It stars Brian Donlevy, Robert Walker, and Tom Drake.

The celebration has been organized by the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. It’s scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday, August 29, at the Historic Grove Theater at 123 Randolph Road in Grove Center.

“We wanted to honor those who perished in WWII, our great veterans, Manhattan Project and Cold War workers, and the world-changing Y-12 plant on this anniversary,” said Mick Wiest, president of the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. “It’s important to remember and be grateful.” [Read more…]

ORHPA will celebrate 70th anniversary of end of WWII with special showing of historic movie

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The Beginning or The End

A historic Ed Westcott image of the original showing of the movie, “The Beginning or the End”—The Story of the Atomic Bomb and Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

 

A 70th anniversary celebration of the end of World War II will feature a special showing of the historic movie “‘The Beginning or the End,’ The Story of the Atomic Bomb and Oak Ridge.”

The celebration has been organized by the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. It’s scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday, August 29, at the Historic Grove Theater at 123 Randolph Road in Grove Center.

The program will include the presentation of the flag by the Volunteer State Honor Guard, patriotic music by the Oak Ridge High School Ensemble, and the special recognition of all veterans, a press release said. Also, a special proclamation will be presented to the Y-12 National Security Complex recognizing 70 years of supporting our nation’s freedom, the release said. [Read more…]

Free film on Friday looks at racial injustice, unconscious bias, prejudice

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Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church

A PBS film that looks at recognizing racial injustice and unconscious bias, bigotry, and prejudice will be shown at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church on Friday.

The community is invited to join the ORUUC group Allies for Racial Equity for the free viewing of the PBS film “American Denial,” a press release said.

The showing will start at 7 p.m. Friday, May 15, in the Social Hall of the church, which is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge.

Following the film there will be time for a guided conversation. The event will last until 9 p.m. [Read more…]