Hospital staff members and federal workers and contractors will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day in two separate events on Wednesday, Jan. 16, and Monday, Jan. 21.
The U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office has its annual event Wednesday morning at the American Museum of Science and Energy.
The program is titled “50 Years Later: The Evolution of the Dream.” It’s scheduled from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Wednesday, and it’s open to the public.
A regional director for a national nonprofit organization will discuss national parks and a proposed Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which could include Oak Ridge, during a Tuesday meeting.
Don Barger, senior regional director for the Southeast Regional Office of the National Parks Conservation Association, will be the guest speaker at Lunch with League at noon Tuesday.
“In his presentation, Mr. Barger will discuss the state of the national parks, political and financial ramifications, the status of the Manhattan Project Historical Park, and issues facing the national park system,” a press release said.
Children are invited to join in Super Saturdays at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, offering arts and crafts along with fun and games. Programs are from 2:30-3:30 p.m. in the Music Room.
Super Saturday programs are free with admission, and some may include a materials fee. Super Saturday programs will be:
Jungle and prehistoric adventures, among others, will entertain and educate children during winter classes at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge this winter.
Preschool classes are for children ages 3-4. They will be:
Members of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church voted 131-2 to try to buy this 4.6-acre site in front of the Joe L. Evins Federal Building for a new church. (Photo courtesy of Jake B. Morrill)
They’ve agreed to sell their current church to make way for a new shopping center, and on Sunday, members of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church voted overwhelmingly to try to move to the east end of town.
The congregation voted 131-2 to buy a 4.6-acre site in front of the Joe L. Evins Federal Building, home of the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office. The plot is beside Summit Medical on Laboratory Road.
But they haven’t closed on the deal yet, the church’s minister, Rev. Jake B. Morrill, said Monday morning. In a press release Monday afternoon, members of the Church’s Relocation Steering Committee said the due diligence process is not complete, and a closing date hasn’t been set.
Assuming the deal is completed, the next step would be to design a building. The church said it is working with an architect “to begin a congregation-wide process to design a new church using a sustainable, green design for the new facility and preservation of as much of the existing park-like setting of the parcel as possible.”
Church members expect to be in their new home by Thanksgiving 2014.
Larry Kelly
Larry Kelly, manager of the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office, will be the featured speaker on Thursday, Jan. 10, at a joint meeting of two local nonprofit organizations. His speech is titled “Managing resources on the Oak Ridge Reservation in a changing environment.”
The talk is sponsored by Advocates for the Oak Ridge Reservation and the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. It starts at 7 p.m. Jan. 10 at the Midtown Community Center Wildcat Den, and it is open to the public.
Information from WYSH Radio
The Little Ponderosa Zoo and Rescue in Clinton will accept live Christmas trees for animals.
The deer, goats, camels, donkeys, and emus (among others) love the greens, and the porcupines eat the trunk. And tigers love to play with the trees.
The nonprofit Little Ponderosa Zoo is are open for winter hours Saturday and Sunday from 10-4 p.m., but workers are available to accept trees any day this week if you call (865) 457-5536. Trees will be accepted any time up to Jan. 15. Live wreaths and garland will be accepted, but brush will not be.
Sherri Gardner Howell
A journalist and small business owner who was once the publisher of Blount Today will be the featured speaker at a Jan. 9 meeting of Altrusa International of Oak Ridge.
The speaker, Sherri Gardner Howell, has also been assistant publisher for Knoxville Magazine and a lifestyle writer for the Knoxville News Sentinel and Blount County News.
Her talk is titled “Divine Intervention: Why I am not Living in New York City” (Becoming a Mom in Spite of My Grand Plans).
Carolyn and Herb Krause look forward to a horse-and-carriage tour of historic Charleston, S.C., as part of an ORICL trip last September. (Submitted photos)
From stories of World War II to the displacement and resettlement of Native American tribes to the adaptation of life to climate change, the winter-spring 2013 semester of the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning starting Feb. 4 offers a surprising variety of courses.
The early registration deadline is Jan. 9, 2013, for the winter-spring semester, which ends April 26. Members should register by this date to have the best chance of getting preferred classes and trips.
ORICL has more than 500 members who take courses in a classroom and auditorium at Roane State Community College’s Oak Ridge campus on Briarcliff Road. A few courses, such as medical lectures and art classes, are taught in other locations.
A local organization and church have organized a Jan. 11 forum on homelessness, and the public is invited to attend.
The forum will start at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 11 at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church. It’s been organized by the Trinity Out-Reach Center of Hope (TORCH) and the church.
A press release said the forum will bring together experts from social service agencies, faith-based groups, and the wider community for a frank discussion about homelessness that will include the definition, faces of homelessness, an exploration of potential solutions, and ways that people can be involved in the Jan. 24 “Point In Time Count” (PITC).
Project Linus of East Tennessee recently announced it had received a $5,000 Walmart Foundation grant.
Project Linus of East Tennessee provides handmade blankets to more than 2,500 children each year who are in traumatic situations such as in the hospital or shelter, or who have been in an accident or fire, lost a parent who was serving the country, or affected by a mass school or public shooting, among other things.
A winter reading club for adults starts at the Clinton Public Library in January.
The first program features a discussion of the John Grisham book “Skipping Christmas.” The library has copies of the book available for readers to borrow.
The first program starts at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 14.
