Oak Ridge Today

Christmas Concert by Community Band this afternoon

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oak-ridge-community-band-christmas-concert-2015

The Oak Ridge Community Band performs in a Christmas concert at First Baptist Church in 2015. (Submitted photo)

 

To help you ring in the Christmas season, the Oak Ridge Community Band/Wind Ensemble has a free Music of the Season concert this Sunday afternoon, December 11. The performance begins at 3:30 p.m. and will be held in the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church at 1101 Oak Ridge Turnpike. It’s open to the public, dress is casual, and there will be refreshments at the conclusion of the program, a press release said.

“This concert is a wonderful opportunity to bring family and friends to relax and enjoy hearing familiar holiday tunes and sing favorite Christmas carols,” the press release said.

Among the numbers on Sunday’s program are two of Leroy Anderson’s most well-known holiday tunes: “A Christmas Festival,” featuring a medley of carols, and the time-honored piece “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. [Read more…]

Free Christmas Day dinner at Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church

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Members of the ORUUC Stone Soup Ministry team are ready to prepare a special free Community Christmas Day Dinner on Friday, December 25. (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church has a free Christmas Day Dinner on Friday, December 25, and everyone is invited, a press release said.

The menu includes Honey Baked Ham, sweet potatoes, green beans, rolls, dessert, and fruit.

Dine in or take-out will be available in the ORUUC Social Hall from 5 to 6 p.m. Friday, the press release said.

The church is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Guest column: Christmas Spirit

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John Ragan

John Ragan

On Christmas Day a century ago, at several locations along the Western Front of the World War I conflict, soldiers from both sides of the Great War emerged from trenches to meet in peace and camaraderie in no-man’s-land: the war-torn spaces between the opposing trenches. In the days leading up to Christmas, troops on both sides had sometimes joined in singing Christmas carols, the melodies rising to mix in the frigid air over the battlefield.

When Christmas Day dawned, instead of exchanging artillery barrages and bayonet charges, they traded handshakes, gifts, and holiday wishes. One location even enjoyed a friendly game of soccer.

Briefly, on a European battlefield where death and bitterness had reigned supreme, there was peace on earth and good will toward men. Though it was for only a day—a Christmas Day—hatred gave way to recognition of humanity’s brotherhood. [Read more…]

No holiday garbage pickup on Christmas Day, New Year’s Day

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Waste Connections Inc. will not pick up trash or recyclables in Oak Ridge on Christmas Day, Thursday, December 25, or on New Year’s Day, Thursday January 1, 2015.

For both weeks, the regular Thursday routes will be picked up the following day on Friday, and the regular Friday routes will be picked up the following day on Saturday.

Please have all refuse and recyclables out by 7 a.m. for the Friday and Saturday routes. [Read more…]

Christmas Day heist: Thieves try to steal ATM safe with Bobcat

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Bobcat and ATM Safe from Y-12 Federal Credit Union

A Bobcat that appears to have been involved in a Christmas morning plot to steal money from an ATM in east Oak Ridge is tipped over on its side in a small ditch next to the safe, which had apparently not been opened.

A brazen attempt to steal money from an ATM in east Oak Ridge appears to have gone awry early Christmas morning and ended with a Bobcat tipped over on its side next to a safe that had apparently not been opened.

Many of the details are preliminary, and the Oak Ridge Police Department was investigating Wednesday morning.

The attempted theft caused extensive damage to a Y-12 Federal Credit Union automated teller machine at a small shopping center that includes the KARM Thrift Store and Tractor Supply Co. Crumpled ATM debris was scattered in a grassy field behind the drive-through credit union machine, and brown tracks led a few hundred feet away to the tipped-over Bobcat and the square safe, which appeared to have a chain wrapped around it. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Today working limited hours Christmas Eve, closed Christmas

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Oak Ridge Today will be working fewer hours on Christmas Eve, and we will be closed Christmas Day to enjoy the holiday.

We may publish a few more stories today (Tuesday) and then return to our regular schedule on Thursday.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!