Clinton, Norris, Oak Ridge and Rocky Top gear up for July 4 celebrations
by G. Chambers Williams III
Norris will again have a fireworks display on July 4 to cap the annual Norris Day events. This was the scene in front of the Norris Post Office during the fireworks display last year on July 4. - G. Chambers Williams III
July 4 is less than a month away, and local communities are well into planning special activities in observance of Independence Day, considered to be the birthday of the United States of America.
Clinton, Norris, Rocky Top and Oak Ridge all have celebrations lined up, and some begin as early as 8:30 a.m., the start of the Firecracker 4K and 1K Fun Runs in Norris, and a collector car show at 9 a.m. in Rocky Top.
For Norris, it’s a particularly special time as the city that owes its existence to the creation of the nearby Norris Dam holds its annual Norris Day celebration.
It’s a daylong series of events that concludes – as most of the cities’ celebrations will – with fireworks displays just after dark.
In Clinton, the July 4 celebration begins at 5 p.m. at Lakefront Park. There will be inflatables for kids, a petting zoo, ax throwing, a game truck and more.
The fireworks will be at 10 p.m. from just across the Clinch River from Lakefront Park.
Oak Ridge will host a free concert at 7:30 p.m. at A.K. Bissell Park, followed by fireworks around 9:45 p.m.
A worker from Delgado Pool Plaster pressure washes the walls of the new pool at Jaycee Park as plaster work continues. - Tony Cox
As summer heats up, the renovated pool and new splash pad at Cinton’s Jaycee Park are still not ready.
Taylor Cullison, the city’s special-event manager, said the original plan was to open the pool in late May.
But due to 20 days of rain, the city has “no firm date” on when to open, nor any firm plans for a grand opening event, she said.
She also said supply-chain issues slowed the project down as well. The city broke ground in spring 2023 after starting the grant process in 2020.
The pool, in Jaycee Park off Nave Street, has been closed since the end of the 2019 season. It did not re-open in 2020 due to a combination of leaks discovered in the 2019 summer and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rocky Top celebrates Arbor Day and seventh year as Tree City USA
by G. Chambers Williams III
Students from Lake City Elementary School take part in the recent Arbor Day program at the Rocky Top Public Library. - G. Chambers Williams III
Rocky Top recently celebrated Arbor Day 2025 and its status as a “Tree City USA) with a special program at the Rocky Top Public Library led by students from Lake City Elementary School.
In 2018, Rocky Top became yet another Tennessee community to be recognized as a “Tree City USA,” and the City Council during its February meeting approved Mayor Kerry Templin’s proclamation of Arbor Day 2025.
The Arbor Day program was supposed to be held at the library on March 28, but had to be postponed because of a wildfire the city was fighting on that day, which required assistance of most first responders in the area, and even the Tennessee National Guard and its firefighting helicopters.
The Clinton Splash Pad will be one of several locations offering free summer meals for children in Clinton, Oak Ridge and Oliver Springs this month.
Oak Ridge Schools has partnered with Southwest Food Excellence to provide free, healthy lunches for children under 18, Monday through Friday, from June 2 through June 27, according to a news release.
Meal sites include:
• Clinton Splash Pad, 110 S. Charles G. Seivers Blvd., 2:15-3:15 p.m.
• Oak Ridge High School café, 1450 Oak Ridge Turnpike, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
• The Blossom Center, 280 Royce Circle, Oak Ridge, 10:30-11 a.m.
• Oliver Springs Library, 610 Walker Ave., 11:30 a.m.-noon
• Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool, 172 Providence Road, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Meals will be served from the ETHRA Sunshine Bus to improve community access to nutritious food.
“This program ensures that children have access to healthy, balanced meals during the summer when school breakfast and lunch programs are not available,” the release stated.
“We’re committed to supporting our students and families year-round,” said Kristina Barnard, SFE general manager. “This partnership helps ensure no child goes hungry when school is out.”
Gwen Cole, president of Clinch River Quilts of Valor, presents to Tennessee Commissioner of Veterans Services Tommy H. Baker a quilt in recognition of his service. Baker retired from the Tennessee National Guard with 41 years of service prior to his role as commissioner, and was the special guest speaker at the May 10 Anderson County Veterans Breakfast.
Military veterans from Anderson County are invited to come together Saturday (June 14) for the monthly Veterans Breakfast at the Clinton Community Center.
The chow line opens at 8:30 a.m. and there will be a brief program at 9 a.m. honoring veterans, in addition to recognizing Flag Day.
All the veterans breakfasts will recognize and honor local veterans and their families for their service to the United States.
This month’s event is sponsored by Ray Varner Ford. Wendy Maness is June’s doughnut sponsor. Many generous donors are also recognized for providing regular monthly door prizes.
Singer-songwriter Erick Baker will be performing at Summer Sessions at A.K. Bissell Park on Saturday, June 21. - Tony Cox
A.K. Bissell Park will host a series of free Americana and bluegrass concerts this summer, sponsored by ORNL Federal Credit Union and radio station WDVX.
Erick Baker and The Young Fables will perform Saturday, June 21, from 6 to 9 p.m. Dan Tyminski and Amythyst Kiah are scheduled to take the stage Saturday, Aug. 23, from 6 to 9 p.m.
Another concert is set for Saturday, Sept. 20, from 6 to 9 p.m., but the featured performers have not yet been announced.
All concerts are free and open to the public. They will be held at the pavilion in A.K. Bissell Park, located at 1401 Oak Ridge Turnpike.
Community members are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and enjoy an evening of live Americana roots music with family and friends. Local food trucks will be on site offering a variety of food and beverages.
First Lady Nola T. Radford led the morning service.
Asbury United Methodist Church has witnessed history important to Clinton and the world over its 160 years.
The Rev. John C. Tate founded the church on May 29, 1865 and served as its first minister, member Renee McCleary stated. Tate was a freed but formerly enslaved man from Granger County. But the church then was in a different building which burned in 1947. The Rev. C.L. Willis led the rebuilding of the church. Workers finished its current brick structure in 1950.
“Even though it’s a small church with a small congregation, it still has survived quite a bit,” said McCleary, a former Clinton resident. She still works to promote the church and its work, even from her current home in Illinois. She called its staying power over 160 years “incredible for such a small church especially an African American Church.”
The church, located at 405 West Broad Street, witnessed the desegregation of Clinton High School by its first Black students in 1956. McCleary listed Asbury UMC’s Bobby Cain as the first Black student to graduate from an integrated public school in the South on May 17, 1957.
“It impacted the entire community,” McCleary said, adding that many churches at the time came together to help. “It took a lot of faith and prayer to get through that.”
The annual Lavender Festival, featuring herbs, children’s activities, music and more, will once again return to Oak Ridge from June 20-22.
The main event — a marketplace with 150 artisans and food vendors — will be held at Historic Jackson Square from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 21.
The event includes live music, children’s crafts and various activities. Although many items will be available for purchase, admission is free.
Throughout the weekend, additional events requiring tickets or entrance fees will also take place. Tickets are available at jacksonsquarelavenderfestival.org.
Friday, June 20
A two-day pass for garden tours on June 20 and 21 is available for $15, plus a $1.27 processing fee. Tours will run from 4-6 p.m. each day.
The Lenoir Museum in Norris, shown here this week, will celebrate its 50th anniversary on July 10. It opened on July 10, 1975, on land across U.S. 441 from the Clinch River, donated to the state of Tennessee by TVA. - G. Chambers Williams III
The Lenoir Museum in Norris, which features artifacts of Appalachian history, will be making history of its own as it celebrates its first half-century of existence with a daylong celebration on Thursday, July 10.
Officially known as the Will G. and Helen H. Lenoir Museum, the facility along Norris Freeway (U.S. Highway 441) in Norris was opened to the public on July 10, 1975.
It sits on part of six acres that the Tennessee Valley Authority donated to the Tennessee state park system.
The property, which faces the Clinch River below Norris Dam, is part of Norris Dam State Park, and also includes the Crosby Threshing Barn and 18th-century Rice Grist Mill, which are set along Lower Clear Creek Road behind the museum.
Created to display items of early Appalachia collected by the Lenoirs, the museum’s collection includes Indian artifacts, fine china, pressed glass, furniture, farm implements, bottles, bells, baskets, rocks, historical documents and more.
“Mr. Lenoir enjoyed sharing his stories with museum visitors well into his 90th year, as he and Helen had done in their home for years before the museum opened,” according to a description of the facility on the state parks website (tnstateparks.com/parks/activity-detail/lenoir-museum).
The second of now five planned performances in this summer’s Norris “Concerts on the Commons” series will be held this Friday evening (June 13) with a performance by AYCA, featuring rock, pop, dance, jazz and R&B music.
Despite the rain, there was a good turnout last Friday night as Liquid Velvet kicked off the series on the outdoor stage next to the Lions Club Pavilion downtown.
Another concert was added to the schedule last week, according to the Norris Recreation Commission’s Facebook page.
Retrospect, a local band featuring classic rock, folk, Americana, and singer-songwriter music, has agreed to perform on Friday, June 26, which initially was an open date.
The schedule includes a July 4 concert, which will close out this year’s Concerts on the Commons.
Pat Hausser drives a vintage McCormick Farmall tractor pulling a trailer with bench seats on it shuttling visitors from the parking lot to the show area during last year’s antique tractor show at Anderson County High School. - G. Chambers Williams III
This Friday and Saturday (June 13-14) are the days for the 43nd-annual Smoky Mountain Antique Engine and Tractor Show.
The tractors will be the highlight of the event, which will run from 8 a.m. until dusk on Friday and from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Among tractors on display will be various models from manufacturers such as Case, Allis-Chalmers, John Deere, Farmall, Ford and Oliver.
Admission and parking for the event are free.
Held the second weekend in June every year, the show is the biggest event of the year for the Clinton-based Smoky Mountain Antique Engine and Tractor Association.
