A few hundred motorcyclists ride in the annual Anderson County Toy Run. (Photo courtesy of Anderson County Toy Run)
An annual motorcycle ride that benefits children at Christmas starts at Moose Lodge in Oak Ridge on Saturday.
The ride has raised about $25,000 per year for the past few years and helped roughly 220 children last year, said Brad Brewster, 2012 chair of the nonprofit Anderson County Toy Run.
One hundred thirty-five teams from 30 states are competing in the US Rowing Youth National Championships at Oak Ridge Marina this weekend.
The US Rowing Youth National Championships are in Oak Ridge again this year, and about 5,000 people are expected to attend, including athletes and their families, an organizer said Thursday.
The regatta starts Friday morning and ends Sunday afternoon. It will include about 1,800 rowers from 135 teams in 30 states, said Allen Eubanks, Oak Ridge Rowing Association head coach.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory intern Jordan Chaney inspects an emerald ash borer trap near Bethel Valley Road. (Photo courtesy of ORNL)
The emerald ash borer, a destructive insect that attacks ash trees and can kill them, has been found on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation, according to an article posted on ORNL Today.
The non-native insect was first trapped in Roane and Anderson counties in May, the article said. One trap was on Highway 95 at the Highway 58 interchange, and the other was on Bethel Valley Road near the East Portal.
“Unfortunately, these finds signal the beginning of a decline of ash species throughout the reservation,” said Greg Byrd, forester with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Natural Resources Program.
Kathy Mihalczo gives presentation on fairy gardens. (Photo submitted by Heather Debord)
The annual Fairy Folk Festival was held at Erin’s Meadow Herb Farm on Saturday.
Owner Kathy Burke Mihalczo presented workshops on how to design a fairy garden in your own yard and a class on putting together a container fairy garden.
For more information on other workshops, visit Erin’s Meadow Herb Farm online.
Here are a few pictures from the event.
Wildlife officers and residents gather around a black bear caught on East Drive around 8 p.m. Saturday. (Photo submitted by Kelli Parsons)
An east Oak Ridge resident reported that a black bear was caught at about 8 p.m. Saturday.
The bear was caught at about the 390 block of East Drive, said resident Kelli Parsons, who submitted a photo taken by a neighbor.
Cancer survivors walk the first lap Friday evening during the annual all-night Relay for Life at Oak Ridge High School.
More than 500 survivors, family, friends, and supporters walked in a cancer-fighting fundraiser at Oak Ridge High School this past weekend.
Organizers of the annual all-night Relay for Life hoped to raise $80,000 and had already raised $55,000, said Kayla Shelby, an American Cancer Society employee who helped volunteers organize the event.
A black bear climbs onto a backyard grill in north Oak Ridge on Tuesday after looking into a living room window. (Photo by George Ostrouchov)
Residents continued to report that a bear or bears was in the Secret City this week, and one was trapped at Oak Ridge National Laboratory early Friday morning.
George Ostrouchov took pictures of a black bear in his back yard on Orchard Circle at about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
“The bear first looked into our living room, putting its paws on the window,” Ostrouchov said in an e-mail. “Then he (we assume it was a young male) proceeded to check out our grill. The grill happened to be still on to clean itself after grilling.”
Women can compete in Oak Ridge this weekend in a 5K run and sprint triathlon.
The Run for the Rose Women’s 5K starts at 8 a.m. at the Grove Center Shopping Center. The Wild Rose Women’s Triathlon starts at 7:30 a.m. at the Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool and consists of a 300-meter swim, 10-mile bike ride, and three-mile run.
The events are part of Women’s Weekend in Oak Ridge.
Y-12 National Security Complex employees will be at the Wildcat Den at 8:30 a.m. Saturday for a work day.
The volunteers plan on working on the driveway and trim the back yard.
Strong to severe thunderstorms could move through East Tennessee this evening, according to the National Weather Service.
It’s not clear yet if the storms will affect tonight’s Oak Ridge High School graduation ceremony, which could be delayed until Friday evening if the weather is bad.
A black bear eats at a bird feeder on Oglethorpe Place in Oak Ridge this week. (Submitted photos by Todd and Cheryl Thomas)
Residents in north Oak Ridge reported seeing a bear in yards on Orchard Circle and Oglethorpe Place and on Key Springs Road this week, eating at bird feeders and climbing up on backyard grills.
It’s not clear if the bear spotted in north Oak Ridge this week is the same bear that was spotted in Woodland on May 22. There were also reports of a mother and cub on the west end of Y-12 National Security Complex last week.
The American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge has many new exhibitions and tours in June. Here is the museum’s June calendar of events.
