Oak Ridge Today

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…]

Kids Day at the Oak Ridge Farmers’ Market on Saturday

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Kids Day at the Oak Ridge Farmers Market

Photo by East Tennessee Farmers Association for Retail Marketing

 

Don’t miss Kids Day at the Oak Ridge Farmers Market in Jackson Square this week. This free event on Saturday, May 23, will feature live farm animals, crafts, games, music, and a chef at the Market offering samples of the season’s best produce.

Kids Day activities are from 9-11:30 a.m., while the market is open 8 a.m.–noon. The highlight of the morning is a kids FARM Market Scavenger Hunt. Children will hunt for live farm animals and other interesting items brought by the farmers from their homes. Among the items they’re bringing are small farm animals, beekeeping gear, a sheep fleece, an anvil, and more!

Entertaining songs for kids and kids-at-heart will be provided by Tom Beehan, banjo player and former mayor of Oak Ridge, and several of his musical friends.

Children will have a chance to learn about healthy eating with a “My Plate” craft activity led by Anne Brock, author of the popular blog FlourSackMama.com. [Read more…]

Enjoy Ridge City Ramblers, strawberries at Farmers Market

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Ridge City Ramblers

The Ridge City Ramblers will play at the Oak Ridge Farmers Market in Jackson Square on Saturday. The Ridge City Ramblers are, from left, Gary Coleman, Mary Tuskan, Scott Linn, Abbie Hoerner, Tom Beehan, and Steve Reddick. (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge Farmers Market is hosting The Ridge City Ramblers in concert this Saturday (May 16). The concert is free, and it’s scheduled from 9-11 a.m. in the middle of the market.

Plus, it’s strawberry time in Tennessee! Locally grown, just-picked berries are plentiful this week in the market, which is open Saturdays from 8 a.m.-noon and Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m. in Jackson Square.

On May 23, the Oak Ridge Farmers Market will host its first ever Kids Day, a free event featuring live farm animals, crafts, games, and music for children.

Photos: Farmers Market, UT Arboretum Society Plant Sale

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Farmers Market Opening

The Oak Ridge Farmers Market opened on Saturday, April 18. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

The Oak Ridge Farmers Market opened for the season on Saturday, April 18. Its the market’s 39th season.

The market will be open from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays in Historic Jackson Square. It will also be open on Wednesdays beginning May 6.

Here’s what’s new at the market this year: [Read more…]

East Tennessee FARM Markets opening soon

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East TN Farmers Association Logo

East Tennessee Farmers Association for Retail Marketing, or FARM, a nonprofit organization, is pleased to announce the opening of its 39th season of farmers’ markets in East Tennessee, in three convenient locations in Knoxville and Oak Ridge. Established in 1976, FARM is Tennessee’s longest continuously operating farmers’ market organization.

“We are proud to offer this service to the Knoxville-Oak Ridge community,” said Steve Colvin, president of East TN FARM. “Our membership typically includes about 70 producer-vendors, offering more than 100 different Tennessee grown products from April through November.”

FARM vendors will offer a wide variety of spring bedding plants, fresh produce, grass-fed and pasture-raised meats, artisan bread and cheese, local honey, and fresh eggs. As the season goes on, they offer the freshest produce possible, including just-picked strawberries, peaches, sweet corn, and heirloom tomatoes. [Read more…]

Star Farm co-owner to discuss ‘Farm to Table’ movement

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Kellye Wilson

Kellye Wilson

Kellye Wilson, co-owner of Star Farm in Anderson County, will discuss the “Farm to Table” movement and the trend toward organically grown produce during a Wednesday presentation in Oak Ridge.

Wilson will be the featured speaker at a Wednesday luncheon meeting of the Altrusa Club of Oak Ridge. That meeting on Wednesday, March 25, will be at the DoubleTree Hotel.

The title of Wilson’s presentation will be “Farm to Table: Support your Local Farmer.” [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Farmers Market opens April 18

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East TN Farmers Association Logo

The Oak Ridge Farmers Market opens for its 39th season in Historic Jackson Square on Saturday, April 18.

The market will be open from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.

The market will also be open on Wednesdays beginning May 6.

Here’s what’s new at the market this year:

  • Senior Day every Wednesday! Seniors over the age of 60 get 5 percent off their purchases at the Oak Ridge Farmers’ Market.
  • FARM Fan Club—Members receive text reminders and shopping rewards. To sign up, visit the website at www.EastTNFarmMarkets.org.
  • Kids’ Day, May 23, from 9-­11:30 a.m., with live farm animals, crafts, games, and a FARM scavenger hunt for children ages 5 to 12!

The Oak Ridge Farmers’ Market will also host live music and workshops on topics such as herb gardening and composting all summer long. [Read more…]

Remembered as a model community volunteer, Myrick died Sunday

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Tim and Teresa Myrick with ADFAC Bow Tie Award

Tim Myrick, left, received the 2014 Bill Wilcox Bow Tie Award from ADFAC on Oct. 30. Pictured with Myrick at Y-12’s New Hope Center is his wife Teresa. (Photo courtesy ADFAC)

Note: This story was last updated at 3:30 p.m.

Tim Myrick, one of the area’s most active community volunteers, died Sunday morning. He was at home with his wife Teresa by his side.

Friends are remembering him as a model community leader and volunteer. Myrick, who had been battling prostate cancer, had provided decades of service to the church and to Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties, or ADFAC, as well as to Habitat for Humanity of Anderson County. He played a key role in the renovation of Oak Ridge High School and modernization work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In 2012, he and Teresa pledged $25,000 to the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation’s “Making the Critical Difference” campaign for grants and scholarships.

“We sure lost a strong advocate for our community,” said friend D. Ray Smith, who serves on both the ADFAC and Habitat for Humanity boards. [Read more…]

Wednesday session of Oak Ridge Farmers Market starts today

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The Oak Ridge Farmers Market has already opened for the season on Saturday mornings, and starting today, the market will also be open on Wednesday afternoons.

The farmers market, one of the oldest continuously operating markets in Tennessee, is in the parking lot just north of Jackson Square. Vendors sell locally grown produce, meats, honey, eggs, plants, and flowers.

[Read more…]