Oak Ridge Today

National League of Women Voters president to be special guest in Oak Ridge

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Elisabeth MacNamara

Elisabeth MacNamara

Elisabeth MacNamara, president of the League of Women Voters of the United States, will be the special guest of the Oak Ridge League for its 70th Birthday Party on April 29. The celebration will be held at Calhoun’s Event Center, which is at 100 Melton Lake Peninsula in Oak Ridge, starting at 5:30 p.m. April 29.

Wanda Sobieski, Knoxville attorney and suffragette history authority, will be the guest speaker, and 50-year Oak Ridge League members will be honored during the celebration.

MacNamara was elected the 18th president of the U.S. League in 2010 and was re-elected for a third term in 2014. She joined the League in 1983 and has served in leadership roles at all levels—local, state, and national. She is a longtime resident of DeKalb County, a suburb of Atlanta. Professionally, she is an attorney, recently retired as deputy chief assistant district attorney in charge of the office’s juvenile court division in DeKalb County.

MacNamara will present a 70th birthday proclamation from Governor Bill Haslam. [Read more…]

Guest column: Amnesty Week a great success at Oak Ridge Library

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Oak Ridge Public Library

The Oak Ridge Public Library is pictured above.

Amnesty Week was a great success at Oak Ridge Public Library. To celebrate the Library’s 70th birthday from May 27 to May 31, library patrons were invited to return any overdue materials and have the fines forgiven. A total of 145 overdue items were returned for a sum of $421.80 in cancelled fines.

The largest fine forgiven to one patron was $109.50. The most overdue items returned for one patron was 27 items. Four lost items that were due back in December 2011 were returned.

Libraries link people to the world of knowledge. Oak Ridge Public Library now has two databases online, making it easier for everyone to find local information. The Local Organization Index and the Obituary Index are searchable at the Library’s website at www.orpl.org. Library patrons can also get individual assistance with research, résumés, or online job applications. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge celebrates 70th birthday at Jackson Square this afternoon

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Oak Ridge will celebrate its 70th birthday today with historic displays and talks in Jackson Square, special games and activities, a preservation award, and a special free showing of “Fat Man and Little Boy.”

Gen. Leslie R. Groves selected the area that is now Oak Ridge—it was then 90 square miles of East Tennessee farmland—as the first site for Manhattan Project facilities on Sept. 19, 1942. The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II.

The 70th birthday festivities kick off at 3 p.m. today in Jackson Square.

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Oak Ridge celebrates 70th birthday on Sept. 19

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Oak Ridge will celebrate its 70th birthday on Sept. 19 with historic displays and talks in Jackson Square, special games and activities, a preservation award, and a special free showing of “Fat Man and Little Boy.”

A press release said Gen. Leslie R. Groves selected the area that is now Oak Ridge—it was then 90 square miles of East Tennessee farmland—as the first site for Manhattan Project facilities on Sept. 19, 1942. The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II.

[Read more…]