A wildlife nature walk featuring observance of the pink lady’s slipper will be conducted from 1:30 until 3:30 p.m. Sunday, May 7, on the Oak Ridge Reservation.
This is part of the spring nature walk series offered by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and was rescheduled due to rain from a previous date.
Participants will meet at 1:30 p.m. at the North Boundary Greenway along Tennessee Highway 95 located east of the junction with Tennessee Highway 58. [Read more…]
Submitted photo
Relay for Life has moved from Melton Lake Park to 97 Midway Road in Oak Ridge on Friday. It is scheduled from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, May 5.
The Twilight 5K run will still take place at 8 p.m. Friday at Melton Lake Park, rain or shine.
This is the first year that the former Oak Ridge and Clinton events have combined into one larger event, a press release said.
“The joint effort is sure to make the Relay For Life event bigger and better than ever with more activities to create a fun and festive atmosphere for families to enjoy,” the press release said. “The goal this year is to raise at least $72,000, which can only be reached if the community comes out to join the fun and to support this event.” [Read more…]
The first home to be torn down in Anderson County as part of the state’s HHF Blight Elimination Program was being demolished at 678 West Outer Drive in Oak Ridge on Wednesday, May 3, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 12:30 p.m.
It’s being described as a first: An Oak Ridge home is being demolished Wednesday as part of a state blight elimination program. It’s the first home to be torn down in Anderson County as part of the state’s HHF Blight Elimination Program.
The property being demolished is at 678 West Outer Drive. It’s owned by the Oak Ridge Land Bank. The demolition, being done by First Place Finish, is estimated to cost close to $3,600, and it is expected to be completed today (Wednesday, May 3).
The work is being funded by the U.S. Treasury’s Hardest Hit Fund, or HHF. Tennessee’s HHF Blight Elimination Program is administered by the Tennessee Housing Development Agency, or THDA. Anderson County is one of six counties in the Volunteer State included in the program.
Under the Blight Elimination Program, qualified nonprofits and land banks can apply for loans of up to $25,000 to cover the cost of acquiring a blighted abandoned home, demolishing it, “greening” the property, and maintaining the vacant lot. The greened lot can then be transformed into new affordable housing or another use that is approved by THDA and is expected to stabilize and improve the neighborhood. [Read more…]
Oliver Springs Depot (Photo courtesy East Tennessee Preservation Alliance)
The Oliver Springs Southern Railroad Depot is one of eight historic sites included on the Endangered 8 list announced by East Tennessee Preservation Alliance, or ETPA, on Monday.
The alliance said the Oliver Springs Southern Railroad Depot, which is in Roane County, was built around 1892, and it was one of the busiest of the Coster Division. Its popularity grew along with the nationally known Oliver Springs Resort Hotel and nearby coal production, the ETPA said in a press release.
The depot building is a small-frame style, one story structure. The original interior wood has writing still visible from 123 years ago. It features gabbles and large overhangs, the ETPA said.
The last passenger train pulled through the depot in 1968. In 1983, Southern Railway planned to demolish the structure. The town rallied for saving this historic remnant and eventually struck a deal with Southern Railway, provided it would be removed from the site and relocated elsewhere. In 1986, the citizens of Oliver Springs were able to have the building moved across the street with the help of the Tennessee Valley Authority. [Read more…]
An agreement signed Friday, Dec. 30, 2016, by the U.S. Department of Energy and City of Oak Ridge calls for the American Museum of Science and Energy missions to be relocated within about one year to 18,000 square feet of space in a two-story building that once housed a Sears Roebuck store next to JCPenney at Main Street Oak Ridge. It’s not yet clear if the National Park Service, which has shared space with AMSE, will also move into this building. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
It’s not clear yet where the National Park Service will go when the American Museum of Science and Energy building closes at the end of the year, but a federal official said the Park Service will stay in Oak Ridge.
It could relocate to a two-story building that once housed Sears Roebuck at Main Street Oak Ridge, the former Oak Ridge Mall. That’s where the U.S. Department of Energy’s public education and outreach missions, now housed at the American Museum of Science and Energy, are moving.
But the National Park Service hadn’t committed to moving there as of April 17, said Niki Nicholas, site manager of the Oak Ridge unit of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The NPS needs more information, Nicholas said in response to questions after a Monday afternoon presentation to AAUW, or American Association of University Women. (A reader had told Oak Ridge Today of an April 17 letter reportedly sent from the Manhattan Project National Historical Park to federal officials at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which manages AMSE.)
Nicholas said the National Park Service has several options in Oak Ridge, including Main Street Oak Ridge. But she declined to elaborate on the precise number of options, where they might be, or what organizations or businesses might be co-located in those buildings. [Read more…]
Rose Weaver, an active member of the Oak Ridge community who has a passion for preserving the history of its African-American presence. (Submitted photo)
Rose Weaver, an active member of the Oak Ridge community who has a passion for preserving the history of the African-American presence since the city’s inception, will be the featured speaker at a Monday meeting of Women’s Interfaith Dialogue of Oak Ridge, a press release said.
“The public is invited to come and learn how African-Americans also contributed to the development of Oak Ridge during the early years of World War II and how life for African-Americans was different than it is today,” the press release said. “(Weaver’s) presentation will feature many famous Ed Westcott photos along with information about several prominent African-American scientists.”
The meeting is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Monday, May 1, at the Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge, the Beth El Center, at 101 West Madison Lane in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]
Two more nature walks are scheduled this spring on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation.
They include frog calls and bat monitoring on Friday, May 19, and reptiles and amphibians inventory on Sunday, June 4.
Previous walks included wildflower walks on Saturday, April 15, and Sunday, April 23, and a bird walk on Saturday, April 29.
The May 19 frog calls and bat monitoring event runs from 8 until 10 p.m. as participants will visit some small impounded waterbodies along the Freels Bend causeway to learn how Oak Ridge National Laboratory personnel are monitoring local bat populations and how to identify local frog populations based on calls. Nikki Jones and Kitty McCracken will lead the group along a one-mile level dirt and gravel road. A reliable flashlight is recommended as the walk will occur after sunset, a press release said. The walk is limited to 25, and children are allowed.
Adra Cooper, camp director
This summer, youth will have the opportunity to be inspired by local talent to explore their creativity and surround themselves with fellow thespians. Oak Ridge Junior Playhouse is pleased to connect the theater community by offering this experience to learn in a workshop setting with its summer theater camp for youth from rising third grade through rising 12th.
Adra Cooper, camp director, said her experience with theater with young people has led her to value its positive effects.
“I have seen introverted students, who barely speak or look you in the eye, become talkative and confident young adults after finding confidence on stage,” Cooper said, adding that she thoroughly enjoyed the Oak Ridge Junior Playhouse theater camp last year. “I especially enjoyed watching the kids grow in their confidence.”
Cooper brings a wealth of experience from working with youth as a drama teacher, director, and past camp director, a press release said. Campers will also benefit from the creative talent and love of theater from camp assistants Adam Moreno and Josh Farner. Both young men grew up doing theater in Oak Ridge and Knoxville and are excited to share their enthusiasm with the Playhouse campers, the press release said.
Adam Moreno, assistant camp instructor, performing at Middle Tennessee State University in 2014.
Moreno, assistant camp instructor, was very involved in Oak Ridge High School’s drama group, the Masquers. Adam continued his education and graduated with a degree in theater (specializing in acting) in 2016 from Middle Tennessee State University.
“Theater gives you a number of skills you can’t get in any other one platform,” Moreno said. “It teaches you to work with others (even if you don’t get along), to speak in front of a crowd, to listen to others, to take constructive criticism, and much more.”
Farner, also an assistant camp instructor, was a frequent participant at the Oak Ridge Junior Playhouse growing up both as an actor and as a crew member. Warner currently attends the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and he is majoring in producing, directing, and playwriting. Farner attended the Oak Ridge Junior Playhouse summer camps himself, so he’s especially excited to return as an instructor. [Read more…]
Attendees at the next PFLAG meeting will have a chance to join with local high school students to try “Walk the Line,” an activity that is an illustration of both the advantages, as well as disadvantages, each person has in society, a press release said. The meeting will be held on Monday, May 1, in the Fellowship Hall of First Presbyterian Church. Social time will begin at 6:45 p.m., followed by the meeting from 7 to 8 p.m. The church is located at 1051 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge.
The activity will be a practice run for a session at the up-coming Youth Pride Fest 2017 on Saturday, May 6. From noon to 6 p.m. activities are planned to celebrate the diversity of all youth and support LGBTQ Youth and their Friends and Allies. All middle and high school age youth are invited. No registration necessary. Come ready to have fun and make new friends, the press release said. To learn more, go online to youthpridefest.weebly.com. [Read more…]
Jeanne Gorman, chocolate contest judge, holds her prize-winning cake from last year’s contest. With her are last year’s judges, from left, Naomi Asher, Melanie Fillauer, and Tom Beehan. (Submitted photo)
Prepare your best chocolate dessert for a culinary contest Saturday at “An Evening of Everything Chocolate” benefitting Agape House of Oak Ridge.
Amateur dessert chefs are invited to enter the chocolate dessert contest, preparing at least eight servings for judges. At least one ingredient must be chocolate, which could be milk, dark or white chocolate, cocoa, syrup, or other form of chocolate. Each contestant may enter up to two desserts.
Judges will be Jeanne Gorman, last year’s gold medal winner; Kelly Callison, Oak Ridge City Council member and chief operating officer of Information International Associates; and Elaine Graham, owner of Estate Sales Professionals, or the “Purple Van People.”
Prizes will be awarded to the top winners. Include your name, name of dessert, phone number, and e-mail address with each entry. There is no entry fee, and contestants need not be present to win. Entries should be at the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church by 6 p.m. [Read more…]
The Clinton Church of Christ has invited the community to its Friends and Family Day on Sunday, May 7.
The guest speaker will be Arthur Pigman, former pulpit minister at Clinton Church of Christ for more than 14 years and currently the pulpit minister for the Nelson Chapel Church of Christ in Maryville. Bible study is at 10 a.m., worship at 11am, fellowship lunch at 12 p.m., and an early afternoon service at 2 p.m. (church-eat-church).
The destruction of the Oak Ridge rowing course is pictured above after heavy rains in the past week led to flooding and now strong currents on the Clinch River, causing the cancellation of the Dogwood Regatta on April 29-30, 2017. (Photo courtesy Explore Oak Ridge)
The strong current on the Oak Ridge rowing course forced the cancellation of the Dogwood Regatta this weekend, April 29-30, a press release said.
“The rain over the last several days has caused major flooding in the area,” said Sarah McAuliffe, Oak Ridge Rowing Association regatta director. “The current is about 10 times the norm and has done damage to our race course and other infrastructure, but the larger issue is athlete safety. “
The Tennessee Valley Authority and the U.S. Coast Guard have confirmed that the water flow rate will remain too high for safe rowing regatta operations over the weekend, the press release said. [Read more…]
