A large crowd waits to hear music during the June 2012 festival.
Make plans to attend the 12th Annual Secret City Festival on Friday, June 13, and Saturday, June 14, in historic Oak Ridge. Join more than 20,000 visitors and residents to celebrate the end of World War II and the heritage of Oak Ridge from 1945 to the present.
Here’s an overview of some of the many activities and events taking place at this year’s festival: [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge City Council is pictured above during an August 2013 meeting. (File photo)
Note: This story was updated at 7:40 p.m. June 4.
Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson on Monday recommended a budget that does not raise the property tax rate, setting up a potential conflict with school officials, who have requested a 37-cent tax increase to avoid cuts.
The Oak Ridge Board of Education already approved its budget in in two meetings last week. That budget, which was scaled back from an earlier proposal, could include an extra $3.3 million to start implementing a technology initiative known as 1:1 that would provide electronic learning devices to all students over three years, add five technology positions, and give 2 percent pay raises to staff.
But the budget is still subject to the amount appropriated to the schools by the city. Oak Ridge provides a little less than one-third of the school system’s funding.
While the schools have approved a budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1, the city has not. The Oak Ridge City Council will consider the municipal budget in two separate meetings this month, one on June 9 and the second on June 16. The city budget also includes a 2 percent pay raise for employees.
It’s not clear that Oak Ridge City Council members will agree to raise taxes to accommodate the school system’s request. In his budget presentation to Council on Monday, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said Council members have endorsed keeping the tax rate unchanged for the seventh year in a row.
The Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Welcome Center at the Midtown Community Center on Robertsville Road is pictured above.
It’s now a city contractor, but the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau could become a municipal department, possibly starting this fall, under a proposal now being considered by city officials.
Set up in 1981, the ORCVB is the city’s tourism organization. Among other things, it helps present the annual Secret City Festival; promotes rowing, travel, and events; and operates a visitors center at Midtown Community Center on Robertsville Road. The contract with the city is its only contract.
The bureau is funded by hotel and motel tax collections. But those collections have fallen for the past four years, from roughly $550,000 in Fiscal Year 2009 to about $490,000 in FY 2013. During a Tuesday work session, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said there have been reductions in reductions in government travel and daily expense, or per diem, reimbursements.
As the hotel and motel tax collections have fallen, so has the value of the ORCVB’s contract with the city, from $404,208 a few years ago to $314,100 now. The percentage the bureau has earned from the hotel tax revenues has also been reduced during the past three years, from 80 percent a few years ago to 65.4 percent today. [Read more…]
Here is a summary of events happening in Oak Ridge starting Thursday, May 22, and continuing through May 28.
This weekly listing of events is compiled by the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau: [Read more…]
Here is a summary of events happening in Oak Ridge starting Friday, May 2, and continuing through May 7.
This weekly listing of events is compiled by the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau: [Read more…]
Country artist Kix Brooks performs at the Great Eastern Exposition in West Springfield, Mass., on Sept. 27. (Submitted photos)
Eddie Money and Kix Brooks to headline 2014 concerts
It’s Secret City Festival time again in Oak Ridge! The bands have been selected, the schedule is filling up, and tickets to this year’s headliner concerts go on sale today (Tuesday, April 29). Tickets are priced at an early bird rate of $18. After May 30, ticket prices go up to $20. Children 10 and under are free with a paying adult.
Grammy-nominated ’80s rocker Eddie Money will bring his blue-collar brand of rock ‘n’ roll to the concert main stage on Friday, June 13, at 7 p.m. The Friday night concert also features local band Jada Blade.
Legendary country music artist Kix Brooks will bring his high energy, hit-filled show to the main stage Saturday, June 14, at 7 p.m. The Saturday night concert will feature opening band Phoenix Drive. [Read more…]
Here is a summary of events happening in Oak Ridge starting Friday, April 25, and continuing through April 30.
This weekly listing of events is compiled by the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau: [Read more…]
Eddie Money
Eddie Money, a 1980s rock star, will play at the Secret City Festival in June, organizers said Thursday.
Money will be the Friday night headliner. Organizers announced earlier this month that Kix Brooks will headline the Saturday night show.
This year’s festival, the 12th annual celebration, will be June 13-14.
Money’s Top 40 hits include “Take Me Home Tonight,†“Baby Hold On,†and “Two Tickets to Paradise.” He has sold more than 28 million records and plays a “blue-collar brand of rock ‘n’ roll,” a press release said.
The Friday, June 13, show starts at 7 p.m. Local rock band Jada Blade will be the opening act. [Read more…]
Aaron Wells
The Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau board of directors elected a new slate of officers at its regularly scheduled meeting in February. Aaron Wells was elected chairperson, Mark Harvey will serve as vice chairperson, and Patti Shelton will serve as secretary/treasurer, a press release said. They will each hold their respective positions until January 2015.
The board is comprised of seven community volunteers and three hotel representatives, and it is appointed by the Oak Ridge City Council. Remaining members are Carol Smallridge, Mary Ann Damos, Hugh Ward, Troy Patel, Gretchen Julius, and Misty Williams. There is currently one vacancy.
The ORCVB is a nonprofit organization, formed to strengthen the area economy through the marketing and promotion of Oak Ridge as a destination for meetings, business, and leisure travel. Visit them online at oakridgevisitor.com or call (865) 482-7821 for more information.
Country artist Kix Brooks performs at the Great Eastern Exposition in West Springfield, Mass., on Sept. 27. (Submitted photos)
Kix Brooks—one-half of the bestselling country duo Brooks and Dunn—will headline the Saturday night concert at the Secret City Festival in June.
The concert starts at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 14. Country-rock band Phoenix Drive will open.
“Kix Brooks enjoyed early career success as a songwriter before teaming up with Ronnie Dunn to form the highest-selling duo in the history of country music,” a press release said. “During their 20-year run together, Brooks and Dunn sold more than 30 million records, won more than 75 major industry awards, and celebrated 23 No. 1 hits.”
Brooks is now hosting the long-running syndicated radio program, American Country Countdown, where every week he counts country music’s Top 30 songs. Brooks has received many awards for his broadcasting abilities—including CMA National Broadcast Personality of the Year Award in 2009, 2011, and 2013—making him the first person to ever win a CMA Award in both the artist and broadcast categories. [Read more…]
Travel writers take a break at the Wall of Flags at ORNL that features flags for all home countries of current employees. Pictured left to right, front row, are Tori Cuddy, Lisa Sonne, Scott Cochran, Tricia Szulewski, and Clement Salvadori; and, second row, Nicole Elliott and Wayne Newton. (Photos courtesy ORCVB)
North American journalists experience adventure in America’s Secret City
Travel writers from across North America were in Oak Ridge on Thursday, researching interesting stories to help promote tourism to the area. With a focus on outdoor adventure and heritage tourism, the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development partnered with the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau, along with surrounding tourism organizations, to host the group.
The team of 17 journalists spent the first day of spring with local experts in heritage tourism and outdoor recreation. Each writer had the opportunity to ask many questions while experiencing both the natural beauty of Oak Ridge and the importance the city plays in scientific and technological discovery. Due to the excellent presentations given at each of the stops on the tour, all journalists left with a newfound love and appreciation for the exciting tourism opportunities Oak Ridge has to offer.
“Working with our partners in the capital and around East Tennessee helps Oak Ridge leverage our exposure in larger markets and reach out to broader audiences,†said Katy Brown, executive director of the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We rely heavily on our tourism partners in Oak Ridge as we roll out the red carpet for these visiting writers.†[Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau and Welcome Center will be closed until noon Wednesday because of a water outage scheduled by the city and because the parking lot will be blocked for utility work for the nearby Kroger Marketplace shopping center.
Oak Ridge officials have announced that a short stretch of Robertsville Road between Oak Ridge Turnpike and Raleigh Road will be closed from Wednesday to Friday for the underground utility work. The entrance to ORCVB is in that road section.
The street closure is subject to weather that could cause a delay in the work, a city press release said.
