Three students and schools have had their art work selected for the ORNL Federal Credit Union’s Community Art and Mural Program.
Introduced in 2017, the Community Art and Mural Program was created to support initiatives that make the arts accessible to all and help our communities thrive. The 2024 mural theme was “new beginnings,” a press release said.
“Congratulations to the following students and schools,” the press release said:
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Progressive bluegrass musician Sam Bush will headline ORNL Federal Credit Union’s second Summer Sessions concert in Oak Ridge on Saturday, July 8. North Carolina-based Yarn will open for Bush. The concert is free.
Bush is from Bowling Green, Kentucky, but he is not your traditional bluegrass musician, a press release said.
“Popularly known as the King of New Grass, he bought his first mandolin at the age of 11, and by the time he was a teenager, he was a champion fiddler,” the press release said. “Bush knew early on that traditional country or bluegrass was not the music he wanted to play. He incorporates a variety of genres into his songs and his style is sometimes shunned by traditionalists, but welcomed by ‘long-hairs and hippies.'”
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Tim O’Brien will kick off ORNL Federal Credit Union’s Summer Sessions concert series in Oak Ridge on Saturday, June 10. Opening for Tim O’Brien will be the Po’ Ramblin Boys, who were a crowd favorite during the 2021 series, a press release said.
O’Brien is based in Nashville. He is a Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, and a lifelong devotee of bluegrass music with more than 40 years in the industry, the press release said. He started touring nationally in 1978 with Colorado bluegrass band Hot Rize, and his songs “Walk the Way the Wind Blows†and “Untold Stories†were bluegrass hits for Hot Rize, and country hits for Kathy Mattea. Artists like Nickel Creek, Garth Brooks, and The Dixie Chicks have covered O’Brien’s songs, and over the years, he has collaborated with his sister Mollie O’Brien, songwriter Darrell Scott, and noted old-time musician Dirk Powell, as well as with Steve Earle, Mark Knopfler, Dan Auerbach, and Sturgill Simpson.
O’Brien’s skills on guitar, mandolin, fiddle, and banjo make him an in-demand session player, the press release said. The International Bluegrass Music Association awarded him song of the year in 2006 and named him best male vocalist in 1993 and 2006. He was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2013 and into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame in 2022. Notable O’Brien recordings include the bluegrass Dylan covers of “Red on Blonde,†the Celtic-Appalachian fusion of “The Crossing,†and the Grammy winning folk of “Fiddler’s Green.” His duet recording “Real Time†with Darrell Scott is a cult favorite, the press release said, and he won a bluegrass Grammy as part of “The Earls of Leicester.â€
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ORNL Federal Credit Union has announced the lineup for its annual Summer Sessions concert series in Oak Ridge and Kingston. This year’s free concert series will again feature bluegrass and Americana bands from throughout the region, a press release said.
Summer Sessions is open to the public and will kick off in May and continue through August. Concerts will be held at the pavilion in Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge and at The Amphitheater at Fort Southwest Point in Kingston.
Here is the lineup:
[Read more…]ORNL Federal Credit Union President and Chief Executive Officer Colin Anderson plans to retire September 30. Anderson has been president and CEO since July 2015, and he has informed the ORNL FCU Board of Directors and employees of his intention to retire.
The board has hired D. Hilton Associates of The Woodlands, Texas, to lead the executive search efforts, a press release said.
“The credit union consulting firm is an industry leader in executive search recruitment,” the press release said. “Anderson will work with D. Hilton and the ORNL FCU Board on a smooth transition of leadership.”
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The 2021 Street Painting Festival, hosted by the Noon Rotary Club of Oak Ridge, is in the books having raised more than $14,000 to help fund scholarships for Roane State Community College students in Anderson County.
Held in Oak Ridge’s Historic Jackson Square each October, the festival blends art, history, and community for a fun event in support of local students. Nearly $300,000 in scholarships issued by the nonprofit Roane State Foundation have been provided since the start of the festival in 1999, a press release said.
Festival sponsors make a tax-exempt donation to the Foundation, with levels ranging from $5,000 for Platinum down to $100 for Individual. Sponsors’ names are assigned to sidewalk squares upon which the artists then paint pictures with chalk. Materials and Chemistry Laboratory Inc. once again sponsored the event at the Platinum Level. 2021 marked the 20th consecutive year of festival sponsorship for the company.
[Read more…]Bluegrass group The SteelDrivers will perform at a free concert in Oak Ridge on Saturday.
It’s the last Summer Sessions concert of 2021, and the show is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Saturday, October 23, in the pavilion at Alvin K. Bissell Park.
The opening band will be Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper.
The concert series is sponsored by ORNL Federal Credit Union.
The SteelDrivers are based in Nashville and known for their dynamic songwriting and eclectic shows, a press release said. Current band members include Tammy Rogers on fiddle, Mike Fleming on bass, Kelvin Damrell on guitar and vocals, Brent Truitt on mandolin, and Richard Bailey on banjo.
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A bluegrass group, Songs From the Road Band, will headline a concert in Oak Ridge on Saturday.
It’s the third Summer Sessions concert this year sponsored by ORNL Federal Credit Union.
The opening group at the concert on Saturday will be Grassroots Gringos, a bluegrass band based in Knoxville, a press release said.
Songs From the Road Band is from Asheville, North Carolina. They are known for their lively and exciting shows, which are often compared to the thrill and spontaneity of a NASCAR race, the press release said. The group features Mark Schmick (mandolin), Charles Humphrey III (bass), Sam Wharton (guitar), James Schlender (fiddle), and Gabe Epstein (banjo). With six albums under their belt, their most recent single “Amarillo Blue†topped the Bluegrass Today Grassicana chart earlier this summer, the press release said.
The Summer Sessions concerts start this summer with a performance by Sierra Hull in Oak Ridge on Saturday.
Hull, a native of Byrdstown, Tennessee, is an accomplished singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist who made her first Opry appearance at the age of 10, a press release said. Her vocal debut album, “Secrets,” was released in 2008 and peaked at number two on the Billboard Top Bluegrass Albums chart. Hull has received numerous International Bluegrass Music Association nominations and received the Bluegrass Star Award presented by the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation in 2013, the press release said.
Opening for Hull will be The Po’ Ramblin Boys, a bluegrass band formed in the Great Smoky Mountains.
All Summer Sessions concerts are free and will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. at the pavilion in Alvin K. Bissell Park at 1401 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge. The concerts are sponsored by ORNL Federal Credit Union.
[Read more…]The Summer Sessions concert series produced by ORNL Federal Credit Union will return this summer after being canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The free concert series will kick off in July and continue through October, a press release said. It will feature bluegrass and Americana bands from throughout the region.
The first show will be held on Saturday, July 17, and it will feature Sierra Hull and Justin Moses. Hull, a native of Byrdstown, Tennessee, is an accomplished singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist who made her Opry debut at the age of 10, the press release said. Hull is married to and currently tours with Moses, a former member of Ricky Skaggs’ band, Kentucky Thunder. Opening for Hull and Moses will be The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, a bluegrass band formed in the Great Smoky Mountains.
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Murals celebrating nature, diversity, history, and outdoor activities have been painted on or near several Oak Ridge buildings, including at the boathouse and at ORNL Federal Credit Union.
Three murals have been painted near the ORNL Federal Credit Union headquarters on Rutgers Avenue. Another mural has been painted on the Oak Ridge Rowing Association boathouse at Melton Lake Park.
A fifth mural is being painted on an ORNL Federal Credit Union building on West Tennessee Avenue.
The first three murals painted at the credit union headquarters building on Rutgers Avenue were designed by students at Oak Ridge High School, Jefferson Middle School, and Willow Brook Elementary School, according to JMS art teacher Jim Dodson, who is also an Oak Ridge City Council member. The murals were created by Bryan Wilkerson, art professor at Roane State Community College. For their work, each of the schools received a $500 contribution to their art departments, and the students received a cash award, Dodson said.
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ORNL Federal Credit Union recently announced that the Anderson County Family Justice Center would lease office space in its building located on Broadway Avenue in Oak Ridge. The credit union also underwrote a number of improvements to make the space more conducive to the nonprofit’s needs, a press release said.
In July 2019, the Anderson County Family Justice Center was created by a state-funded grant aimed at helping to combat child abuse, domestic abuse, and elder abuse, the press release said. There are a total of 13 centers throughout the state. The organization’s purpose is to provide a safe, convenient location to help victims of abuse break the cycle of violence and become thriving survivors.
The Anderson County Family Justice Center partners with 15 local organizations—such as Helen Ross McNabb, YWCA Knoxville and the Tennessee Valley, Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, and the Seventh Judicial District Attorney General’s office in Anderson County—to offer free and confidential resources to victims, the press release said. The types of services offered include law enforcement, mental health, legal assistance, and temporary housing.
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