The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will host a Tennis Court Dance in Oak Ridge on Thursday, July 21.
The dance is scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Jackson Square tennis courts.
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The Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department will host its 17th Annual Memory Magic Scrapbook event at the Oak Ridge Civic Center on September 16 and 17.
This is a traditional-style, low-tech event, a press release said. Friday and Saturday include vendors, a crop area, classes, and a masseuse.
The vendor area will be open to participants from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Vendors include home party businesses, scrapbook stores, and general craft stores located from all over the region, the press release said.
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‘Forever Plaid’ opens at the Oak Ridge Playhouse on Thursday, July 21, 2022. (Photo submitted by Oak Ridge Playhouse)
Submitted
“Forever Plaid” is scheduled for performances at the Oak Ridge Playhouse from July 21 to July 31.
Featuring vintage songs from the 1950s and 1960s, “Forever Plaid” is a timeless revue centered around the close-harmony guy group Forever Plaid. [Read more…]
The annual July 4 concert and fireworks show is in Oak Ridge this evening.
The Independence Day fireworks display will be held in Alvin K. Bissell Park on Monday, July 4, and it is scheduled to begin at dark, around 9:45 p.m. In order to set up for the event, the walking trails in Bissell Park will be closed beginning at 8:30 a.m. the morning of the event, a press release said.
The Oak Ridge Community Band will perform before the fireworks. The concert is free, but donations are accepted by the band to help cover the cost of equipment and other expenses, the press release said. The music is expected to begin at 7:30 p.m.
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Oak Ridge High School Masquers, the school’s extracurricular drama program, is presenting “Into the Woods,” the Stephen Sondheim musical based on the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tales, in four performances this weekend.
The performances are scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, March 4; 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, March 5; and 2 p.m. Sunday, March 6, at the Oak Ridge Performing Arts Center at Oak Ridge High School.
“Into the Woods” blends the story of Cinderella, Jack, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, the Baker, his Wife, and the Witch into a single interwoven tale of adventure and loss, a press release said. Backed by the brilliant music and lyrics of Sondheim, the songs explore choices the characters must make and how they process the experiences they are having. The first act brings every character their dreamed successes and is very family friendly, the press release said.
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The City of Oak Ridge has named Erin Elizabeth Smith as its first honorary poet laureate. Smith will serve in this role for a two-year period, a press release said.
“In this role, she will inspire and promote literacy and literature to the residents of the city at things like cultural events and city celebrations,” the press release said. “With Oak Ridge being a unique community as the first and primary Manhattan Project site, it places a high value on literacy as foundation to our other values of education, science, technology, and environmental stewardship.”
In the fall of 2021, Oak Ridge City Council was approached about the concept of establishing the honorary position of poet laureate for the city. City Council was in concurrence, the Oak Ridge Poet Laureate Committee was created, and a nomination and selection process took place, the press release said.
Smith was selected after a detailed review of three nominees and was formally designated to the role at the February 14 City Council meeting.
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The Tennessee Irish Dancers join Charlie Bear, the Museum mascot, at an earlier International Festival at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge. (Photo by Rob Welton)
Flamenco, Irish, and Greek dancers will be among entertainers at the International Festival on Saturday, February 26, at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge.
A special guest from Ireland, musician and singer Fionan Casey, will join the band, The Missing Goats, performing traditional Irish music at the festival, a press release said.
The family-friendly International Festival will present entertainment, crafts, and cuisines from many countries, with musical and dance entertainment on stage throughout the day and crafts for children to make and take home. The festival will be from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, February 26, at the Children’s Museum, which is at 461 West Outer Drive in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]
Locals, visitors, and music industry leaders met for a celebration and songwriting competition for East Tennessee songsmiths at Tennessee Songwriters Week’s qualifying round in Oak Ridge on Wednesday.
“A slew of songwriters provided one of the most engaging and exciting songwriting competitions to date,” a press release said.
The competition was at Oakey’s Sports Bar in Oak Ridge. Each competitor was judged based on their overall performance, originality, and connection to the audience, the press release said. Out of the 20 applicants, only four were part of the winners from Oak Ridge’s qualifying round to advance to the next round at the Bijou Theater in Knoxville.
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A book sale organized by Friends of the Oak Ridge Public Library continues this weekend through Sunday.
The FOL Winter Book Sale is at the Oak Ridge Public Library.
Saturday, February 5, is Half-Price Sale Day from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, February 6, from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m., is Buy-A-Bag-of-Books Sale with each bag provided by FOL priced at $3.
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A celebration of the life of museum founder John Rice Irwin will be held in April at the Museum of Appalachia in Norris. The celebration of life is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 24.
Irwin was a cultural historian and founder of the Museum of Appalachia, among other notable achievements.
Irwin died Sunday, January 16, in Clinton. He was 91.
He was born on December 11, 1930, in Union County, Tennessee.
“While Irwin was still a toddler, his family was forced to move from their farm to make way for the flooding of Norris Lake and the construction of Norris Dam,” his obituary said. “They first settled in Robertsville (in Oak Ridge), but the Manhattan Project forced them to move yet again, this time to the Bethel Community.”
Irwin’s obituary said he was captivated by the rich cultural history of East Tennessee and its people for as long as he could remember.
“As a young boy, he would sit at the feet of his grandmother, Ibbie Jane Rice, and grandfather, Marcellus Moss ‘Sill’ Rice, and listen intently to their stories of the past,” the obituary said. “Sill took notice of his grandson’s fascination and said to him, ‘you ought to keep the old-timey things that belonged to our people and start you a little museum sometime.’ It was this advice that would ultimately inspire Irwin to create the Museum of Appalachia.”
[Read more…]Oak Ridge has been selected to host a qualifying round in February for Tennessee Songwriters Week, and applications are now open for the competition.
It’s the Tennessee Department of Tourism Development’s fourth annual Tennessee Songwriters Week. The Knoxville area’s qualifying round will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday, February 9, at Oakey’s Sports Bar in Oak Ridge.
“The Tennessee Department of Tourism Development created this week to celebrate the foundation of the craft for which Tennessee is known: music,” a press release said. “Oak Ridge was among 30 locations statewide selected as a qualifying round host.”
“We are thrilled to partner with the Tennessee Department of Tourism Development as we host a 2022 Tennesseee Songwriter’s Week qualifying round at our signature Oakey’s Sports Bar,” said Katy Watt, president of Explore Oak Ridge. “Positioned perfectly in a valley along Knoxville’s trending city scene and the Great Smoky Mountains, Oak Ridge is the ideal destination for a musical experience unlike any other.”
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The Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival in Oak Ridge in June will feature three renowned storytellers: Sheila Arnold, Bil Lepp, and Kim Weitkamp. The festival is scheduled from June 2-4, and “early bird” tickets are now on sale. This fifth annual event will be in person with four shows at the Historic Grove Theater in Oak Ridge, and it will include the story of the Oak Ridge 85.
Early bird tickets can be purchased online at Eventbrite or the Ferrell Shop (cash or check only) in Oak Ridge. “This is a great Christmas gift for all ages,” a press release said.
The two-day storytelling event on Friday and Saturday will feature Arnold, Lepp and Weitkamp, “who are known to audiences nationwide for their wit, wisdom, and abilities to make audiences laugh, cry, and reminisce,” the press release said.
On Thursday, June 2, Lepp will lead a workshop.
Arnold will highlight the Friday night performance by telling the story of the Oak Ridge 85, the 85 brave young people who were the first to desegregate a school district in the South, the press release said.
“Few people know of this 1955 milestone event that took place in Oak Ridge,” the press release said. “Sheila will honor the Oak Ridge 85 by telling some of their stories.”
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