Oak Ridge Today





Experience world cultures at Children’s Museum International Festival

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The Tennessee Irish Dancers join Charlie Bear, the Museum mascot, at an earlier International Festival at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge. (Photo by Rob Welton)

Flamenco, Irish, and Greek dancers will be among entertainers at the International Festival on Saturday, February 26, at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge.

A special guest from Ireland, musician and singer Fionan Casey, will join the band, The Missing Goats, performing traditional Irish music at the festival, a press release said.

The family-friendly International Festival will present entertainment, crafts, and cuisines from many countries, with musical and dance entertainment on stage throughout the day and crafts for children to make and take home. The festival will be from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, February 26, at the Children’s Museum, which is at 461 West Outer Drive in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

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Community Band has Christmas Concert Sunday

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The Oak Ridge Community Band performs at the recent Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony in A.K. Bissell Park on Dec. 1, 2021. (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge Community Band will play familiar holiday songs, and you will be able to sing along to favorite carols during a Christmas Concert on Sunday afternoon, December 12.

The family-friendly concert to ring in the holiday season will begin at 3:30 p.m. Sunday in the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church, and there is no admission fee, a press release said.

Among the compositions on Sunday’s program will be one of Leroy Anderson’s most popular holiday tunes, “Sleigh Ride,” in which you can not only hear the bells on the horse pulling the sleigh but the crack of the whip, the clip-clop of the horse’s hooves, and the horse’s distinctive neigh, the press release said. The band will also perform Robert Buckley’s arrangement of “Let the Bells Ring!” based on “Ukrainian Bell Carol,” Alfred Reed’s “Russian Christmas Music,” and Robert Smith’s arrangement of “All is Calm.” More holiday tunes performed by the band will be Leroy Anderson’s “A Christmas Festival,” Paul Lavender’s arrangement of “A Home Alone Christmas,” and John K. Evans’s “Angels We Have Heard on High.” [Read more…]

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Children’s Museum Gala features beach theme ‘Surf’s Up!’

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Matt Sieger, enjoying his DJ hobby here, will bring 1960s surf rock to the Children’s Museum Gala on Friday, Dec. 3, 2021. (Submitted photo)

 

“Surf’s Up!” at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, where the 20th annual Gala will feature a beach-themed evening with dinner and entertainment and an oceanographer from 6-9:30 p.m. on Friday, December 3.

The event will have a little STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) mixed in with entertainment by area youth, dinner from Calhoun’s, a costume contest, and auctions. Leslie England, TNBank senior vice president of retail banking and a rock singer with the band Jada Blade, will emcee the event.

The School of Rock’s house band will entertain with beach tunes as guests arrive for the Gala. The Knoxville school offers performance-based music lessons for youth to age 18, and its musicians have performed live at such venues as Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, as well as local venues including the Tennessee and Bijou Theatres. The band at the Gala will feature youth on guitar, bass, keyboard, drums, and vocals.

The Oak Ridge High School Choral Ensemble will bring back memories with a medley of Beach Boys tunes, including “Surfin’ USA,” “Little Old Lady from Pasadena,” “Kokomo,” “Surf City,” and “Don’t Worry Baby.” [Read more…]

Secret City Festival has free admission to concerts

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A previous Secret City Festival is pictured above. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

The Secret City Festival will offer free admission to concerts this weekend after daytime activities were canceled because of the resurgence of COVID-19 cases.

The concerts are Jimmie Allen on Friday, September 24, and All-4-One on Saturday, September 25. Gates open at 6 p.m., and the concerts start at 7. The concerts are in Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge.

The concerts will be first-come, first-served. Capacity is limited to 50 percent, a press release said.

[Read more…]

Updated: Secret City Festival cancels daytime activities

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Note: This story was updated at 9:10 a.m. Sept. 12.

Daytime activities have been canceled at the Secret City Festival this month as the state and county experience a COVID-19 surge driven by the delta variant. However, the evening concerts, food trucks, and fireworks have not been canceled.

“Due to the ongoing resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Festival Board has been in discussions with the City of Oak Ridge, where concerns were raised about our ability to hold a viable, safe, and successful event,” Naomi Asher, marketing chair for the festival, said in response to questions Saturday. “Sadly, we must cancel all daytime festival activities, so that what we will be left with are the two evening concerts, food trucks, and fireworks.”

Asher said the Festival Board and City of Oak Ridge made the decision.

[Read more…]

Scarboro-Oak Ridge 85 honored in events this week

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The 85 students who integrated Oak Ridge schools in 1955 are being honored in events this week.

The “Rooted in the Community” reunion events have been organized by the Scarboro Community Alumni Association. They are scheduled from Thursday, September 2, to Sunday, September 5.

“The event honors those Scarboro-Oak Ridge TN 85 students who integrated the schools as well as the Scarboro teachers,” said John Spratling in a recent interview. Spratling is the vice president of the organization and the Scarboro endowment fund established to honor the teachers and students by supporting enrichment programs such as ACT Prep Testing, leadership training, scholarships, and youth community service projects, a press release said.

“In 1955, 85 courageous young African American students from the Scarboro community were asked to be the first to enter all-white Robertsville junior and Oak Ridge High School in Oak Ridge, Tennessee,” the press release said. “The reunion honors those 85 students and the Scarboro School teachers that provided inspiration and tools to prepare them for this new journey.”

[Read more…]

Cars for Canines is Saturday

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Explore Oak Ridge will host the second annual Cars for Canines event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, at Melton Lake Park. (Photo submitted by Explore Oak Ridge)

Explore Oak Ridge will host the second annual Cars for Canines event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, August 21, at Melton Lake Park.

The event will consist of a car show sponsored by Summer Knights Cruisers, food trucks, live music, vendors, demonstrations, and pet-friendly fun all to benefit the Oak Ridge Animal Shelter and Anderson County Humane Society, a press release said.

This event is free, and everyone is welcome, including your four-legged friends, the press release said.

Car show registration is $20 and begins at 10 am. All classic cars, hot rods, and motorcycles are welcome to enter. Awards will be given to the top 25 vehicles and door prizes will be given during the event for registered vehicles, the release said.

[Read more…]

Oak Ridge will have Independence Day fireworks

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Fireworks at Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge on July 4, 2017. (File photo by D. Ray Smith)

Oak Ridge will have its fireworks show to celebrate Independence Day this year.

The annual display was canceled last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The fireworks show will be in Alvin K. Bissell Park on Sunday, July 4, and it is scheduled to begin at dark, around 9:45 p.m.

The Oak Ridge Community Band, now in its 77th year, will perform prior to the fireworks. the press release said. The concert is free, but donations are accepted by the band to help cover the cost of equipment and other expenses. The music is expected to begin at 7:30 p.m.

[Read more…]

Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool re-opens this weekend

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The Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool on Providence Road is pictured above. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

The Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool opens for the season beginning Memorial Day weekend.

The pool will be open from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 29, through Monday, May 31, a press release said. Beginning June 1, summer hours will be in effect. Public swim is Monday through Friday from noon to 7 p.m., Wednesday nights from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The pool will also be open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to noon for 100-meter lap swim.

“As a reminder, areas of the pool may be closed at times depending on activities, attendance, and staffing,” the press release said. “The kiddie pool will remain closed this season for repairs.”

[Read more…]

AMSE re-opens

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The American Museum of Science and Energy is pictured above on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

After a long closure during the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Museum of Science and Energy has re-opened.

AMSE re-opened at 9 a.m. Friday, May 21.

AMSE will be open to a limited number of visitors at a time, 50. Museum visitors will be asked to maintain an appropriate physical distance from others (the general guidance has been to maintain a distance of six feet or more, when possible, from people who live outside your home).

[Read more…]

Friends of Library Book Sale returns

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Friends of the Oak Ridge Public Library Spring 2021 Book Sale will be Friday, May 21, and Saturday, May 22. Pictured above are FOL President Nancy Hardin, right, and Treasurer Jan Pierce sorting books from a previous year. (Submitted photo)

The Friends of the Oak Ridge Public Library Spring 2021 Book Sale is returning after more than a year.

The Book Sale is Friday, May 21, and Saturday, May 22. It will be a smaller sale at a different location because the Oak Ridge Public Library is not yet fully open to the public, a press release said.

“But we are ready to have a sale to share with you the many items we have received since our last sale in March 2020,” the press release said.

The sale will be held in two rooms on the lower level of the Habitat for Humanity ReStore building in Grove Center. The entrance is on Robertsville Road.

[Read more…]

Scott Jamison receives Children’s Museum Friend of the Child Award

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Scott Jamison, a Children’s Museum volunteer who received the Friend of the Child Award, teaches a summer camp annually in the Museum’s Craft and Science Room. (Submitted photo)

Submitted

When Scott Jamison is teaching children about crime scene investigation or sharing his telecommunications skills at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, he arrives with a smile that shows his selflessness and generosity.

Jamison recently received the museum’s annual Friend of the Child Award for volunteering his business and telecommunications skills, as well as his teaching skills, when the staff seeks his help.

“When Scott walks in the door, frequently responding to urgent pleas for help, there is only one desire—and that is to make things work,” said Ronnie Bogard, former museum board member who presented the award to Jamison.

The award is presented in memory of Selma Shapiro, Bogard’s mother and the museum’s executive director for its first 31 years. With her vision and resourcefulness, Shapiro built the museum from a its single-room beginnings to fill a former school building. The award was established to honor an individual who has contributed in a big way to the success of the museum. [Read more…]

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