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Oak Ridge announces holiday closures, changes

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All City of Oak Ridge administrative offices will be closed on Monday, December 25, and Tuesday, December 26, to observe Christmas. Other closures and adjustments to city services and facilities because of the holidays are listed below:

  • Household Trash and Recycling Collection—Pick-ups will run on a one-day delay during Christmas week
  • Waste Connections Convenience Center—Closed Sunday, December 24, and Monday, December 25
  • Oak Ridge Civic Center—Closed Friday, December 22, through Tuesday, December 26
  • Scarboro Community Center—Closed Monday, December 25, and Tuesday, December 26
  • Centennial Golf Course—Closed Monday, December 25

The extended closure of the Oak Ridge Civic Center is due to gym floor refinishing, a press release said. While the rest of the building will reopen to the public on Wednesday, December 27, the gymnasium will not reopen until Thursday, December 28. [Read more…]

Community Band has free Christmas Concert & Sing-along on Sunday

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Christmas Concert 2015 at First Baptist Church in Oak Ridge (Submitted photo)

Christmas Concert 2015 at First Baptist Church in Oak Ridge (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge Community Band/Wind Ensemble will ring in the Christmas season with a Christmas Concert and Sing-along on Sunday afternoon, December 10.

It’s a free event, and it will begin at 3:30 p.m. Sunday in the sanctuary of the First Baptist Church, which is at 1101 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The performance is 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, the press release said. [Read more…]

Travel story: Christmas cruise to the Bahamas

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Christmas Cruise to the Bahamas 3

Photo courtesy Jeff Robertson

 

Christmas is the great American holiday. It’s a time of presents and decorations, and mistletoe and holly, of yuletide cheer, of chestnuts roasting on an open fire, and families gathering for a feast. It can be a wonderful time, but it can also be a lot of stress.

For years, our family went all out for Christmas, driving long distances, dropping a small fortune on gifts, and cooking up sumptuous feasts. We spent many hours in the kitchen and many dollars in the shopping malls searching for the perfect present for each of member of our large family. This year, my wife and I decided to skip all that and go to the Bahamas instead.

After exploring some options online, we chose a four-night holiday cruise on the Carnival Ecstasy from Charleston to Nassau. [Read more…]

Holiday Schedule: Waste Connections Convenience Center

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Waste Connections of Tennessee will close the Convenience Center at 400 Warehouse Road at noon on Saturday, December 24, in observance of Christmas. The Convenience Center will reopen on Monday, December 26.

In addition, the Convenience Center will be closed all day Sunday, January 1, 2017, in observance of the New Year’s holiday. [Read more…]

Photos: Oak Ridge Christmas tree lighting

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oak-ridge-christmas-tree-lighting-a-dec-2-2016

The Oak Ridge Christmas tree lighting was Friday, Dec. 2, 2016, in Alvin K. Bissell Park. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

 

The Oak Ridge Christmas tree lighting was Friday in Alvin K. Bissell Park. Here are photos by the City of Oak Ridge.

The annual Christmas tree lighting and reception are sponsored by the Oak Ridge Woman’s Club and the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department. The reception includes seasonal music and entertainment in the Oak Ridge Civic Center gymnasium. [Read more…]

Senior Center Holiday Reception to be held at Oak Ridge Civic Center Gymnasium

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senior-center-holiday-reception

The Senior Center Holiday Reception is pictured above in 2014. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

 

The Oak Ridge Senior Center is having a Holiday Reception for area senior citizens on Friday, December 9. This year, the party will be held in the Oak Ridge Civic Center’s gymnasium located at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

“Come join us between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. for a light lunch of sandwiches, chips, and cookies, as well as holiday music and fellowship,” a press release said. “The Senior Center guitar group will be playing live Christmas music. Bingo will be offered and door prizes given away. Goodie bags will also be given out while they last.” [Read more…]

Community invited to ‘Messiah Sing-a-Long’ events

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Members of the community who love to sing are encouraged to come and be part of the chorus at the sixth annual “Messiah Sing-a-Long.” It will be held at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, December 4, at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge.

It will also be held on Saturday, December 3, at 7 p.m. at the Norris United Methodist Church located in Norris at 62 Ridgeway Road. Music lovers are invited to either free performance, a press release said.

Both performances will be presented by the Tri-County Community Orchestra and Chorus under the direction of Sandy Wells. Members of the choir will sing the arias, and audience members will be invited to join the choir in singing the chorus parts from portions of Handel’s “Messiah,” the classic most associated with the Christmas season. Music will be provided for early-arriving audience members who wish to sing. [Read more…]

Christmas Tree Lighting is Dec. 2 in A.K. Bissell Park

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christmas-tree-bissell-park-2013

The Oak Ridge Woman’s Club and the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department will sponsor the annual Christmas tree lighting and reception on Dec. 2, 2016, at 6:30 p.m. (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge Woman’s Club and the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department will sponsor the annual Christmas tree lighting and reception at 6:30 p.m. December 2.

Participants should gather at the Secret City Commemorative Walk on the east side of the Oak Ridge Public Library parking lot for a brief ceremony, a press release said. A reception with seasonal music and entertainment will be held in the Oak Ridge Civic Center gymnasium immediately following the tree lighting. Light refreshments will be served.

Visit the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks website at orrecparks.org for information about other city events and programs.

Mission of Hope: Youth Board buys more than $1,500 worth of Christmas gifts for area children

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Mission-Hope-Oak-Ridge-Youth-Advisory-Board-December-2015

Pictured above from left to right in front are Brent Robinson, Lucas Dunning, and Lewis Wang; in the second row are Jas Jakowski, Hannah Wilder, Audrey Bufton, Shichen Zhang, Ashley Riedy, Lauren Collier, Sam Sepulveda, Candace Pang, Shreyank Patel, Curtis Rookard; and in back are Hannah Oran, Kolton Reedy, Kevin Reedy, Alexis Palau, Kristina Reed, Macy Barclay, Joel Turner, Christian Thompson, Peter Magill, Rebecca Kolling, and Stella Powell. (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge Youth Advisory Board members recently voted to spend time and money Christmas shopping at Kmart for area children through Mission of Hope.

The board raises funds at various events throughout the year to make this possible. In total, the board spent more than $1,500 on gifts.

“The YAB would like to encourage other student groups and families to consider holiday projects that help those in need, while also reminding everyone to shop in Oak Ridge this holiday season!” a press release said. [Read more…]

Free Christmas Day dinner at Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church

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ORUUC-Stone-Soup-Ministry-Team-December-2015

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…]

Senior Citizens Holiday Reception is Friday

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Oak Ridge Senior Center Holiday Party

A previous holiday party at the Oak Ridge Senior Center. (File photo)

 

The Oak Ridge Senior Center is having a Holiday Reception for area senior citizens on Friday, December 4, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., a press release said.

“Come join us for a light lunch of sandwiches, chips, and cookies as well as holiday music and fellowship,” the release said. “The Senior Center guitar group will be playing live Christmas music. Bingo will be offered, and door prizes given away. Goodie bags will be given out while they last. The event is sponsored by the Oak Ridge Senior Center and made possible by many generous donations from area businesses.”

Like the Oak Ridge Senior Center on Facebook, visit the website at http://orrecparks.oakridgetn.gov/, or call them at (865) 425-3999 for more information about this or other programs offered by the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department.

Copyright 2015 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Man charged in attempted ATM theft with Bobcat on Christmas Day 2013

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Bobcat and ATM Safe from Y-12 Federal Credit Union

A Bobcat allegedly involved in a plot to steal a safe from an ATM in east Oak Ridge on Christmas Day 2013 is tipped over on its side in a small ditch next to the safe, which had not been opened. (File photo/December 25, 2013)

 

Stanley Wallace II

Stanley Junior Wallace

A Kingston man has been arrested and charged in the alleged conspiracy to steal an ATM safe loaded with $26,000 in cash using a Bobcat and pickup truck on Christmas Day 2013.

The plot to steal the 4,000-pound safe was unsuccessful. But the suspects were able to demolish the stand-alone Y-12 Federal Credit Union automated teller machine near Tractor Supply in east Oak Ridge and pull the safe several hundred feet across a field before the Bobcat tipped over in a small culvert next to Bogola Road. An attempt to remove the cash box with a stolen Ford F250 pickup truck also failed, so the suspects left the area, authorities said.

Stanley Junior Wallace, 25, of Lawnville Road in Kingston, has been charged in the case. He was arrested March 26 and faces charges of attempted theft of more than $10,000, vandalism of more than $10,000, attempted aggravated burglary, auto burglary, conspiracy, aggravated trespassing, and joyriding.

Oak Ridge Police Department Detective William Weaver said he interviewed Wallace at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on April 21, 2014. Wallace was given his Miranda warning and agreed to speak with Weaver, according to arrest warrants. [Read more…]

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