The City of Oak Ridge

Oak Ridge is a city of about 27,000 in east Tennessee, about 25 miles northwest of Knoxville. In 1942, the United States Federal Government chose the area as a site for developing materials for the Manhattan Project. Maj. Gen. Leslie Groves, military head of the Manhattan Project, liked the area for several reasons. Its relatively low population made acquisition affordable, yet the area was accessible by both highway and rail, and utilities such as water and electricity were readily available due to the recent completion of Norris Dam. With Tennessee's history as a right-to-work state, Union rules or civilian wage issues were virtually non-existent. Finally, the project location was established within a 17-mile (27-km) long valley, and the valley itself was linear and partitioned by several ridges, providing natural protection against disasters between the four major industrial plants -- so they wouldn't blow up "like firecrackers on a string".
Today, Oak Ridge is a wonderful place to work, live and raise a family. The cost of living is low while the quality of life is high. The school system is second to none. There are many things to see and do in Oak Ridge: The American Museum of Science and Energy, The Children's Museum of Oak Ridge, The UT Arboretum, and the Secret City Scenic Excursion Train are but a few places of interest.
Oak Ridge has an abundance of outdoor activities as well. There are miles of greenways in the city and multiple parks. Oak Ridgers enjoy rowing, mountain biking, hiking, fishing, sport shooting and swimming all within the city limits.

Interesting Facts About Oak Ridge

Secret City Festival in Top 100 Events in North America

The American Bus Association (ABA) announced that the Secret City Festival has been designated as one of the Top 100 Events in North America for 2009.Peter Pantuso, CEO of the ABA explained why this honor is so important.“The real news here is that the Secret City Festival has been recognized as a potential magnet for tourism dollars, at a time when re-energizing domestic tourism is so important to our spirit and our economy. The honor gives Oak Ridge an important boost in visibility among professional tour planners.”The entire article can be read int he Observer at http://www.oakridgeobserver.com/archives08/September%2011,%202008We can draw some important lessons from this selection.

First- If we can identify the national level organizations and awards that pertain to our area of interest, we can work to gain the national level recognition that the Secret City Festival has gotten. The ORRA has been somewhat successful in this, leading to the Atomic Rowing Youth club being invited to the Head of the Charles Regatta (http://www.oakridger.com/sports/x1729991775/Atomic-Rowing-honored-with-prestigious-invitation).

Second- Publicize the accomplishment beyond the boundaries of Oak Ridge. Spend some money and place the news in national level publications. Post a video on one of the social networking sites. Use viral (word of mouth) marketing to get the word out that Oak Ridge is a premier location for your activity. Blog about the success :)

Finally- Don't rest on your laurels. Try to do better next week, month, or year. Our Secret City Festival ought to be in the Top 10 in three years.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Trail run, bike race this weekend

There is lots happening in the human power arena this weekedn in Oak Ridge. See the article in the Oak Ridger at http://www.oakridger.com/homepage/x640872182/Trail-run-bike-race-this-weekend Excerpt from the article below.

By John Huotari | john.huotari@oakridger.com

The Oak Ridger

Posted Aug 21, 2009 @ 09:00 AM

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. —

Originally, this weekend's "human-powered" sports events were supposed to include the USA Canoe Kayak Sprint National Championships on Melton Hill Lake, as well as a a trail run and bicycle race in Oak Ridge.

"We were trying to put together a big event," said Carl Sexton, president of the Roadkill Running Club, the organization hosting a Hot Trails 6K at Haw Ridge Park on Sunday.

However, the canoe and kayak races have been moved, apparently to Lake Lanier, Ga., according to a notice posted on the USA Canoe Kayak Web site.

But there is still the trail-running event, which begins 2 p.m. Sunday, as well as the Oak Ridge Velo Classic.

Friday, July 17, 2009

ORSA hosts USRowing Club National Championship

ORSA is hosting the USRowing Club National Championship July 15-19 at Melton Hill Lake. They need some volunteers so head down to the lake and pitch in.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Get Your Secret City Festival Tickets now

You can get your tickets to the Secret City Festival entertainment. Tickets are $12 now and $15 after June 13. See the article in the Oak Ridger for the rest of the information.

Tickets on sale for Secret City entertainment

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Secret City Go is an excellent resource

John Huotari has an excellent blog called SecretCityGo, Things to do in Oak Ridge. I recommend it for those wanting up to date news about happenings around town. Good job John.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Secret City Sounds debuts

This is a great idea. This free rock concert coincided with a regatta and a road race. Good planning or good luck. Very nice. The article from the Oak Ridger is below.

SHAZAM! City launches new, free concert series Saturday

By John Huotari john.huotari@oakridger.com
The Oak Ridger
Posted Apr 13, 2009 @ 09:00 AM
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. —
A new, free summer musical concert series begins in Oak Ridge this week.The five-concert series, dubbed "Secret City Sounds," kicks off 7 p.m. Saturday, April 18, at the Bissell Park pavilion with a Nashville rock band called The Shazam.
Other concerts are scheduled for May, July and August, said Joye Montgomery, executive director of the Arts Council of Oak Ridge. Her organization is working on the concert series under contract with the city.Montgomery said the concerts will feature a variety of musical acts -- possibly including bluegrass, jazz and country bands -- designed to appeal to all ages and groups."We don't want to stick with a certain genre," she said.
Beverages will be available and food could be also, Montgomery said.She said city officials hope to use the event to market local musical talent as well as the city of Oak Ridge, kind of like Knoxville does with its summertime "Sundown in the City" series.Montgomery said the local concert series was an idea pushed by Oak Ridge City Manager Jim O'Connor."We heard from a lot of our residents that it would be nice to have some concerts in the area," O'Connor said. "What I'm trying to do is have people take advantage of the facilities that we have in our community (including the pavilion and the city's waterfront).
"There will also be a rowing competition, or regatta, in Oak Ridge the weekend of April 18, and event organizers are hoping to give the rowers something to do on Saturday night.

The rest of the article can be found at

http://www.oakridger.com/archive/x180636530/SHAZAM-City-launches-new-free-concert-series-Saturday

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Dodgeball in Oak Ridge

This is a great article by Tank Johnson in the Oak Ridger.

You can’t dodge the diversity
Tank Talk

By Tank Johnson tank.johnson@oakridger.com
The Oak Ridger
Posted Mar 08, 2009 @ 06:22 PM
Last update Mar 08, 2009 @ 06:25 PM
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. —
Like most in Oak Ridge, I had a big case of spring fever this past weekend so my son and I hit the parks and enjoyed some beautiful weather.
One of our favorite play areas is the one available behind the Civic Center, so that was one of our destinations this past Saturday. We decided to go inside to watch some of the Teen Dodgeball Tournament, which was put on by the City of Oak Ridge Youth Advisory Board.
Being someone who enjoys athletics, and also being a parent, the diversity of Oak Ridge has always amazed me, with so many different things to do. You can go to one end of the city and watch rowing, hit the middle of town for tennis galore, then take part in basketball, swimming and numerous other activities at the Civic Center. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, you have the cycling, running, youth sports, bowling, golf … whew, I am tired now.Oak Ridge has it all, literally.
The rest of the article here.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Oak Ridge schools' student art exhibit opens Friday

From the Oak Ridger:

By Kay Brookshire
Special to the Oak Ridger
Posted Mar 04, 2009 @ 08:35 PM
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. —
"Through the Visions of Children," an art exhibit by students from kindergarten through 12th-grade in the Oak Ridge schools, opens Friday, at the Children's Museum of Oak Ridge. About 180 works of art by the students will be on exhibit.The opening reception for the artists will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday in the Imagination Gallery at the Children's Museum, 461 West Outer Drive. Each of the school system's art teachers has submitted up to 20 pieces of art, and the show will have artwork from students at each grade level.

View rest of article here.

TEAM OAK RIDGE