Oak Ridge Today

Information about plans for new Friendship Bell site to be shared Monday

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Design of the Peace Pavilion for the Oak Ridge International Friendship Bell by Demian\Wilbur\Architects, Washington, D.C.

 

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Peace. Can it be attained in 2017?

“My Faith’s Traditions/Teachings on Personal and World Peace” will be the topic of a panel discussion held by the Women’s Interfaith Dialogue of Oak Ridge, or WIDOR, on April 3 at 11 a.m. at the Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge, the Beth El Center, at 101 West Madison Lane in Oak Ridge. Everyone is invited, a press release said.

The first speaker on the panel, Shigeko Uppuluri, will present on the peaceful intentions of those who arranged to bring the Friendship Bell to Oak Ridge from Japan and share information about the plans for its new site, the press release said. [Read more…]

Central Baptist has Easter Resurrection Celebration on Saturday, April 8

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Central Baptist Church of Oak Ridge

Central Baptist Church of Oak Ridge

Central Baptist Church of Oak Ridge has its annual Easter Resurrection Celebration on Saturday, April 8.

The celebration is from 12-1:30 p.m. April 8. Free hot dogs, games, blow ups, and the story of Easter, along with an egg hunt, will be available to all preschoolers and children through the sixth grade, a press release said. Activities will be held rain or shine.

Please enter the church at the west side of parking area, the press release said. For more information, call Central Baptist Church at (865) 483-7495 or email Darla Comeaux at dsc804@bellsouth.net.

Central Baptist Church is at 130 Providence Road.

This press release was submitted by Darla Comeaux.

Working together through community organizing topic at Lunch with the League

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A Tuesday lunch will focus on ways people within the community can create positive changes through community organizing, a press release said. The public is invited.

It’s Lunch with the League at noon Tuesday, April 4, in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, or ORUUC. Reverend Jake Morrill will be the featured speaker.

ORUUC is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

“Community organizing is a road-tested model of effective democracy in local communities,” Morrill said in a press release. “Building on relationships forged in one-on-one conversations, effective organizing helps neighbors form a network that gets big things done. How could this model for democracy work in Oak Ridge?” [Read more…]

Professor to discuss gay civil rights movements on Monday

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Roane State Community College professor Don Windham will be the guest speaker at the Monday, April 3, PFLAG meeting. In his presentation, Windham will explore the rise of early gay civil rights movements beginning with the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis to today, a press release said. The public is invited.

The meeting will be held at the Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge located at 101 West Madison Lane. Social time will start at 6:45 pm. The meeting will be from 7-8 p.m.

Windham has been professor of psychology at Roane State Community College in Oak Ridge since 1990, the press release said. He has a doctorate in psychology from the University of Tennessee. [Read more…]

Clinch River Home Health receives $30,000 grant

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Clinch River Home Health is located at 401 Sulphur Springs Road in Clinton. You can call Clinch River Home Health at (865) 457-4263. (Photo by Clinch River Home Health via Facebook)

Clinch River Home Health is located at 401 Sulphur Springs Road in Clinton. You can call Clinch River Home Health at (865) 457-4263. (Photo by Clinch River Home Health via Facebook)

 

Clinch River Home Health in Clinton has received a $30,000 grant from The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. The money will be used during the next six months to help support Clinch River Home Health’s Senior Safety Program to help provide Life Link Medical Alert Systems to the homes of clients who need the protection of 24/7 emergency assistance with the push of a button.

The Life Link Medical Alert Systems are provided at no cost to the nonprofit organization’s clients.

“Just pushing a button on the pendant brings needed help,” a press release said. “Each alert system is activated with three easy steps. Four contact phone numbers can be stored, and automatic 911 dialing occurs if none of the contacts are available. The wireless pendant provides two-way voice transmission for safety, security, and peace of mind for seniors living alone as well as their contact friends and family.”

The press release said the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee is a charitable organization dedicated to enriching the quality of life, and it has announced grants to 121 Tennessee organizations as part of a one-time Serving Tennessee’s Seniors grant opportunity. [Read more…]

Community meal is Friday at Oak Ridge church

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Every community needs a time and place to come together and what better way to do this than with food, friendship, and connectedness?

The final Friday of each month, the Stone Soup Ministry team at Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, or ORUUC, invites its neighbors to their table. You can join them this Friday, March 31.

Dine-in or take-out will be available from 5 to 6 p.m., a press release said. ORUUC is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike (close to traffic light number 2) in Oak Ridge.

On the menu will be homemade beanie weenie soup, cornbread, fresh fruit, and cookies. There is no cost, the press release said. [Read more…]

UT Arboretum Society has 50th annual Spring Plant Sale on April 8

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The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society’s 50th Annual Spring Plant Sale will gather the best of four local nurseries in one location. The public sale will be held on Saturday, April 8, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the UT Arboretum at 901 South Illinois Avenue (Highway 62) in Oak Ridge. The “Members Only” sale will be on Friday, April 7, from 5-7 p.m. (Submitted photo)

The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society’s 50th Annual Spring Plant Sale will gather the best of four local nurseries in one location. The public sale will be held on Saturday, April 8, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the UT Arboretum at 901 South Illinois Avenue (Highway 62) in Oak Ridge. The “Members Only” sale will be on Friday, April 7, from 5-7 p.m. (Submitted photo)

 

The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society’s 50th Annual Spring Plant Sale will gather the best of four local nurseries in one location.

The public sale will be held on Saturday, April 8, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the UT Arboretum at 901 South Illinois Avenue (Highway 62) in Oak Ridge.

The “Members Only” sale will be on Friday, April 7, from 5-7 p.m. Memberships may be purchased at that time for this “early bird” shopping opportunity. Checks and credit cards will be accepted. [Read more…]

Weaver presents program on African-American involvement in Manhattan Project to Oak Ridge youth

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On February 22, in honor of Black History Month, Rose Weaver, in conjunction with Manhattan Project National Historical Park, presented an informative program on African-American involvement in the Manhattan Project and the creation of the “Secret City.” (Photo courtesy Manhattan Project National Historical Park)

On February 22, in honor of Black History Month, Rose Weaver, in conjunction with Manhattan Project National Historical Park, presented an informative program on African-American involvement in the Manhattan Project and the creation of the “Secret City.” (Photo courtesy Manhattan Project National Historical Park)

 

On February 22, in honor of Black History Month, Rose Weaver, in conjunction with Manhattan Project National Historical Park, presented an informative program on African-American involvement in the Manhattan Project and the creation of the “Secret City.”

Weaver is an active member of the Oak Ridge community and has a passion for preserving the history of the African-American presence since the city’s inception, a press release said. During the past 15 years, Weaver and her late brother, Terry Weaver, have been gathering oral histories and artifacts for a traveling exhibit to tell the stories of the rich history of Oak Ridge and to share with area youth.

She gave her program to a group of 20 young girls at Girls Inc. in Oak Ridge, the press release said. The girls are participating in a year-long educational program called Parks in Focus. The goal of the program is to educate the youths about the natural/cultural history of the area as well as basic photography skills. [Read more…]

Prevent Child Abuse presents special showing of ‘Resilience’

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Prevent Child Abuse Tennessee will present a special showing of “Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope” in April in Oak Ridge.

“This impactful documentary is a great introduction to the topic of making our community more trauma informed,” said Susan Moore, regional program manager for Prevent Child Abuse Tennessee.

The video portion is about one hour long, and it will be followed by a panel discussion, Moore said.

It’s a free community event, and it will be at Roane State Community College at 701 Briarcliff Avenue in Oak Ridge. The screening will be in Goff 107. [Read more…]

OREPA to present information about U.S. weapons programs at United Nations

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Ralph Hutchison

Ralph Hutchison

The United Nations conference on a nuclear weapons ban opens in New York City on Monday, March 27. The purpose of the conference is to “negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading toward their total elimination,” a press release said.

Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, will be presenting in a side event during the conference on Tuesday, March 28, with colleagues from other nuclear weapons sites, the press release said. The panel discussion, “US Nuclear Modernization Under President Trump: Implications for the Ban Treaty Process,” was organized by the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability. The focus will be on U.S. efforts to modernize the entire nuclear weapons program, the release said. [Read more…]

Service of Psalms on Apr. 2 at First United Methodist Church

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Choir directors Seth O’Kegley (FUMC) and Anna Thomas (FPC), as well as organist Simon Hogg (SSEC) chat while composer John Purifoy plays piano. (Submitted photo)

Choir directors Seth O’Kegley (FUMC) and Anna Thomas (FPC), as well as organist Simon Hogg (SSEC) chat while composer John Purifoy plays piano. (Submitted photo)

 

Six choirs, with members from three states, will perform in the third and last Service of Psalms for the Lenten season, which will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday, April 2, at First United Methodist Church, 1350 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The service will consist of reflections by local pastors and choral and instrumental performances of psalms selected for Lent that have been set to music by Knoxville composer John Purifoy, a press release said.

An offering collected during the service will be donated to Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachia. ADFAC, an independent nonprofit agency located in Oak Ridge that is celebrating its 30th anniversary, serves the basic needs of primarily low-income residents in Anderson and surrounding Appalachian counties.

Running from Ash Wednesday to Easter, Lent is a season in the church year that is marked by an examination of one’s personal faith and spiritual journey.

Steve Boyce, cantor, will sing solo verses or passages to which the choir and congregation will respond. [Read more…]

Immigrant, refugee rights to be discussed in RSCC-ORICL lecture Thursday

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Kasar Abdulla

Kasar Abdulla

 

Kasar Abdulla, a Muslim refugee from Kurdistan of Iraq and director of advocacy and education at the Nashville nonprofit Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, will speak at 3 p.m. Thursday, March 30, at the Oak Ridge Branch Campus of Roane State Community College.

Abdulla will tell her story and discuss immigrant and refugee rights in the first talk of 2017 in the RSCC-Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning, or ORICL, Lecture Series. Her lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be delivered in the City Room (A-111) of the Coffey-McNally Building.

Abdulla has received awards and recognition on television and in publications for her community activism in Nashville. In 2013, President Barack Obama named her a “Champion of Change” for her work on immigrant integration in Tennessee. [Read more…]