Oak Ridge Today

Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon announces grant program for healthy living

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Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon

Proposals for funding up to $10,000 due by July 31

The Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon announced on Thursday that it will offer a new grant program targeted at promoting healthy living in East Tennessee.

For a decade, the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon has been the premier event of the Knoxville Track Club, a press release said. Each year, funds have been set aside for the community contribution program.

In an effort to encourage healthy living beyond race day, the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon has issued a request for proposals now through the end of July for organizations seeking funding from the program.

“For 10 years, the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon has served as East Tennessee’s premier event for runners, as well as a healthy and inspiring opportunity for individuals and families of all fitness levels,” said race director Jason Altman. “We are proud that what happens during marathon weekend will be able to further impact our community throughout the year, and we’re excited to expand that to the public in a more formal way through this grant program.” [Read more…]

Museum celebrates Independence Day with old-time ‘anvil shoot’

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Anvil Lighting

By Museum of Appalachia

NORRIS—Visitors to the Museum of Appalachia, a Smithsonian Affiliate Museum, can celebrate July 4 with the explosion of sound that pioneers heard thunder through the hills when they celebrated Independence Day.

In those days, local blacksmiths would “shoot the anvil” to celebrate the nation’s Independence, Christmas, and even Davy Crockett’s election to the U.S. Congress.

Now, shooting the 175-pound anvil, an almost lost tradition, has come to be a highlight of the Museum’s annual July 4 Celebration. Folks as far as 15 miles away have reported hearing the blast, and certainly everyone gathered for the excitement feels the earth shake under their feet.

Along with a big boom several times during the day, there will be patriotic ceremonies, a flag waving procession led by bagpiper Jesse McCrary, Longhunter camp stories, Appalachian music, and an array of historic demonstrations. [Read more…]

Secret City Festival ‘Salute to Soldiers’ returns, see Saturday schedule

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The award-winning Living History program “A Salute to Soldiers” returned to the Secret City Festival this year, and it once again features members of the Five Oh First Army Airborne re-enactors.

The “Salute to Soldiers” gives festivalgoers the opportunity to experience 1940s life in an interactive way. With opportunities to try on uniforms, sample food rations, and watch weapons demonstrations, the event allows attendees to truly immerse themselves in the every day experiences of front line life.

On Saturday, demonstrations will be given by re-enactors multiple times throughout the day. [Read more…]

TORCH’s kickball fundraiser to kick off in Oak Ridge

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Torch Logo

TORCH’s “Kickin It for Homes” kickball fundraiser is an opportunity for the community to relive the fun of a favorite childhood sports. At the same time, every game played is a “hand-up” for the homeless, a press release said.

Participants are needed to play in the tournament, which is set for June 28 at Carl Yearwood Park located on Laboratory Road in Oak Ridge. The event will start at 9 a.m., and end when a winner emerges. The cost per eight-person team is $160. There is no cost to come out and cheer on the teams.

Teams can register by printing out a form from the website www.oakridgetorch.org and send or drop the form at the office. There is a box at the door if the office is closed. Teams can also register and pay directly online.

Trinity Outreach Center of Hope (TORCH) is located at 320 Robertsville Road in Oak Ridge. Families, church groups, work mates, and friends are encouraged to join in the fun, the press release said. [Read more…]

Secret City Festival started Friday morning, continues through Saturday evening

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Secret City Festival Opening Ceremony

B&W Y-12, which will no longer manage the Y-12 National Security Complex after June 30, has been a major sponsor of the Secret City Festival for 10 years and has contributed more than $250,000 total in the past decade. The federal contractor was recognized for its community contributions during the opening ceremony at the Secret City Festival on Friday morning. From left to right are Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan; Dave Richardson, B&W Y-12 president and general manager; Mayor Pro Tem Jane Miller; and Bill Reis, B&W Y-12 vice president of public and governmental affairs.

 

The annual Secret City Festival, Oak Ridge’s largest festival, kicked off Friday morning and continues through Saturday evening.

Highlights of the two-day festival include concerts—Eddie Money and Kix Brooks are this year’s headliners—children’s activities, Manhattan Project site tours, arts, antiques, crafts, food, and fun. There are also World War II Living History activities and demonstrations, Oak Ridge history exhibits, and regional exhibitors and vendors.

Oak Ridge was a “secret city” during World War II, when it was part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, a federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons. The festival helps honor that heritage and also includes a range of entertainment, community information, and family fun, among other things.

You can check updates on this year’s Secret City Festival on Twitter here.

See the Secret City Festival website for more information, including on how to purchase concert tickets for Eddie Money and Kix Brooks. [Read more…]

Honors: Girl Scouts awarded grants

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Joyce Maienschein and Miriam Ryburne

Ambassador Girl Scout Miriam Ryburne, pictured with Joyce Maienschein, has been awarded a Joyce Maienschein Leadership Grant of financial support for the service project she created to help needy children in the USA and in Indonesia. (Submitted photo)

 

The Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians has announced recent recipients of Leadership Grants to provide financial support for community service projects. The grant winners, middle- and high-school-age Girl Scouts, have each created and are leading a different community project.

Miriam Ryburne, daughter of Oak Ridgers Nan Shugart and Mark Cantley, organized and taught a team of people to make hand-knitted items for an all-girls orphanage in Indonesia, as well as for six other organizations, including the Florence Crittenden Agency and East Tennessee Children’s Hospital.

Allison Campbell, of Knoxville, is upgrading the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital doctors’ waiting room, designing and printing activity books for the children, and gathering immediate needs for patients.

Sierra Turner of Chattanooga is collecting CD players and CDs for cancer patients at Children’s Hospital at Erlanger. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Fire Department teams with MDA this weekend

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Oak Ridge Bicycle Center

Oak Ridge Fire Department Muscular Dystrophy Chairperson Duane Chase announced Thursday that the Oak Ridge Firefighters Association will conduct its annual MDA Boot Drive this Friday and Saturday, June 13 and 14, at the Secret City Festival at A.K. Bissell Park.

An MDA booth will be located at the fire department youth area and Zipline landing to make your contribution. Each contribution of $5 will enter the contributor in a drawing for a youth bicycle from Oak Ridge Bicycle Center on Jefferson Avenue. [Read more…]

Tours of Manhattan Project sites a highlight of Secret City Festival

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Secret City Festival Logo

One of the highlights of the annual Secret City Festival, taking place Friday and Saturday at A.K. Bissell Park, is the series of tours that run all day both days.

Each of the four tours will depart from the American Museum of Science and Energy at scheduled times. In addition, the Secret City Scenic Excursion Train will be chugging along during the festival.

Visitors will have a unique opportunity to tour three historic Manhattan Project World War II sites. On Friday, June 13, Y-12 will host tours from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. The one-hour tour will include the Y-12 History Center, Building 9731, the Chestnut Ridge Overlook, and Bear Creek Road.

Also on Friday, visitors can take the U.S. Department of Energy Facilities Bus Tour, which is included with a $1 admission to AMSE. This tour includes stops at the Y-12 New Hope Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Graphite Reactor, and a tour around the East Tennessee Technology Park. A separate tour that focuses on the X-10 Graphite Reactor is available at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Friday.

On Saturday, there will be four opportunities to tour the ORNL Graphite Reactor. All tours will begin at the American Museum of Science and Energy. The Secret City Scenic Excursion Train will be running three tours as well. Departure times for both tours are listed below: [Read more…]

Community Orchestra performs at Secret City Festival on Saturday

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Oak Ridge Community Orchestra at the Secret City Festival

The Oak Ridge Community Orchestra performs at the 2013 Secret City Festival. (Submitted photo)

 

Submitted

While you attend the Secret City Festival in Oak Ridge on Saturday morning, stop by the pavilion and listen to the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra from 11:15 to 11:45 am. It’s free entertainment.

You will enjoy the program of popular renditions: music from the movies with highlights from “Jurassic Park” and “The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Rings),” jazz from the big band era in A Salute to the Big Bands, and favorite Broadway hits in Curtain Up!

A Salute to the Big Bands includes memorable melodies such as “April in Paris,” “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You,” “Pennsylvania Six-Five-Thousand,” “Serenade in Blue,” and “Sing, Sing, Sing.”

Curtain Up features the famous Broadway tunes “Don’t Rain On My Parade,” “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” “If He Walked Into My Life,” “One,” “The Phantom Of The Opera,” and that rousing chorus, “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” [Read more…]

American Legion has fundraiser, flag disposal ceremony on Saturday

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The commander of Clinton American Legion Post 172 would like to invite everyone to an open house fundraiser and flag disposal ceremony on Saturday, June 14.

The open house fundraiser will run from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., with the flag disposal ceremony at 12 p.m. at the American Legion Post home at 436 Spring Street in Clinton. The fundraiser is to help the American Legion Post raise funds to help the veterans of Clinton and Anderson County, and the flag ceremony is designed to ensure the proper disposal of all worn U.S. flags in accordance with the U.S. flag code.

Anyone interested in attending these events is welcome. Anyone having old, worn U.S., state, or any other type of flag that needs to be disposed, can drop them off at the office of the director of Anderson County Veteran Services in Room 114 of the Anderson County Courthouse, or bring it to the ceremony on Saturday, June 14.

Drug Awareness Day at Oak Ridge Pool on Saturday, June 21

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Drug Awareness Day at Oak Ridge Municipal Pool

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The Oak Ridge Chapter of the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks will be hosting the second annual Drug Awareness Day at the Oak Ridge Municipal Pool located at 172 Providence Road on Saturday, June 21.

Drug awareness demonstrations will be held from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. inside the pool area. A few of the planned activities include the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Jet Ski simulator and fatal vision goggle demonstrations. “Elroy the Elk” the national mascot for the Elks Drug Awareness Program, will be in attendance to remind kids that hugs are better than drugs. Hundreds of prizes will be given away to those participating in a drug awareness activity. Some of the prizes include T-Shirts, coloring books, Frisbees, and free pool passes that can be used anytime during the summer. [Read more…]

What’s happening in Oak Ridge from June 13-18

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Here is a summary of events happening in Oak Ridge from Friday, June 13, and continuing through June 18.

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