Oak Ridge Today

Peaceful protest, conversation about race planned Tuesday

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Marriah, right, and Ziyah march for Black Lives Matter on South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge on Sunday, May 31, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A peaceful protest and a conversation about race relations are scheduled for Tuesday in Oak Ridge.

The conversation about race relations in the United States and Oak Ridge is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday. It’s between Oak Ridge City Council member Derrick Hammond, who is a pastor; Oak Ridge Police Chief Robin Smith; and local youth. You can watch it live on Facebook at the Oak Ridge Police Department page and on the Oak Valley Baptist Church website at oakvalleybc.com.

The peaceful protest is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the parking lot of Wildcat Arena at Oak Ridge High School. Participants will make signs and shirts there. At 5 p.m., they plan to march to the International Friendship Bell at Alvin K. Bissell Park, organizer Trevor King said in a Facebook post.

The Oak Ridge Police Department will be there and will participate, although it’s not a city event. Smith will walk across the street with everyone, and he has been asked to speak, City of Oak Ridge spokesperson Lauren Gray said Monday.

King said everyone is welcome to attend Tuesday’s event.

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Asian garden specialist to introduce dry landscape gardens Thursday at UT Arboretum

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Martin McKellar will speak on dry landscape gardens at the University of Tennessee Arboretum in Oak Ridge on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. (Submitted photo)

Martin McKellar will discuss dry landscape gardens at the University of Tennessee Arboretum in Oak Ridge on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. (Submitted photo)

 

Artistic designs raked in fine gravel around carefully placed boulders offer peaceful settings for contemplation gardens. Known as karesansui (pronounced car-uh-san-swee), the dry landscape gardens are a centuries-old tradition in Japan but rare in the United States.

Soon, however, Oak Ridge will have its own karesansui garden. As landscaping begins around the International Friendship Bell Peace Pavilion in Oak Ridge, the Japanese karesansui gardens will lend a distinctive and contemplative element to the Oak Ridge landmark.

Introducing the gardens to Oak Ridge will be Martin McKellar, retired from the University of Florida International Center and now a volunteer as the Asian garden specialist at the university’s Harn art museum. He will present a public talk at 7 p.m. Thursday, January 24, on “Dry Landscape Gardens around the World and in Oak Ridge” at the University of Tennessee Arboretum auditorium, which is at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

The karesansui gardens at the Friendship Bell site will be maintained by volunteers who learn the skills to create the designs and maintain the gardens for the city. McKellar will hold four-hour training sessions for volunteers interested in designing, raking, and taking care of the Oak Ridge karesansui gardens on at 1 p.m. Friday, January 25, and at 8:30 a.m. and again at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, January 26. [Read more…]

Groundbreaking for Friendship Bell Peace Pavilion is Thursday

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The new Peace Pavilion for the International Friendship Bell at Alvin K. Bissell Park will feature a cantilever design. (Submitted image)

The new Peace Pavilion for the International Friendship Bell at Alvin K. Bissell Park will feature a cantilever design. (Submitted image)

 

Groundbreaking ceremonies for the new International Friendship Bell Peace Pavilion will take place at 5 p.m. Thursday, September 21, at the bell’s new location in Alvin K. Bissell Park, just west of the Oak Ridge Civic Center.

Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch will be master of ceremonies for the groundbreaking. The Oak Valley Baptist Church Choir will present a music program relating to the friendship and peace theme of the event. Pat Postma and Alan Tatum, co-chairs of the International Friendship Bell Citizens Advisory Committee, will take part in the ceremonies.

Major donors—including UT Battelle/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, and CNS-Y-12—will participate in breaking ground for the new pavilion, a press release said.

The bell, created for Oak Ridge’s 50th birthday, is expected to bring its message of peace and friendship to the thousands of visitors expected at the Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Oak Ridge, the press release said.. The new pavilion for the bell came about after city officials discovered that structural beams in the original bell house had severely deteriorated. [Read more…]

New International Friendship Bell Peace Pavilion plans to be unveiled Thursday

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Friendship Bell

Friendship Bell (Submitted photo)

 

The community is invited to view striking new plans for the International Friendship Bell Peace Pavilion and to learn of its new location in Bissell Park at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, November 17, at Oak Ridge Associated Universities’ Pollard Auditorium, which is at 1000 ORAU Way.

The International Friendship Bell Advisory Committee will host the community gathering to unveil the Peace Pavilion and plaza design for the bell’s new location in Bissell Park. The bell, an Oak Ridge icon now sitting in silence, will bring its message of peace to the tens of thousands of visitors expected to visit the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park, a press release said. Next steps are being taken to position the bell to ring again.

Ziad Demian, architect who designed the new Peace Pavilion and its surrounding plaza, will bring to life, in images and narrative, the real and symbolic importance of the bell that has become an important icon of Oak Ridge. The new pavilion will immediately become a community landmark and contribute to Bissell Park’s “sense of place,” the press release said. [Read more…]