Oak Ridge Today

Church Women United to host speaker from Healthy Start

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Susan Moore

Susan Moore

Susan Moore, program supervisor for Healthy Start of Anderson County, will discuss the program’s role in preventing child abuse during an April 4 presentation in Oak Ridge.

The program is part of the celebration of April as Child Abuse Prevention Month, and it’s hosted by Church Women United, a press release said.

Healthy Start of Anderson County has been deemed an elite “model program,” ensuring the medical well-being of mothers and infants and preventing child abuse. Healthy Start programs enhance child development by helping children meet physical and mental milestones that affect their readiness for school. Healthy Start also supports parents and extended families in creating a positive environment for the child within the family, the press release said. [Read more…]

Ulster Project serves up a ‘Taste of Ireland’

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Peace Sculpture Northern Ireland

Peace sculpture on the ancient city wall of Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland. (Photo by T. Burns)

The Ulster Project of East Tennessee will host “Taste of Ireland”—a “sense-sational” celebration—on Saturday, April 5, from 6 to 10 p.m. in the Family Life Center at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Oak Ridge. Co-sponsored by the Knoxville and Oak Ridge chapters, the event will feature traditional Irish food and drink, live music, dance, and a silent auction.

Special musical guests, the local Irish/folk band, Shamrock Road, will entertain. Enjoy a buffet of traditional Irish favorite dishes and dessert between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. Visit any of the four traditional Irish watering holes for something to accompany your meal or to quench your thirst from dancing a jig.

A “Taste of Ireland” is the perfect way to welcome spring and support the efforts to grow and sustain the peace process in Northern Ireland. The evening of food and entertainment costs $25 for adults and $20 for students (under 21) and seniors (65+). Tickets are available in Oak Ridge at Realty Center, 201 S. Tulane Ave.; at The Ferrell Shop in Historic Jackson Square; or through e-mail at ulstereasttenn@gmail.com. Tickets will also be available at the door. [Read more…]

Free community meal at ORUUC on 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 a recent ORUUC Stone Soup Free Community Meal. The next meal will be served on March 28. Everyone is welcome.

The Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church will have a free community meal on Friday, March 28, from 5 to 6 p.m. in the church’s Social Hall. Dine-in or takeout will be available.

Homemade Santa Fe chili, corn chips, and blond brownies and milk are on the menu.

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

Doric String Quartet returns to Oak Ridge for ORCMA concert Saturday

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Doric String Quartet

Doric String Quartet

The Oak Ridge Civic Music Association’s Chamber Series concert on Saturday features the Doric String Quartet. The concert will start at 7:30 p.m. at Oak Ridge Associated Universities Pollard Auditorium.

The Doric members are Alex Redington and Jonathan Stone, violins; Hélène Clément, viola; and John Myerscough, cello. The program includes Haydn’s String Quartet in B-flat, Opus 76 No. 4  “Sunrise”; Leos Janacek’s String Quartet No. 1 “Kreutzer Sonata”; and the Franz Schubert Quartet in G (D. 887).

The group spends time sharing their talents, techniques, and musical wisdom with young musicians in the area. Oak Ridge Symphony cellist Alicia Randisi-Hooker and her “Cello Leap Studio” is making arrangements for the quartet’s weeklong residency here. [Read more…]

‘Oak Ridge Has Talent’ fundraiser at Grove Theater on Friday

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Ridge City Ramblers

Members of the Ridge City Ramblers, who will play at Oak Ridge Has Talent on Friday, are, from left, Gary Coleman, Mary Tuskan, Scott Linn, Abbie Hoerner, Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan and Steve Reddick. (Submitted photos)

The Grove Theater will host a fundraising talent show on Friday that will feature 10 groups from Oak Ridge and East Tennessee.

The show, called “Oak Ridge Has Talent,” starts at 7 p.m. Friday. It will mark the kickoff of Friends of the Grove Theater, a new nonprofit organization dedicated to maintain the Historic Grove Theater as a performing arts center for the Oak Ridge area.

Representatives from Sound Company Children’s Youth Choir will perform along with ensembles from Oak Ridge Community Band, Oak Ridge Symphony, and dancers from the Oak Ridge Civic Ballet. Bands will include the Ridge City Ramblers, an Oak Ridge Bluegrass band; the MOOD, a classic rock band; and an Irish music session representing the Traditional Irish Arts of Knoxville. Miss East Tennessee Scholarship Talent winners will also perform, and a distinctive surprise from the Emory Valley Center is planned. Comedian and humorist Tyler Gouch will serve as the master of ceremonies. [Read more…]

Boyd to discuss Gov. Haslam’s ‘Drive to 55’ campaign at Altrusa

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Randy Boyd

Randy Boyd

Randy Boyd, Knoxville CEO of Radio Systems and special education adviser to Gov. Bill Haslam, will discuss the statewide initiative “Drive to 55” during a Wednesday luncheon in Oak Ridge.

Boyd will also discuss the Tennessee Promise, which aims to raise the percentage of Tennesseans with degrees or certificates from 32 percent to 55 percent by 2025, during a Wednesday meeting of the Altrusa Club at the Doubletree Hotel.

“The Tennessee Promise will provide all Tennessee high school graduates with the opportunity to attend a community college or Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) free of tuition and fees and provide them with a mentor to ensure their success,” Boyd said. [Read more…]

Boys and Girls Club has baseball sign-ups, evaluations this week

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The Boys and Girls Club of Oak Ridge has baseball sign-ups through March 28.

It’s for boys and girls from five to 12 years old.The sign-ups are $25 for active club members and $40 for inactive or non-club members.

Baseball evaluations are at 6 p.m. Thursday for children who are seven and eight years old, and at 6 p.m. Friday for kids from 9-12.

Highland View spring cleanup on Saturday

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The Highland View Neighborhood Watch will have a spring cleanup on Saturday morning. It’s scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, and volunteers can sign in at the Oak Ridge Children’s Museum.

“Join us as we work toward making our neighborhood something to be proud of,” a flyer said. “From Highland Avenue to Illinois and side streets, we’re conquering the accumulated trash and garbage. The more participants, the easier and faster we get to enjoy spring in our home neighborhood.”

The flyer said the goal is to eliminate garbage along West Outer. [Read more…]

Breakfast with Legislators on Monday

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The Tennessee General Assembly is halfway through this year’s legislative session, and important bills are in committee or being brought forward for vote. On Monday, you have a chance to ask local legislators about the issues during the March Breakfast with the Legislators.

The breakfast is scheduled from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Monday in the Social Room of the Oak Ridge Civic Center, located at 1401 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The public is invited, and a free continental breakfast will be served, a press release said.

Numerous issues impacting the education system are on the legislative agenda, including vouchers, charter schools, Common Core standards, and textbook commission composition, a press release said. Among the bills being considered are changes to lobbying law, the eligibility for TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families), and the distribution of information relating to the Affordable Care Act and other child health programs. [Read more…]

AAUW talk to focus on legacy, challenge of women’s suffrage

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Wanda Sobieski

Wanda Sobieski

Submitted

“The Legacy and the Challenge of Women’s Suffrage” will be the subject of a talk by Knoxville attorney Wanda Sobieski during a Monday meeting of the Oak Ridge Branch of AAUW, the American Association of University Women.

The meeting starts at 11:30 a.m. Monday at First Presbyterian Church, Room 102.

Sobieski—who established her law firm, Sobieski, Messer, and Associates in 1993, after having practiced law with Baker, Worthington, Crossley, Stansberry, and Woolf—was instrumental in organizing the Suffrage Coalition, which funded the statues of the three Suffragests: Lizzie Crozier Franch, Anne Dallas Dudley, and Elizabeth Avery Meriweather, which stand in Market Square in Knoxville. [Read more…]

Coal Creek Miners Museum has March 29 chili supper, fundraiser

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Bank of America Lake City

The Anderson County Commission has agreed to buy this former Bank of America building in Lake City for a Coal Mining Museum, storage space, and satellite county offices.

Information from WYSH Radio

The Coal Creek Miners Museum will host a chili supper and fundraiser on March 29 at Main Street Baptist Church in Lake City to raise funds for the remodeling and display construction of the museum’s new home on Main Street. The 6 p.m event will include live entertainment provided by the Coal Creek Old Time String Band and a live auction. The plans for the remodel will also be revealed.

“Coal Creek, the city that is now known as Lake City, has a fascinating story to tell about its coal mining heritage,” said Tim Isbel, chairperson of the Coal Creek Miners Museum. “The miners that lived, worked, and died here left a significant mark on history and it is our goal to make sure that story gets told.”

The Coal Creek Miners Museum has set a goal of $500,000, which will fund the renovations to the former Bank of America building and construct the displays for the historical artifacts. [Read more…]