The Ronald McDonald House Charities is accepting applications for the 2012 scholarships.  The Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Chattanooga offer40 high school seniors a chance to receive $1,00 scholarships to continue their education.  Applications must be postmarked no later than January 27, 2012 to be considered.  Awards will be made in May or June.

Types of Scholarships:

RMHC/HACER (Hispanic American Commitment to Educational Resources)
RMHC/African American Future Achievers Scholarship Program
RMHC/ASIA (Asian-Pacific Students Increasing Achievement)
RMHC Scholars

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The largest music venue in Chattanooga is the McKenzie Arena located on the campus of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.  Formerly UTC Arena and home of the UTC men’s and women’s basketball teams, the Roundhouse (as the arena is often called) is also where families come to enjoy concerts and other events.  Monster truck pulls, the circus and Disney on Ice are annual events.  The McKenzie Arena is also used for community events where local charities host fundraisers, sporting competitions and more.

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Courtesy of Ron E. Ott / Chattamugs.com

Chattanooga Mugshots is a visual art project started by Ron E. Ott. If you’re unfamiliar with Chattanooga Mugshots, here’s a synopsis. Ron finds mugshots taken in Hamilton County and he renders the photographs into colorful comic-book styled portraits. Garrett Crowe talked to Ron E. Ott about the Chattanooga Mugshots project.

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Some stories are meant to be heard out loud–fables from oral traditions, such as the Jack Tales, which originated in Europe.  Immigrants brought Jack Tales to Appalachia, and more than sixty years ago, folklorist Richard Chase collected these tales and published them in print form.

Now these tales are being brought back to life as dramatic readings.  Kate Forbes, a professional stage and voice actress, has produced a 2-CD collection called Handed Down: Tales of Southern Appalachia.

Forbes, a Chattanooga resident, received a MakeWork grant from CreateHere to fund this project.  She used mostly local voices and produced it at a local studio, Sound Resources.

Listen to an interview with Kate Forbes about her audio book:

Stephanie Wilkins joins us for this segment.  She’s the Director of Development for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of East Tennessee.  On February 5^th, 2012, the Super Bowl will become the Wish Bowl.  This annual fundraiser/party gives people a chance to both watch the big game and help raise funds needed to grant wishes to sick children.  A silent auction will also take place.

Wish Bowl

Stadium Club at Finley Stadium

Date: February 05, 2012

Time: 5:30 p.m.

Individual tickets and tables are available online at wishetn.org.

Sequatchie Valley Institute is sponsoring this seed sharing potluck following the Main Street Farmer’s Market on Wednesday, Feb. 1st from 5-10 PM at GreenSpaces.    The following is from SVI’s press release:

Bring seeds you saved,

and a Slow Food dish you

made!

(Slow Food is the opposite of Fast Food,

the more local, the better!)

Seed-sharing, Socializing,

Music!

and discussion of the year

to come!        Free event!

Eric Blevins from the Mountaintop Removal Road Show will kick off the feast with a talk at 5pm.

Main Street Farmer’s Market is moving to its new location at 325 Main Street on Feb. 1st.   MSFM’s Winter hours are 4-5 PM each Wednesday.

Sale Creek Honey at MSFM

Wacker Polysilicon of North America broke ground on their new facility in Charleston Tennessee in April 2011.  This chemical plant will be open in 2013 and will be producing hyperpure silicon for use in the photovoltaic industry such as solar cells for power production.  The chemical production process at Wacker Polysilicon requires trained specialists in the chemical industry.  Wacker has teamed with Chattanooga State Community College to help prepare the workforce for the plant opening.

Wacker Institute at Chattanooga State Community College offers Associate degree programs designed to prepare chemical operators for the positions that will be available in 2013.  Part of the recruitment efforts include job interviews for the students enrolled in these programs in the first semester of classes.  Successful candidates may end up with a job offer well before the plant is even complete.

Other positions at Wacker Polysilicon in the engineering field have already been filled with employees completing an intensive training program at Wacker Institute followed by 6 months of hands on training in the Wacker Polysilicon sister plant in Germany.  Human Resources at Wacker updates their career listing daily to reflect current available positions. The facility that will open in Charleston Tennessee is the first Wacker Polysilicon plan outside of Germany and represents an investment of $1.5 billion.

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Reporting: Monessa Guilfoil

The following is taken from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga press release for Scott Joplin’s African American Opera:

The 125th anniversary of UTC continues with a special musical presentation. The UTC Music Department in cooperation with the Chattanooga Choral Society for the Preservation of African American Song will present two evening performances of Scott Joplin’s opera Treemonisha on January 27 and 28 at 7:30 p.m. and a matinee on January 29 at 3 p.m.

Treemonisha, composed by famous ragtime composer Scott Joplin, is a story of the triumph of education and enlightenment over superstition and ignorance among the African American population of the Texarkana region of Arkansas in the late 1800s. Perhaps even more interesting is the exploration of the theme of whether men would follow a woman as a political community leader during this era. Joplin sets these two themes against a musical backdrop of the romantic opera of the early 20th century. The score is not ragtime, although it incorporates elements of ragtime among its musical ideas. There are black folk songs and dances, and even a kind of pre-blues music alongside spirituals and gospel elements in the score.

The leading roles in this fully-staged costumed production will be played by UTC students and alumni with the title role sung by graduate student Varanda Bell. The production is being directed by UTC Theatre Professor Steve Ray and Maestro Jooyong Ahn will conduct the UTC Orchestra supplemented by members of the Chattanooga Symphony. The Chattanooga Choral Society supplemented by UTC choral students will provide the ensemble cast for the production.

Treemonisha is presented with support from the Tennessee Arts Commission, and The Ruth S. Holmberg Chair in American Music. Producers for the show are UTC Music Professor Roland Carter and UTC Theatre Professor Gaye Jeffers.

Joplin’s opera, originally composed in 1910 and published in piano-vocal score format in 1911 was never staged during his lifetime. Its sole performance was a concert read through with Joplin at the piano in 1915 at the Lincoln Center in Harlem, paid for by Joplin. The opera was forgotten until 1970 when the score was rediscovered and premiered on January 27, 1972, in Atlanta as a joint performance by Morehouse College and the Atlanta Symphony. UTC’s opening night will mark the 40th anniversary of the world premiere.

Here’s Scott Joplin playing his most popular, “Maple Leaf Rag” for pianola:

Listen to the Interview with members of the cast and crew of, “Treemonisha,” Scott Joplin’s only surviving opera:

Thomas P. Balázs,  fiction writer and UTC professor, will publish his first collection of stories next week. The book is titled Omicron Ceti III. NecessaryFiction.com calls Balázs “an inspired and inventive writer resourceful enough to also draw on many diverse sources, cultural and pop-cultural.” Kevin Wilson, the author of The Family Fang, claims Omicron Ceti III is a “dazzling collection [that] boldly goes into unknown territory.” Garrett Crowe spoke with Thomas Balázs about his debut book.

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In this segment, we’re interviewing the architects, painters, quilt-makers and other artists who are part of the Hefferlin family.  This January, they have a group exhibit at the Planet Altered Gallery on Chattanooga’s Southside.  The exhibit is called “Patterns,” and in this segment, we find out how common patterns connect their disparate works of art.