Oak Ridge Today

Outdoor pool operating on holiday schedule on July 4

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Oak Ridge Outdoor Swimming Pool

Hundreds of swimmers enjoy the Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool on Providence Road on Memorial Day 2012. (File photo)

The Oak Ridge Municipal Swimming Pool will operate on its holiday schedule on Friday, July 4. The outdoor pool will open at 10 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.

The day is Fun Day at the pool as the lifeguards will conduct different activities starting at 2 p.m. for patrons to participate in fun events, balloon toss, intertube relays, etc.

Admission is $2 for children ages 3 to 12 and people 65 and older, $3 for ages 13-17, and $3.75 for adults. Children under 12 must be accompanied and supervised by an adult during public hours at the outdoor pool.

The city’s indoor pool and Oak Ridge Civic Center will be closed on July 4.

Please visit the website at www.orrecparks.org for information on all of the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department programs.

July events in Anderson County

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Information from Anderson County Tourism Council

July 4 Celebration and Anvil Shoot

July 4 at Museum of Appalachia

July 4 will be celebrated in an unusual, dramatic, and traditional fashion at the Museum of Appalachia with historic anvil shoots. In addition, there will be demonstrations of mountain arts and crafts. Bluegrass, old time, and folk music will be played and sung on the porches of the cabins and in the old log church, hymn singing, and church services will be conducted. The demonstrations and music can be found throughout the 65-acre farm/village complex. For more information, contact the Museum of Appalachia at (865) 494-7680 or visit www.museumofappalachia.org.

46th Annual Norris Day July 4 Celebration

July 4 on the Norris Commons

The Norris Lions Club brings you the 46th Annual Norris Day celebration in downtown Norris. Running enthusiasts can begin the day with the Firecracker Road Run. Later, the children’s Dog Show will be held on the Norris Commons, followed by the one-mile Fun Run. No one will want to miss the children’s Wheel Race, the Bicycle Parade, the Water Balloon Toss, or the Water-Ball Battles. There will be sack races and duck races, too. One of the highlights of Norris Day is the wonderful barbecue dinner—barbecue pork and chicken with all the sides served by the Norris Lions Club in the Norris Middle School cafeteria from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. For more information, call (865) 368-4884. [Read more…]

AARP driver’s safety classes offered at Oak Ridge Senior Center

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The Oak Ridge Senior Center will be offering the AARP Smart Driver Driver’s Safety Program in July and August. This program can help make drivers safer and more aware and may help lead to a discount on auto insurance premiums, a press release said.

The cost for the class is $15 for AARP members and $20 for non-members. The July class will be held on Saturday, July 19, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This all-day class is open to anyone 50 and over but could be especially helpful to those seniors who are still working Monday to Friday.

The August class will be held on August 6 and 7 from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. each day. To register for either class, call the Senior Center at (865)-425-3999. Space is limited so reserve your spot soon, the release said.

For more information about this and other programs and activities at the Oak Ridge Senior Center, call (865)425-3999 or visit the website at orrecparks.org.

Food Lion foundation donates $2,000 to ADFAC

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The Food Lion Charitable Foundation has donated $2,000 to Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties, or ADFAC, a press release said.

The donation comes just in time to help feed local residents this summer, the press release said. ADFAC will use the gift to provide vouchers for fresh food for local families experiencing economic hardship.

“We are thrilled to receive this contribution,” said Liz Herbes, director of ADFAC’s Social Services program. “It will provide much-needed relief from hunger for dozens of our less fortunate neighbors.”

ADFAC, an independent nonprofit agency established in 1987, exists to serve the basic needs of primarily low-income residents in Anderson and surrounding Appalachian counties. ADFAC’s goal is to help families become stable and self-sufficient through a variety of direct assistance services provided by our Social Services and Affordable Housing programs. ADFAC answers more than 6,000 requests for assistance each year. [Read more…]

Manhattan Project website launches

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Atomic Heritage Foundation Manhattan Project Website

Submitted

WASHINGTON, D.C.—With prospects for a Manhattan Project National Historical Park this year looking good, the Atomic Heritage Foundation is launching a timely new website for prospective visitors to the Manhattan Project communities at www.atomicheritage.org. The new park is expected to generate 500,000 or more tourists to Oak Ridge; Los Alamos, New Mexico; and Hanford, Washington, during the next decade. As a preview of coming attractions, visitors can take a virtual tour now and immerse themselves in the Manhattan Project online.

With colorful photographs, an interactive timeline, extensive articles on Manhattan Project history, and oral histories of hundreds of Manhattan Project veterans, the new website will be an excellent resource. One feature is the powerful new interpretive tool called “Ranger in Your Pocket.” Based on a BYOD or “Bring Your Own Device” strategy, this technology-based tool represents a fundamental shift in engaging visitors by empowering them to use their personal smartphones or tablets to create their own tour experience. The first “Ranger in Your Pocket” tour is to the historic B Reactor at Hanford. Additional tours under construction will feature Los Alamos and Oak Ridge and draw from AHF’s extensive oral history collection as well as documentary footage and photographs. [Read more…]

Family, friends remember Brayden Pearson, seek to honor his ‘zest for life’

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Bubbles for Brayden Pearson

Family and friends blow bubbles for Brayden Pearson during a Friday night vigil at the Boys and Girls Club of Oak Ridge.

 

He wore No. 14 when he played baseball and basketball for the Boys and Girls Club. Only eight years old and going into fourth grade, he hadn’t really decided on a profession yet, but he thought playing major league baseball “would be awesome,” a family friend said.

So it was fitting that family and friends gathered in the outfield of a baseball field at the Boys and Girls Club of Oak Ridge to remember Brayden Pearson on Friday. They described Brayden as a lively boy with thick, curly hair, and a contagious laugh—”the best laugh ever,” said Tracy Stewart, a member of the close-knit sports family at the club. Brayden loved school, family friend Sara VanLandingham said.

Brayden died Monday, two days after he had trouble while snorkeling near a swimming area at Clark Center Park in south Oak Ridge. He had to be pulled from the lake that Saturday afternoon. Family and friends performed CPR, and 911 was called. The Oak Ridge police and fire departments responded and continued CPR, and Brayden was flown by a Lifestar medical helicopter to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in Knoxville.

The family said they wanted to continue Brayden’s zest for life by donating his organs to other children who need them. On Friday, VanLandingham, who has been speaking on behalf of the family, said four organs had been successfully removed for donation. [Read more…]

Candlelight vigil for Brayden Pearson at Boys and Girls Club this evening

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Brayden Keith Pearson

Brayden Pearson, Our Hero, #14 (Submitted photo)

There is a candlelight vigil for Brayden Pearson at 6 p.m. today at the Boys and Girls Club of Oak Ridge at 102 S. Jefferson Circle. The public is invited.

Funeral services will be held on Sunday, June 29, from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. at Click Funeral Home at 9020 Middlebrook Pike in Knoxville, with the procession to immediately follow. There are bike clubs riding on Sunday in honor of Brayden, including the Knoxville Chapter of Band of Brothers and Christian Motorcycle Club of America.

Brayden would have been a fourth-grade student at Woodland Elementary School this coming year. He died Monday after having trouble while snorkeling at Clark Center Park in Oak Ridge on Saturday.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

New AMSE director to start July 1, ORNL to operate museum

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AMSE Sign

The American Museum of Science and Energy is on South Tulane Avenue. (Photos by Sara Wise)

 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is taking a more active role in Oak Ridge’s American Museum of Science and Energy. ORNL’s Director of Communications David Keim said the lab hopes to find better ways to tell the city’s historical story while reducing costs.

He said that the museum’s current contract with Enterprise Advisory Services Inc. would not be renewed at the end of this month, when ORNL will begin operating AMSE. He said preparations are being made to ensure a seamless transition.

Keim said that the transition was made after a team of museum professionals came to the area. After seeing many of Oak Ridge’s historical sites, such as the former K-25 site and ORNL’s first graphite reactor, they called the sites “remarkable” and the historical story “enormous,” according to Keim.

One of the professionals recommended hiring another museum professional to help with the transition period. David Moore was interviewed and hired to assess the museum as a consultant on a one-year term for ORNL, beginning April 15. [Read more…]

Fireworks, Independence Day celebration at A.K. Bissell Park on July 4

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July 4, 2012 Fireworks

The annual Independence Day celebration in Oak Ridge is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. July 4 and end at 10 p.m. with fireworks at A.K. Bissell Park. (File photo by Charles Samuels)

 

The annual Independence Day celebration and fireworks display will take place in A.K. Bissell Park on Friday, July 4, with festivities starting at 7:30 p.m. and ending with the fireworks display at 10 p.m.

The Oak Ridge Community Band will kick off the evening at 7:30 p.m. with a free concert on the Performing Arts Pavilion stage. The Community Band’s performance traditionally draws a large crowd, so the public is encouraged to come early with lawn chairs or blankets to secure a good seat, a press release said. This year’s Independence Day concert marks the 70th anniversary of the Community Band’s first concert that was held on July 4, 1944.

The firework display will begin at 10 p.m. and will once again be accompanied by music played live onsite by 96.7 Merle FM, the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau said in the press release. Radio host Jack Ryan will be broadcasting from the park beginning at 6 p.m. and will conclude with a patriotic medley customized for the city’s fireworks. The countdown to fireworks will begin at 9:30 p.m., giving listeners plenty of time to settle down, tune in, and enjoy the show, the release said. [Read more…]

What’s happening in Oak Ridge from June 26-July 2

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Here is a summary of events happening in Oak Ridge from Thursday, June 26, and continuing through July 2.

This weekly listing of events is compiled by the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau: [Read more…]

Guest column: B&W Y-12 improved Y-12, made a big difference in the community

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David Bradshaw

David Bradshaw

By David Bradshaw

It has been almost 14 years since B&W Y-12 LLC took over operation of the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.

Soon a new contractor will be in charge. Thanks to the work of the B&W Y-12 team and many others, they will inherit a very different and much improved facility.

One only needs to approach Y-12 to see the changes. The first thing you will see is the New Hope Center, built as a public-private partnership and located just outside the secure gates of Y-12 to make sure public access is easy. It has conference space, an outstanding auditorium, and a museum that highlights everything from Y-12’s critical role in the Manhattan Project, to the NASA “moon box” built by Y-12, to Y-12’s role in winning the Cold War. Y-12 had always been a secret place and this space built with the public in mind was a major change.

The modernization process is even more obvious inside the gate. Y-12 completed and opened the new Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility. It’s a state of the art building. The new Uranium Processing Facility will be just as impressive with design work well underway. Both facilities allow the U.S. Department of Energy to close down old buildings that date back to the Manhattan Project. With the HEUMF and UPF in place, Y-12 will be far more efficient with operations not only more secure, but centralized in one place instead of being spread out over several locations. [Read more…]

Summer menu to begin at Unitarian Universalist free community meal Friday

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Stone Soup Community Meal

From left to right, volunteers Jinx Watson, Beatrice Holt, Todd Sherline, and daughter Poppy prepare for guests at an earlier ORUUC Stone Soup Free Community Meal. The next meal will be served on Friday, June 27. Everyone is welcome. (File photo)

The summer menu will begin at the Stone Soup Ministry free community meal on Friday, June 27, at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at 1500 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge. Everyone is invited for the homemade meal of pimiento cheese sandwiches, three-bean salad, and melon, a press release said. Dine-in or take-out will be available from 5 to 6 p.m.

The Stone Soup Ministry free community meal is held the last Friday of every month at the same time in the Social Hall of the Church. Food for the free monthly meal is provided by the ORUUC congregation along with financial support from several members of the Oak Ridge community.

For more information about the June 27 meal, call the ORUUC office at (865) 483-6761.