Here is a summary of events happening in Oak Ridge from Friday, June 19, and continuing through June 24.
This weekly listing of events is compiled by the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau: [Read more…]
Lavender Festival celebrates herbal products on Saturday
The Lavender Festival will celebrate “all things herbal” in Jackson Square on Saturday.
The 17th annual festival is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 20. There is no cost to attend.
“Jackson Square has been under renovations since January, but they are expected to be finished in time for the festival, which will go on as planned,” organizers said.
They said free parking is available in surrounding city and business lots, and on side streets.
The Lavender Festival focuses on herbs, health, gardening, and cooking, and it features more than 100 vendors, a dozen herb and health presentations, children’s activities, and many musicians. Vendors will line the covered walkways of Jackson Square, the parking lot, and both sides of Broadway Avenue, which will be closed to traffic. [Read more…]
Children’s Museum summer camps continue in July
Imagination Station Summer Camp continues at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge through July, inviting children to experience garden to table fun, create with chocolate and other culinary treats, learn from the artistic masters, fashion designs in clay, and many more adventures.
The summer camps, through July 31, offer activities for children ages 3-5 in preschool classes and for children entering grades 1 through 7. Clay camps with professional clay artist Sherrie Carris will be offered throughout the summer for children ranging in age from 4-13.
The week-long camps are offered Monday through Friday each week. Fees for a single camp are $125 for members and $135 for non-members. For combo camps, morning and afternoon, fees are $210 for members and $220 for non-members. Payment may be made by phone with Visa, MasterCard or Discover, by check, or online through PayPal.
Camps for the week of June 29-July 3 are: [Read more…]
Photos: Record-setting crowd at Three Dog Night concert
Although numbers weren’t immediately available, organizers said a record-setting crowd attended the Three Dog Night concert at the Secret City Festival on Saturday. Here’s a panoramic view from the stage. (Photo by Jon Hetrick)
Numbers weren’t immediately available, but organizers and volunteers said a record-setting crowd attended the Three Dog Night concert at the Secret City Festival on Saturday night.
Here are a few photos by Jon Hetrick and John Westcott. [Read more…]
Children’s Museum hosts Wonderful Wednesdays
The Knoxville Opera will bring entertaining and popular selections from 20th century Broadway musicals and opera classics to the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge on Wonderful Wednesday, from 11 a.m.-noon June 17.
The museum will host special Wonderful Wednesday guests from 11 a.m.-noon Wednesdays during Imagination Station Summer Camp through July 31. Summer campers at the museum each week will participate, and the programs are free to the public with admission.
Other Wonderful Wednesdays are: [Read more…]
Louie Bluie Music and Arts Festival seeks artists, crafters for 2015 Craft Village
Submitted
Applications are now being accepted for the 9th annual Louie Bluie Music and Arts Festival’s juried craft area. Applications received by the deadline of August 31 will be reviewed by a committee for originality, craftsmanship, design, material selection, and appropriateness to the Appalachian tradition. Photos of the work to be sold are required to complete the application.
Organizers said they are hoping to attract more Oak Ridge area creatives to their festival.
Individual artists, craft or art nonprofit groups, school art clubs, or groups whose missions are related to crafts or art are considered prospective vendors, as well as book authors whose material reflects the heritage and culture of the Appalachian voice. [Read more…]
Secret City Festival outlines security procedures for concert attendees
Visitors to the Secret City Festival can expect tighter security measures and maybe a few delays when entering the concerts this year, all in the name of safety, organizers said.
No backpacks or coolers will be allowed into the concert site, and all bags will be subject to search, organizers said in a press release. This includes bags used to store chairs. Visitors should expect delays if carrying in anything that needs to be searched.
Organizers suggest festival attendees only bring their concert tickets, money for food, an ID to buy or consume beer, and a chair for the concerts. Once inside the concert site, festival seating is available on a first-come, first-serve basis. The concert site opens at 5:30 p.m.
Photos: Memorial Day Concert in Oak Ridge
Photo by Julio Culiat
The Oak Ridge Community Band performed its annual Memorial Day Concert on Monday, May 25, at at A.K. Bissell Park. Here are pictures by Julio Culiat, a contributor to Oak Ridge Today.
The Monday program included patriotic music and popular American favorites. The 2015 Memorial Day concert had a number of special guest vocalists and a guest announcer, former Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan. Guest vocalists included Charlie Blake, Mike Cates, Lettie Andrade De La Torre, Whitney Denton, Deidre Ford, Robert May, Brill Morrow, Roscoe Shipley, and Melody Turner. They sang “God Bless the USA,” “The Stars and Stipes Forever,” “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and “The Armed Forces Salute.”
Among other numbers performed on Monday were “Highlights from Showboat,” “The Girl I Left Behind Me,” Sousa’s “Semper Fidelis,” and “Black Granite,” which is a tribute to Vietnam War veterans. [Read more…]
Memorial Day concert on Monday dedicated to veterans
The Oak Ridge Community Band performs during a July 4, 2014 concert. (Photo by Larry Perry)
Special recognition will be given to area veterans and those currently serving in the military during an annual Memorial Day Concert by the Oak Ridge Community Band on Monday. The concert will start at 7 p.m. Monday, May 25, at A.K. Bissell Park.
During the show, the Oak Ridge Community Band will “kick off” its 71st season of outstanding band music with a program of patriotic music and popular American favorites, a press release said.
“The Memorial Day concert is an excellent way for area residents, families, and friends to end the holiday weekend and have the opportunity to honor the men and women who have served in the military to maintain our freedom,” the release said. [Read more…]
Singer, songwriter Peter Mayer to play in Oak Ridge on Friday
Peter Mayer
Guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Peter Mayer will play in Oak Ridge on Friday.
The concert by Mayer will start at 8 p.m. Friday, May 22, at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church. ORUUC is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.
The concert was postponed in February due to winter weather. Tickets purchased at that time can be used for the new May 22 date. If unable to attend this rescheduled performance, please return tickets to ORUUC for a full refund, a press release said.
“Whimsical, humorous, and profound, (Mayer’s) music breaks the boundaries of ‘folk,’ and transcends to a realm beyond the everyday love song, to a place of wonder at the very fact of life itself,” the press release said. [Read more…]
Comedy at the Grove is Saturday
Comedy at the Grove will be presented by local comedian and magician Danny Whitson at the Grove Theater in Oak Ridge on Saturday, May 23.
The headliner will be Spanky Brown. The show will also feature Brent Terhunem and a guest appearance by Eric Steele, and it will be hosted by Tyler Sonnischen.
Birdwell Catering will provide food and beverages for purchase, a press release said. Doors will open at 7 p.m., and the show will start promptly at 8 p.m. You must be 18 to enter and 21 to purchase alcoholic beverages.
Here is more information from a press release:
HEADLINER: Spanky Brown [Read more…]
Roane State-ORHS dual credit ceramics class gives students new perspectives
Roane State art professor Bryan Wilkerson works with student Katie Stewart during the college’s dual credit ceramics class at Oak Ridge High School. (Submitted photo)
For now, Oak Ridge High School ceramics students create sculptures, bowls, and figures.
Maybe later, they’ll create new businesses, innovative products, and groundbreaking technology.
Either way, the process is the same. Start with mush—clay for the moment. Use creativity, problem-solving, and analysis to turn the mush into something special. That’s the lesson Roane State Community College art professor Bryan Wilkerson wants the Oak Ridge students to learn in his dual credit ceramics classes.
“I treat this no differently than all of my classes,” Wilkerson said. “I want them to come away with an understanding of techniques. I’m also trying to help them develop their own artistic direction, creative problem-solving, how to start with an idea and see it through to a finished piece.” [Read more…]
