Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridger wins Paul Bryant Alumni-Athlete Award

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On Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016, Jack Bailey of Oak Ridge and Demeco Ryans of Bessemer, Ala., received the University of Alabama’s Paul W. Bryant Alumni-Athlete Award during halftime of the Crimson Tide’s first home game against Western Kentucky. (Submitted photo)

 

On Saturday, September 10, Jack Bailey of Oak Ridge and Demeco Ryans of Bessemer, Alabama, received the University of Alabama’s Paul W. Bryant Alumni-Athlete Award during halftime of the Crimson Tide’s first home game against Western Kentucky.

The award, presented by the University of Alabama National Alumni Association, was bestowed on the two men at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

Bailey, past district governor of Rotary District 6780 (which has 3,200 Rotarians in 65 clubs in East Tennessee) and a graduate of Oak Ridge High School, is the first male track and field athlete to receive the award in its 29-year history.

Ryans played football for the Crimson Tide from 2002 to 2005 and in the NFL for 10 years.

The award honors them for “their exceptional accomplishments regarding character, contributions to society, professional achievements, and service to their fellowman.” Past recipients include Bart Starr, Ozzie Newsome, Lee Roy Jordan, Bill Battle, Mal Moore, Joe Namath, and Sylvester Croom Jr. [Read more…]

Street Painting Festival on Oct. 1 seeks artists, sponsors

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2014 Owl Chalk Painting

A winning chalk painting at the 14th annual Oak Ridge Street Painting Festival, held in October 2014 at the Oak Ridge Branch Campus of Roane State Community College. (Submitted photo)

 

Do you enjoy drawing upon your artistic skills as you sketch a face, animal, or colorful scene? Then you might like “painting” pictures in chalk on a sidewalk.

You are invited to sign up as an artist for the 16th annual Oak Ridge Street Painting Festival. The festival showcases the talents of artists of all ages and provides a fun time for the community.

This popular event will be held from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, October 1, on the sidewalks of the Oak Ridge Branch Campus of Roane State Community College. (The rain day will be Sunday.) Artists may start their chalk paintings on Friday afternoon, September 30.

The art must be completed at 4 p.m. Saturday, October 1, so it can be judged before 6 p.m., when artist awards will be announced. If you win a first prize or the People’s Choice Award, you will receive a $50 cash award as well as recognition.

The festival is organized and hosted by the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge. Its purpose is to raise funds for scholarships for students at Roane State Community College. [Read more…]

Golf tourney on Sept. 23 to support Scarboro community garden

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The Rotary Club of Oak Ridge is hosting a Golf Classic tournament at Centennial Golf Course on Friday, September 23, to raise money to build a community garden in the Scarboro community in Oak Ridge. (Photo via Rotary Club of Oak Ridge on Facebook)

 

The Rotary Club of Oak Ridge is hosting a Golf Classic tournament on Friday, September 23, to raise money to build a community garden in the Scarboro community in Oak Ridge.

The Rotary Golf Classic will have a shotgun start at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, September 23, at the Centennial Golf Course off Edgemoor Road.

Here’s the rest of the schedule:

  • Registration begins at 11:30 a.m.
  • A putting contest will be held at 12:30 p.m.
  • Awards will be announced at 6 p.m.

[Read more…]

Sponsored: Tennessee Credit Union Hall of Fame inducts two retired CEOs from local credit unions

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Tom Hilton and Wayne Hope

Tom Hilton, left, retired CEO of Y-12 FCU, and Wayne Hope, retired CEO of Enrichment Federal Credit Union, were inducted into the TN Credit Union Hall of Fame. (Submitted photo)

 

Created jointly by Volunteer Corporate Credit Union and the Tennessee Credit Union League, the Tennessee Credit Union Hall of Fame recognizes the valuable leadership and contributions of credit union people in the state of Tennessee. Beginning in 2010, the Tennessee Credit Union Hall of Fame has recognized the commitment, leadership, and service deserving individuals have made to the credit union movement.

The judges considered the following criteria when making their selection:

  • Years of service to the credit union system;
  • Positions of leadership on the state, local, or national level;
  • Demonstrated commitment to the credit union philosophy and services; and
  • Credit union system educational accomplishments and support.

The two 2016 inductees into the Tennessee Credit Union Hall of Fame both reside in the East Tennessee region. This year’s awards were given to Tom Hilton, retired chief executive officer of Y-12 Federal Credit Union, and M. Wayne Hope, retired CEO of Enrichment Federal Credit Union. Both recipients have lived their lives and modeled to others the credit union difference of “People Helping People.” [Read more…]

Two ORHS seniors win Brad Sturm scholarships

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Sean Badurina, Mel Sturm, and Jade Lesher

Sean Badurina and Jade Lesher are winners of the Brad Sturm Memorial Scholarships established by businessman Mel Sturm (center). (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Schools)

 

Sean Badurina and Jade Lesher, two seniors at Oak Ridge High School, were selected by the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge as recipients of the Brad Sturm Memorial Scholarships for 2016.

Sean, who likes to build machines and take them apart to see how they work, said he plans to attend the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and major in mechanical engineering.

Jade, president of the ORHS drama club with eight years of theater experience and section leader in the marching band, plans to attend UT in Knoxville and major in political science.

To qualify for the scholarships, first established 40 years ago by 92-year-old businessman Mel Sturm, ORHS students this year had to read Larry Arnn’s 2015 book “Churchill’s Trial: Winston Churchill and the Salvation of Free Government.” [Read more…]

Artists ‘chalk the walks’ Saturday for scholarships for Roane State students

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Blue Phantom

A sidewalk chalk painting from the 2014 Street Painting Festival. (Submitted photo)

 

The 16th annual Oak Ridge Street Painting Festival is drawing near—it will be held from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, October 3 (rain day on Sunday), at the Oak Ridge Campus, Roane State Community College.

Dozens of artists will be brushing up on their skills as they bring colorful faces and scenes to concrete sidewalk squares using free art supplies. Would-be Rembrandts will “paint” with chalk the squares that sponsors “purchase” by writing checks.

You, too, can write a check to the Roane State Foundation to fund scholarships for RSCC students. These students have been out of high school for a few years and are not eligible for Tennessee Promise scholarships.

The public is invited to this free festival organized by the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge in conjunction with Roane State. [Read more…]

Street Painting Festival on Oct. 3 at Roane State in Oak Ridge

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Love Reject

In 2014, Ouita Northcutt received the People’s Choice Award and first-place award in the professional artists category for her chalk painting on love and rejection at the Oak Ridge Street Painting Festival. (Submitted photo)

 

Artists of all ages and abilities, it’s time to “talk the talk, then chalk the walk.”

And you folks who wish to help people in their 20s who otherwise cannot afford to go to college without a scholarship are encouraged to “write checks for chalk art” as sponsors to make our workforce smarter.

Artists are encouraged to invite your artist friends to the Roane State Community College campus in Oak Ridge to showcase your talents for free while helping others get an education.

Artists and sponsors are needed for the 16th annual Oak Ridge Street Painting Festival, which will be held on Saturday, October 3, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the sidewalks of the RSCC Oak Ridge campus on Briarcliff Road. The rain date is October 4. [Read more…]

Highway should be renamed Oak Ridge Corridor, Alexander says

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

The highway that runs from Oak Ridge to the Knoxville airport should be renamed the Oak Ridge Corridor, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander said Thursday.

The highway starts in Oak Ridge as South Illinois Avenue, and it turns into Pellissippi Parkway.

Alexander, a former Tennessee governor, said he wants to give the area a signature like Research Triangle in North Carolina or Silicon Valley in California.

“I can think of no better calling card for a job recruiter than to be able to go anywhere in the world and say, ‘I’m from the Oak Ridge Corridor,'” the Tennessee Republican said in a press release after speaking to Rotary members at the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge. “In Anderson, Roane, and Knox counties, more than 40,000 people have graduate or professional degrees. This includes 1,600 scientists and engineers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, more than 1,000 PhDs at the University of Tennessee, and hundreds of engineers at Tennessee Valley Authority and at Y-12 National Security Complex. We are in the middle of one of our country’s most formidable concentrations of brainpower.” [Read more…]

Alexander to visit Oak Ridge, Knoxville, Johnson City this week

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander will visit Oak Ridge, Knoxville, and Johnson City this week. The senator’s stops on Thursday include the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Manufacturing Demonstration Facility on Cherahala Boulevard in Knoxville and the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge.

The visits start at the Johnson City on Wednesday, where Alexander will deliver remarks at the Upper East Tennessee Chamber Luncheon and will be presented with the Spirit of Enterprise Award, which recognizes members of Congress who consistently cast votes that help businesses create jobs, a press release said.

Also Wednesday, the senator will visit Rocky Fork to commemorate the completion of efforts to protect the largest unprotected tract of land in the Southern Appalachians, the press release said. The Conservation Fund, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation will host the event to celebrate the final transfer of land for inclusion into the Cherokee National Forest. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Rotary Club helps hometown, the world

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Elaine Bunick and Adolf King and Ghanaians

Elaine Bunick and Adolf King, members of Rotary Club of Oak Ridge, are pictured with Ghanaians in the village where they led the medical and educational missions. (Submitted photo)

 

The Rotary Club of Oak Ridge is helping its hometown and communities in the world.

The club contributed $2,500, which was matched by a Rotary District 6780 grant, yielding $5,000 that financed the renovation of a room in the Oak Ridge Boys and Girls Club building. Anne Dunthorn, the club secretary and grant writer, helped Jennifer Pettyjohn, the chief and special officer of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Clinch Valley, identify a District 6780 matching grant and prepare and submit the winning application.

Elaine Bunick, club member and endocrinologist in Oak Ridge, spearheaded the successful medical and educational mission in late July in the eastern African nation of Ghana. More than 1,800 patients in the village of Nkonya-Wurupong received medical treatment and used, or will use when needed, $250,000 worth of anti-malarial and other medications. [Read more…]

Three ORHS seniors win Brad Sturm scholarships

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Brad Sturm Scholarship Winners

Two Rotarians and the winners of the Bradley Sturm Memorial Scholarships are, from left, Barry Stephenson, chair of the Brad Sturm scholarship selection committee, Rotary Club of Oak Ridge; Diane “Grace” Malone; Megan Pitz; Holly Gubanc; and Mel Sturm, scholarship sponsor. (Submitted photo)

 

The three Oak Ridge High School seniors who won the Bradley Sturm Memorial Scholarships for 2015 are Holly Gubanc, Diane “Grace” Malone, and Megan Pitz.

Mel Sturm, a local businessman for years, said he started the endowment for the scholarship fund in 1976 for two reasons. He wanted to give back to the community that had supported his businesses. And he was determined to combat the tendency of Oak Ridge students, many of whom have parents who work for the federal government or government contractors, to view “free enterprise” and the “profit motive” with suspicion.

The scholarship program is administered by a Rotary Club of Oak Ridge committee consisting of Barry Stephenson, chair, and Jim Sumner, Larry Beeman, Jim Charles, Hal Schmitt, and Mel Sturm. ORHS economics teachers Beverly Baumann and Teresa Seals play key roles in the program. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge dragon boat festival expected to grow

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Mark Watson and Penny Behling at Dragon Boat Festival

Penny Behling, CEO of Dynamic Dragon Boat Racing, makes an announcement before the races begin at the Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Festival last May. Looking on is City Manager Mark Watson, then president of the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge, which initiated the festival. (Submitted photo)

 

Submitted

Penny Behling wants you to have fun on Saturday, May 30, at the Oak Ridge waterfront, and help raise funds to support the good works of the people of Oak Ridge.

She wants you to be safe as a member of a dragon boat team, and she is sure that you will meet new people, make new friends, build self-confidence, and contribute to your team and the community’s well-being.

Behling is the chief executive officer and owner (with her husband Chris) of Dynamic Dragon Boat Racing LLC of Knoxville. She will be the race director of the second annual Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Festival, which is again being launched by the three Rotary clubs of Oak Ridge.

Dynamic was the race director of last year’s inaugural festival, which attracted an estimated 5,000 people and a media team that broadcast the Oak Ridge races to a television network in Beijing, China, which has an audience of a billion people. [Read more…]