File photo/2014
The annual Battle of the Teen Bands is this evening (Friday, April 24).
It’s been organized by Y-12 Federal Credit Union and the Oak Ridge Youth Advisory Board.
The Battle of the Bands is scheduled from 6-9 p.m. today at the Oak Ridge Civic Center Pavilion. The rain venue will be the Paradox Teen Center in Oak Ridge.
Prizes are studio time (a $1,000 value), $300, and $150.
The Arts Council of Oak Ridge is asking for your support in this year’s United Arts Fund Drive.
The annual drive kicked off March 15 and ends April 30.
Here is the letter the Arts Council sent to arts supporters in March:
Dear Arts Supporter,
Oak Ridge has always had a strong arts community—even as a secret city—and the arts continue to be essential to the health and vitality of Oak Ridge and Anderson County today. They enhance community development, spur urban renewal, attract new businesses, draw tourism dollars, create an attractive environment for skilled, educated workers, and help make the Oak Ridge area a great place to live, work, worship, and play. The arts organizations in Oak Ridge are vital because they support and supplement school activities, attract tourists and visitors, and offer volunteer and participation opportunities. [Read more…]
Derrick Michael Tennant
A Friday fundraiser will benefit the Emory Valley Center’s Capital Campaign. Proceeds will benefit the ongoing campaign for a new building to better serve children and adults with disabilities in the community, a press release said.
The Knights of Columbus and St. Mary’s “Spring Love and Laughter” fundraiser is scheduled from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, April 24, in the St. Mary’s Church Gym. It will feature a full-course meal prepared by the organizations.
Tickets have sold quickly, but there are still some available for purchase for $40 each or $70 for two, the press release said. Attendees will be served their buffet-style meal by youth of St. Mary’s Church, laugh with featured inspirational speaker and professional comedian Derrick Michael Tennant, and have the opportunity to participate in a silent auction. [Read more…]
Nick Page
Submitted
Anyone who enjoys singing is invited to be part of a vocal community with acclaimed song leader, composer, and author Nick Page at a workshop on Saturday, May 2 at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church. The workshop entitled “So Much More than Music” will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 2, with a break for lunch from 12-1 p.m.
ORUUC is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge. The cost to attend is $5 for non-ORUUC participants.
On Sunday, May 3, singers of every level are invited to come to a free community sing led by Page that will be held in the church sanctuary starting at 3 p.m. [Read more…]
To the Editor:
Each year in March a special group of generous company sponsors pool their resources and, along with individuals from our community, support the annual literacy program of the Altrusa International Club of Oak Ridge and Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club. The Lunch 4 Literacy event raises between $15,000 and $20,000 routinely, which allows our community to support exceptional projects that promote literacy and ensure attention is given to the literacy needs that, without the generosity of our sponsors and individual contributors, could go unmet.
The lack of literacy skills is a serious problem within our communities. The reality is that often simple but effective programs can have a profound impact on individuals that enable them to realize their full potential in life. Without these very effective efforts made possible by grants from Lunch 4 Literacy, people in our communities, limited by a lack of basic skills, continue to fail in areas many of us take for granted. Until you have personally encountered illiteracy and its awful adverse impact, it is hard to fully appreciate the value of simply reading and understanding what is read. Through the continuing supportive efforts of our sponsoring companies we are making a difference in our communities! [Read more…]
If Alvin Weinberg, the most famous of Oak Ridgers, were alive today, he would be celebrating his 100th birthday.
This Thursday evening, as many as 600 people will celebrate his centenary by watching for free “Alvin Weinberg,” a documentary film by Oak Ridge’s Keith McDaniel.
The one-hour film, which is of PBS quality, will be shown at 6:30 and 8 p.m. Thursday, April 23, at the American Museum of Science and Energy.
The first showing is “sold out,” but a few seats are left for the second free showing at 8 p.m. To reserve a seat, you must call Connor Matthews at (865) 705-5890 or Tom Row at (865) 705-5174.
Tennessee Rep. John Ragan, an Oak Ridge Republican, announces a $250,000 state grant for an eighth lane at the Oak Ridge rowing course on Sunday. Also pictured from left are Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank, Sen. Randy McNally, Anderson County Chamber of Commerce President Rick Meredith, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Director Jon Hetrick, Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau President Marc DeRose, Oak Ridge City Council member Rick Chinn, and Oak Ridge Rowing Association President Russell Byrd.
A $250,000 state grant announced Sunday will be used to help build an eighth lane at the Oak Ridge rowing course. And that’s expected to significantly increase the economic impact of rowing races, or regattas, officials said.
The eighth lane has been on the city’s wish list for years, and it will allow the Oak Ridge Rowing Association to compete for bigger races and international regattas and provide more on-water capacity, allowing more competitors in events like this weekend’s SIRA Regatta.
According to rough estimates, the eighth lane could cost about $350,000 total, said Oak Ridge City Council member Rick Chinn, the father of two former rowers and a rower himself. That means the City of Oak Ridge might have to contribute up to $100,000 to complete the project.
Tennessee Representative John Ragan, the Oak Ridge Republican who spearheaded the effort to get state funding, said the regional impact of the regattas in Oak Ridge is estimated at $13 million now, but it could increase to $33 million, according to a University of Tennessee study. [Read more…]
This year’s final Breakfast with the Legislators will be held on Monday, April 27, at the Oak Ridge Civic Center. Senators Ken Yager and Randy McNally and representatives John Ragan and Kent Calfee have been invited to speak about and sum up the legislative activities of this session of the Tennessee General Assembly and to respond to questions from the audience, a press release said.
The breakfast is scheduled from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. April 27 in the Social Room of the Oak Ridge Civic Center, which is at 1401 Oak Ridge Turnpike. A free continental breakfast will be served.
“The Tennessee General Assembly 2015 legislative session is winding down,” the press release said. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Farmers Market opened on Saturday, April 18. (Photo by Julio Culiat)
The Oak Ridge Farmers Market opened for the season on Saturday, April 18. Its the market’s 39th season.
The market will be open from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays in Historic Jackson Square. It will also be open on Wednesdays beginning May 6.
Here’s what’s new at the market this year: [Read more…]
Penny Behling, CEO of Dynamic Dragon Boat Racing, makes an announcement before the races begin at the Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Festival last May. Looking on is City Manager Mark Watson, then president of the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge, which initiated the festival. (Submitted photo)
Submitted
Penny Behling wants you to have fun on Saturday, May 30, at the Oak Ridge waterfront, and help raise funds to support the good works of the people of Oak Ridge.
She wants you to be safe as a member of a dragon boat team, and she is sure that you will meet new people, make new friends, build self-confidence, and contribute to your team and the community’s well-being.
Behling is the chief executive officer and owner (with her husband Chris) of Dynamic Dragon Boat Racing LLC of Knoxville. She will be the race director of the second annual Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Festival, which is again being launched by the three Rotary clubs of Oak Ridge.
Dynamic was the race director of last year’s inaugural festival, which attracted an estimated 5,000 people and a media team that broadcast the Oak Ridge races to a television network in Beijing, China, which has an audience of a billion people. [Read more…]
The Langston Hughes Library at the Children’s Defense Fund Haley Farm in Clinton will host an author session and book-signing event with Carolyn Maull McKinstry, author of “While the World Watched.” It will start at 3 p.m. in Haley Lodge on Sunday, April 19.
McKinstry is a survivor of the civil rights struggle and an eyewitness to the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 16, 1963. The bombing resulted in the deaths of four young girls, all of whom McKinstry knew well. As a teenager, McKinstry marched under Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and bravely faced Bull Connor’s German shepherds and stinging fire hoses during the battle for equal rights in her hometown of Birmingham.
Now, nearly 50 years after the bombing, McKinstry is still an active member of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, serves as president of the Sixteenth Street Foundation, and works full time spreading her message of racial reconciliation.
A highly sought-after speaker, McKinstry has appeared on Oprah, 20/20, CNN, and MSNBC, and portions of her story have been featured in Life magazine and USA Today. She has made numerous television and documentary appearances, including Spike Lee’s documentary “Four Little Girls,” Soledad O’Brien’s “Black in America,” Brian Williams’s “Shades of Progress, Shadows of Hate,” the Poverty Law Center’s documentary “The Children’s March,” and Family Network’s “We Shall Not Be Moved.” [Read more…]
Submitted
“Art Therapy and Mental Health” is an interactive and hands-on workshop that will be hosted by the Grace Lutheran Church Mental Health Ministry on Saturday, April 18, at 10:30 a.m. The church is located at 131 West Gettysburg Avenue in Oak Ridge.
The workshop is free and open to the public.
The program will be presented by community counselors Emma C. Burgin and Amanda DeDiego, both of whom are doctoral students in counselor education at the University of Tennessee. [Read more…]
