Oak Ridge Today

New Year’s Eve Countdown with food trucks, bands, ball drop

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A New Year’s Eve countdown in Oak Ridge will feature food trucks, bands, and a ball drop.

There will also be fireworks, and the event and parking will be free, according to Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge, which is presenting the countdown.

The event is scheduled from 9 p.m. Sunday, December 31, to 1 a.m. Monday, January 1, at Alvin K. Bissell Park. The park is located at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Musical performers will include Eli Fox Band and Alex and the Animals, according to an event flyer.

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Free dental, vision, medical services in February

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Remote Area Medical (RAM)—a major nonprofit provider of pop-up clinics delivering free, quality dental, vision, and medical care to those in need—will have a free, two-day clinic in Oak Ridge in February.

The clinic is scheduled February 18-19 at the Oak Ridge Civic Center at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The clinic is in collaboration with the Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge.

All RAM services are free, and no identification is required, a press release said. Free dental, vision, and medical services will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis.

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Roane State to host COVID-19 vaccination clinics in Oak Ridge for students & employees

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Roane State Community College, in partnership with the Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge, is planning a two-part vaccination clinic at its Oak Ridge Branch Campus for Roane State students and employees, a press release said.

The first clinic is scheduled for Wednesday, April 28, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Eastern time, and it will provide the first dose of the Moderna vaccine to participants. Appointments are available for students and college employees by visiting roanestate.edu/vaccine. R numbers will be required to sign up, the press release said. Students and employees from any campus location are eligible.

The clinics will be held in a drive-through format. Participants should follow signs posted on campus, and they can stay inside their vehicles the entire time. A short waiting period after receiving the shot will be required for safety. Vehicles will park in a designated area during this time.

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Free Medical Clinic has Boot Scootin’ Bash on Saturday

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Phil and Ann Carter

By Carolyn Krause

The best party in town, many attendees have said! A lively dance contest, line dancing lessons, delicious dinner and drinks, as well as delightful auction items. Dance music by popular disc jockey Dave King. Casual attire. 

It’s the Boot Scootin’ Bash of the Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge, complete with a Western theme (think boots, saddles, wagon wheels, horses, cowboys, cowgirls, rodeos, and saloons). The bash is the annual fun fundraiser for Free Medical Clinic, which provides no-charge primary care and wellness services to low-income, uninsured residents of Anderson, Morgan, and Roane counties who otherwise would not have access to the medical care they need.

Elaine Graham, the entertaining emcee and 2016 dance contest winner, will run the show. Free Medical Clinic volunteers and staff will present the Boot Scootin’ Bash on Saturday, August 10, from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the Parish Life Center of St. Mary’s Catholic Church at 327 Vermont Avenue.

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Lavender Festival is Saturday in Jackson Square

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Image Credit: Shawn Millsaps

Lavender Festival (Image Credit: Shawn Millsaps)

 

The Lavender Festival in Jackson Square on Saturday will celebrate health, herbs, crafts, local foods—and lavender. There will also be music, children’s activities, and a wine tasting. It’s the 20th year of the festival, which is the only Lavender Festival in Tennessee.

“The Lavender Festival is a perennial crowd favorite, full of tradition, fun, and always something new,” a press release said.

The 20th annual Lavender Festival is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 16, in Historic Jackson Square in Oak Ridge.

The festival, which attracted about 8,000 people last year, is always free, with plenty of free parking available in surrounding city and business lots, and on side streets.

As is tradition, a bagpipe player will open the festival at 8 a.m., playing from upper Blankenship Field into Jackson Square. Also keeping with tradition, Alan McBride will follow with the hammered dulcimer in the bandstand. A complete music schedule is found below.

Informative presentations will be held in the lobby of Pinnacle Financial Partners, and they will include Thyroid Health & Tips for Optimal Brain function (10 a.m.), Home-Crafted Lavender Products (11:30 a.m.), and Turning Back the Bones of Time (1 p.m.).

Also returning for its third year is “A Taste of Tennessee Wines,” from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., benefitting the Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Free Medical Clinic’s FMC Bash: Auctions, dinner, dance contest on Aug. 12

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Some of the dancers who will compete at the FMC Bash on Aug. 12, 2017, are, from left in front, Brianna Sprunger, Heidi O'Steen and Cande Seay; from left in the middle row, Laura Lynn Riden and Leslie England; and from left in back, David Vudragovich, Bruce England, and Hans Vogel. (Submitted photo)

Some of the dancers who will compete at the FMC Bash on Aug. 12, 2017, are, from left in front, Brianna Sprunger, Heidi O’Steen and Cande Seay; from left in the middle row, Laura Lynn Riden and Leslie England; and from left in back, David Vudragovich, Bruce England, and Hans Vogel. (Submitted photo)

 

Submitted

The best party in town, many attendees have said! A lively dance contest, delicious dinner, drinks, and delightful auction items. A Hawaiian sunset theme. Dance music by popular disc jockey Dave King. Casual attire.

Elaine Graham, the entertaining emcee and auctioneer and 2016 dance contest winner, will run the show, the annual “fun” fundraiser for the Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge. FMCOR volunteers and staff will present the FMC Bash on Saturday, August 12, from 5 to 10 p.m. in the Parish Life Center of St. Mary’s Church, 327 Vermont Avenue, according to an FMCOR press release.

The dance contestants include Leslie and Bruce England of Jada Blade, Hans Vogel, Cande Seay, Laura Lynn Riden, Ruby Miller, Heidi Osteen, David Vudragovich, Briana Sprunger, Samantha and Matt Berven. You can “vote” now and that evening on the amazing and amusing Oak Ridge dancers as they compete in the celebrity dance contest.

The live auction, to be officiated by “Bear” Stephenson, will include big items such as a week’s stay in Maui, Hawaii, in a two-bedroom, two-bath condo that sleeps six and sits on the beach; an incredible Indian experience for eight at the home of Ginny and Sam Basseen that features an authentic Indian dinner, traditional Indian dancers, and more; a week’s stay in a two-bedroom, two-bath condo that sleeps eight and is in Crescent Beach, Florida, near historic St. Augustine; a dinner in the garden for 30 that offers wine, food and fun, and an evening of Hawaiian hospitality with dinner for 20. [Read more…]

Lavender Festival is Saturday, June 17

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The 19th annual Lavender Festival returns Saturday, June 17, 2017, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Historic Jackson Square in Oak Ridge. (Photography by Shawn Millsaps)

The 19th annual Lavender Festival is Saturday, June 17, 2017, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Historic Jackson Square in Oak Ridge. (Photography by Shawn Millsaps)

 

The 19th annual Lavender Festival is Saturday, June 17, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., in Historic Jackson Square in Oak Ridge. The Lavender Festival is a perennial crowd favorite, full of tradition, fun, and always something new, a press release said. The festival celebrates all things herbal, crafts, local foods, and more.

Admission to the festival is free, with plenty of free parking available in surrounding city and business lots, and on side streets, the press release said.

As is tradition, a bagpipe player will open the festival at 8 a.m., playing from upper Blankenship Field into Jackson Square. Also keeping with tradition, Alan McBride will follow with the hammered dulcimer in the bandstand. A complete music schedule is found below.

Also returning for a second year is “A Taste of Tennessee Wines,” from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., benefitting the Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge. The tasting is hosted by Great Valley Wine Trail, which is made up of four independent wineries in East Tennessee. Your $10 tasting ticket is available at the gate (for those who are 21 with a valid identification). Tasters receive a complimentary wine glass, and if they purchase wine, a six-compartment wine tote. Customers are allowed to enjoy the wine outdoors in the Square during festival hours, with lunch served all day by plenty of food vendors and food trucks, restaurants, and even hors d’oeuvres by Chapel on the Hill. [Read more…]

Free Medical Clinic’s fundraiser: Carolina Beach Bash on Saturday

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Michael and Lissie Beehan Free Medical Clinic Fundraiser 2016

Michael and Lissie Beehan practice their “celebrity” dance. (Submitted photo)

 

 A fundraiser for Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge on Saturday features auctions, music, dancing, and dinner

A brand new grandfather clock. An elegant condo surrounded by dozens of golf courses near Orlando, Florida, that’s available in October. A lovely condo on Crescent Beach in Florida. A Gatlinburg getaway, which includes a luxury cabin stay and event tickets.

An elegant tea for eight. A fine wine dinner for 26 in a garden setting and an Italian dinner for 20 at the Olde Towne Event Center in Oak Ridge.

A one-year membership at National Fitness, flowers for a year, and a signed and framed Ed Westcott photograph of Manhattan Project workers celebrating the end of World War II. [Read more…]

New patient appointments available at Free Medical Clinic

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Free Medical Clinic

The Free Medical Clinic now has appointment openings for new patients from Anderson, Morgan, and Roane counties.

To qualify for free medical care at the clinic, patients must live in one of the three counties, have no medical insurance of any kind (no private insurance, no TennCare, no Medicare), and have a household income at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The chart below shows the income criteria to be seen at FMC: [Read more…]

Hitchcock to be celebrity bartender in fundraiser for Free Medical Clinic

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Echo Bistro and Wine Bar

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For lovers of exotic mushroom fare, Echo Bistro and Wine Bar is the place to be on Thursday, August 20, from 4:30-8 p.m.

Celebrity bartender, Anderson County commissioner, and mushroom aficionado Whitey Hitchcock will bring an assortment of morel, chanterelle, lobster, and other personally foraged mushrooms to Echo to be transformed into a wild mushroom offering by Chef Seth Simmerman. The bar will feature Whitey’s chanterelle-infused libations, complete with Turkish apricot garnish.

Half the mushroom sales and all of the bartender tips go to the Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge, which serves surrounding counties as well as Anderson County. [Read more…]

Free Medical Clinic Bash on Saturday features dance contest, auctions

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Hit Men

Performers in the Hit Men band are, from left, Mark Akers, Bob Andres, Alan Keck, Pat Andres, and Uwe Lueth. They will perform at the Free Medical Clinic Bash on Saturday, Aug. 8, at the Parish Life Center of St. Mary’s Church. (Submitted photo) 

 

Tickets are still available for the FMC Bash, the annual fundraiser for the Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge, which will be held from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, August 8, in the Parish Life Center of St. Mary’s Church.

It will include a catered dinner, music by the Hit Men (a Knoxville rock and pop dance band), a Celebrity Dance Contest, silent auction (80 items), and live auction conducted by the entertaining Bear Stephenson.

Live auction items include a four-day vacation in a beach condo near St. Augustine, Florida; North Carolina barbecue dinner for 12; an Indian dinner for eight; a walnut jewelry box, hand-made earrings (sterling and mother of pearl) by Frederick Duclos; a fly-fishing package; a wine cooler; and Cajun dinner.

Couples who have entered the Celebrity Dance Contest are Sharon and Brian Annis, Naomi Asher and Jim Dodson, Tom Beehan and Kay Brookshire, David and Sandy Bradshaw, Gene Caldwell and Dottie Thompson, Keys Fillauer and Scott Hinton, Judy Gooch and Michael Shrader, and Austin Keathley and an amazing “secret” dancer. [Read more…]

Taste of Anderson County offers local food, music; benefits United Way, Free Medical

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Taste of Oak Ridge

File photo courtesy Atom Ray Photography

 

The Seventh Annual Taste of Anderson County will be at Jackson Square on Saturday, September 19, and it will feature food and local musicians.

Visitors will be able to enjoy a sampling of food from some of Anderson County’s best restaurants, which will showcase their fare in small, taste-sized portions, a press release said.

“This event is a great opportunity for local restaurants to share some of their favorite dishes, while proceeds will benefit the United Way of Anderson County and the Free Medical Clinic,” the release said.

“Tastes” from each vendor will be priced from $1 to $4 per item. Tickets will be available to purchase for $1 at entrances to the event. Attendees may buy as many tickets as they like; in addition, beer and wine will be available for sale. [Read more…]