Oak Ridge Today

Photos: Lavender Festival on Saturday

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Lavender Festival in Oak Ridge 2015

The Lavender Festival celebrates “all things herbal” in Jackson Square from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 20, 2015. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

The Lavender Festival celebrates “all things herbal” in Jackson Square until 3 p.m. today (Saturday, June 20).

It’s the 17th annual festival, and there is no cost to attend. Here are photos by Julio Culiat.

The Lavender Festival focuses on herbs, health, gardening, and cooking, and it features more than 100 vendors, a dozen herb and health presentations, children’s activities, and many musicians. Vendors line the covered walkways of Jackson Square, the parking lot, and both sides of Broadway Avenue, which is closed to traffic.

See this previous story for more information.

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Lavender Festival celebrates herbal products on Saturday

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Lavender Festival Crowd

The Lavender Festival will celebrate “all things herbal” in Jackson Square on Saturday.

The 17th annual festival is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 20. There is no cost to attend.

“Jackson Square has been under renovations since January, but they are expected to be finished in time for the festival, which will go on as planned,” organizers said.

They said free parking is available in surrounding city and business lots, and on side streets.

The Lavender Festival focuses on herbs, health, gardening, and cooking, and it features more than 100 vendors, a dozen herb and health presentations, children’s activities, and many musicians. Vendors will line the covered walkways of Jackson Square, the parking lot, and both sides of Broadway Avenue, which will be closed to traffic. [Read more…]

Sponsored: Seniors Helping Seniors assists elderly residents

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Lois Engel

Lois Engel

A nurse for more than four decades, Lois Engel still works with seniors, but now she gets to spend more time with them.

She and her husband Ed own a Seniors Helping Seniors franchise in Clinton. They and their care providers help seniors with services ranging from light housekeeping and cooking to gardening and transportation. They can help elderly residents stay in their homes five to eight years longer than they might otherwise.

“It’s a gift to us to be able to assist other people,” Lois Engel said. [Read more…]

Lavender Festival returns to Jackson Square on Saturday

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Lavender Festival

Celebrating all things herbal in Oak Ridge, the Lavender Festival returns to Historic Jackson Square on Saturday. It’s the festival’s 15th year, and it’s scheduled from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

The free festival features food and music, and close to 100 vendors. They will have plants and herbs, and products related to gardening, cooking, health, and aromatherapy, in addition to fine art and crafts. There will also be booths for children, with crafts, a dinosaur exhibit, and street performers.

Festival-goers can sample foods made with herbs from 9 to 11 a.m. and watch a grilling-with-herbs demonstration by Market House chefs beginning at 1 p.m. Live music will be performed by local musicians throughout the day. Informative presentations and workshops will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. inside the CapitalMark Bank and Trust building next to the playhouse. [Read more…]

Register by Thursday for UT Arboretum Society annual dinner

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Andy Pulte

Andy Pulte

Reservations are due by Thursday for an annual dinner and auction with the University of Tennessee Arboretum Society.

The Nov. 13 dinner will feature keynote speaker Andy Pulte, radio host on WNOX and University of Tennessee Department of Plant Sciences gardening expert, a press release said.

The dinner and silent auction start at 6 p.m. Nov. 13 at The Elks Club, 684 Emory Valley Road in Oak Ridge. The public is invited, and the cost is $25 per person, the press release said.

The release said Pulte is one of the hosts of “The Garden Guy” with Sue Hamilton on WNOX’s “Garden Talk,” a weekly radio show on from 8 a.m. to 9 .m. Saturdays.

His topic for the UT Arboretum Society dinner and auction is “Backgrounds and Borders Design Theory and New Plants for Everyone.”

“Paying attention to the specific emotions plant colors evoke is important,” Pulte said in the release. “Colors can be beautiful in peaceful, happy, relaxing, invigorating and even sad ways. The colors you ultimately choose for a garden should reflect the mood you want to express.”

He will also discuss using a set of newer or unusual plants you should consider adding to your landscape this year.

The press release said Pulte grew up in the nursery industry in Grand Island, Neb. He received his bachelor’s degree in horticulture from the University of Nebraska and a master’s degree from the University of Tennessee in the area of public horticulture.

He has worked at the National Arbor Day Foundation in the education department and the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Neb. He contributes to several gardening publications, speaks regularly to diverse groups, and travels extensively to feed his passion for people and plants, the press release said.

The Nov. 13 dinner and auction will begin at 6 p.m. with a social hour (cash bar) and silent auction followed by a buffet dinner at 7 p.m., then a brief business meeting and Pulte’s presentation. Silent actions items include fine crafts, gifts certificates, art, wine and accessories, hard tools, and more, the release said.

For more information on the Annual Dinner and Silent Auction, call (865) 482-9096 or send an e-mail to [email protected]. Cash or checks only will be accepted at the door.

To learn more about the Arboretum Society, go to www.utarboretumsociety.org.