Calendar of Events

May 22, 9-5 CST and May 23, 11-5 CST

FREE ADMISSION & PARKING! Located at 108 Log Cabin Lane, 2 miles north of Pikeville on U.S. Hwy. 127. Information: 423-533-2664 or 423-618-7386. Great Food -- 100% handmade crafts--Live Music, Porch Pickers, Demos & Entertainment; Civil War re-enactors --canon; Quilt & tractor display; heritage living skills; B.A.B.S.-Blooms & Baskets Spinners; children’s train rides & make-it & take-it art projects; master gardeners; costume contest; antiques; Dog agility/ obedience; cornhusk dolls; limber-jacks; “shave horses;” drop-spindle; leather tooling; blown glass; stain glass; puppets; doll furniture; rag rugs; rock candles; honey; butter-making; herbs; tin-punch; basket weaving; wool spinning; antique toys; fly-tying and casting; woodcraft and carving; candlemaking; jewelry; gourd art; soapmaking; dulcimer-maker; wooden trunks; photography; fabric / felt art; oils / watercolor/ acrylic; purses; dolls; birdhouses; scroll saw art; barnwood / cedar furniture; silhouettes; tole painting; mosaics; mailboxes / arbors / swings, and much more. See our website at www.logcabindays.org

10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cookout: 2-4 p.m.
Join us to celebrate our heritage and the Ijams family legacy. We've planned an unique experience with activities and exhibits that include: archery, geology of Ijams, birdwalks with leaders in period scout uniforms, water rockets, historic campsite set up, history of Boy & Girl Scouts exhibit, astronomy exhibit with telescopes , tracking station and a scavenger hunt. Plus a picnic style cookout from 2 to 4 p.m. Cost $3 for non-members and $2 for members.

Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave, Knoxville, TN 37920. Hours: Grounds and trails open during daylight hours. Visitor Center: Monday: by appointment only for tour groups and school trips; Tuesday-Saturday: 9AM-5PM; Sunday: 1-5PM (March 1 - November 30). For information: 865-577-4717, www.ijams.org

At the World's Fair Park Amphitheater. FEATURING: Carawan Family, Van Eaton, Scott Lee, Black Cadillacs, the Songbirds, Kelle Jolly, Tim Lee 3, Y'uns, the Gnarwhals, Running Dogs, Detroit Daddies, Early Morning Stringdusters and more! Hosted by David Dwyer and Steve Dupree. Tickets are just $10 in advance ($15 day of the event).
Woodruff Brewing Company's delicious handcrafted beer will be available at the Bob Dylan Birthday Bash. For information: 865-544-1029, www.wdvx.com

For the last 15 years, Bill Maher has set the boundaries of where funny, political talk can go on American television. First on "Politically Incorrect" (Comedy Central, ABC, 1993-2002), and for the last seven years on HBO's "Real Time," Maher's combination of unflinching honesty and big laughs have garnered him 21 Emmy nominations. In October of 2008, this same combination was on display in Maher's uproarious and unprecedented swipe at organized religion, "Religulous," directed by Larry Charles. The
documentary has gone on to become the seventh highest grossing documentary ever.
Tickets are $58, plus applicable service fees.

Historic Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. For information: 865-684-1200, www.tennesseetheatre.com. For tickets: 865-684-1200, 865-656-4444, www.knoxvilletickets.com

Russ and Becky Jeffers w/ the Smoky Mountain Sunshine Band and Phil Campbell
Russ and Becky Jeffers introduced "Bluegrass Music" to people from all over the world as they performed over 15,000 shows at Opryland USA. Now, this talented husband and wife duo travel the world to bring their unique style of harmony, comedy and "down home" music to fans in every nation. We are lucky to have them for one night in Knoxville at the Bijou Theatre in support of Club VIBES. Phil Campbell, son of Archie Campbell of HEE-HAW, was regularly Archie's "straight man" on the Grand Ole Opry. He has a love for comedy, and the ability to make people laugh wherever he goes.
Club VIBES is made up of volunteers who care about visually impaired young adults as they make the transition from high school into adult life.

Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. For information: 865-522-0832, www.knoxbijou.com. For tickets: 865-684-1200, 865-656-4444, www.knoxvilletickets.com

Internet Genealogy

East Tennessee Historical Society, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Museum hours: Monday-Friday: 9AM-4PM; Saturday: 10AM-4PM; Sunday: 1-5PM. For information: 865-215-8824, www.easttnhistory.org

Get your splash on as Knox County Public Library jump starts its summer reading clubs with the Children’s Festival of Reading in World’s Fair Park in downtown Knoxville. Now in its 6th year, the Festival has become a favorite way to start the summer. This year’s theme is Make A Splash, and there’s no better place do so than by the fountains at the Park.

In a fun-filled day, the public is invited to meet and greet their favorite authors, illustrators, storytellers, and musicians. The fun continues all day long with a mad scientist, a roaming circus, arts & crafts, inflatables, and a wagon ride. Over 10,000 people are expected to join the festivities, which are free and open to the public.

This year, the Library is thrilled to welcome, Chris Raschka, one of the country's top children's book author/illustrators. He won the coveted Caldectt Medal for Hello, Goodbye Window in 2006, and his Yo! Yes? was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1994. School Library Journal named Raschka's Yo! Yes? one of its 100 Books that Shaped the Century. Mysterious Thelonious, one of a series of books on jazz greats, and A Poke in the I, have been named New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Books.

The Library is also excited to present Judy Schachner, creator of the Skippyjon Jones series as a featured picture book writer. Schachner is known to children of all ages for her beloved Siamese cat who thinks he’s a Chihuahua. Schachner has written and illustrated five hardcover books, one of which is included in the Imagination Library collection. Recognized as one of the most outstanding children's authors of our time, she is the recipient of many awards. Skippyjon Jones won the first E. B. White Read Aloud Book Award, which is given by the Association of Booksellers for Children for picture books and novels. Her books have also won state children' choice awards in Indiana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and Washington.

Jack Gantos returns to the Festival with the misadventures of Rotten Ralph, Joey Pigza and Jack Henry. If Black Lagoons peak interest, Mike Thaler, has created all manor of folks emerging from the legendary lagoon. Thaler, a.k.a. “America's Riddle King,” has published over 220 books.

Deborah Wiles is the author of two picture books: One Wide Sky (Harcourt) and Freedom Summer (Simon & Schuster), and several novels: Love, Ruby Lavender, Each Little Bird That Sings (a National Book Award Finalist), and The Aurora County All-Stars (all Harcourt). Her newest book is Countdown, and next year, with Scholastic, she will publish Fallout, book one of "The Sixties Trilogy: Three novels of the 1960s for young readers."

Haling from New York City by way of the University of Tennessee, mystery writer Chris Grabenstein will present his take on suspenseful plots of his own. Winner of the Agatha and Anthony Awards for young adult mysteries, Grabenstein may be well known to Knoxville crowds as he is fresh from his debut of Curiosity Cats at the Children’s Theatre of Knoxville.

NEW THIS YEAR: The ETptv Super Why Parade. Super Why and Princess Presto will lead the parade of mask-wearing, cape-donning and kazoo-playing kids throughout the Festival.

Also joining the Festival is Billy Jonas, who’s been described as an explosion of energy. “In singalongs, bangalongs, whisperalongs, as well as improvised songs, his primary instrument is the audience. Everyone becomes part of a performance that reaches out and "touches even the most hardened of hearts.”

Storyteller and author, Donna Washington returns to the Festival to regale audiences with her engaging retelling of traditional tales. Well known at thousands of schools & libraries and numerous storytelling festivals throughout the country, she has also been the featured artist at the 2004 National Storytelling Festival, The Illinois Storytelling Festival, The Three Rivers Festival, The St. Louis Storytelling Festival, The NC StoryFest, The Corn Island and Cave Run Festivals in KY, and the Broward County Children's & Ocala Storytelling Festivals in FL--just to name a few.

Storytellers Liz Mangual and Bob Kanegis keep the crowd involved in their participatory story telling that often leaves audiences howling like coyotes, or flying through the forest with the fairies. During the school year they offer extended storytelling and oral language development residencies in local schools, and have a particular interest in fostering family storytelling through community events.

The Children’s Festival of Reading is the kickoff celebration for the summer reading programs at the Library. Offering programs for children (both readers and listeners), teens and adults, the Library is committed to helping Knox County enjoy reading all summer long. Info: 865-215-8767, www.knoxlib.org

Vision, Language, and Influence brings together for the first time the work of three photographers of the American South over a 50-year period. Walker Evans (1903-1976) is represented by incisive images of Alabama sharecroppers stemming from his epic collaboration with James Agee on Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Eudora Welty (1909-2001) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning Southern writer and photographer who traveled across Mississippi in the 1930s and early 1940s taking photographs and documenting rural and small-town life in her home state. Baldwin Lee (born 1951) is a professor of photography at the University of Tennessee, and a former assistant to Walker Evans. Complementing the 50 or so works by Evans and Welty are more than 30 of Lee’s images of African-American life in the South taken during the 1980s with the support of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Vision, Language, and Influence was organized by the Knoxville Museum of Art in collaboration with Baldwin Lee.

Free admission. Hours: Tues-Thurs 10-5; Fri 10-8; Sat 10-5; Sun 1-5. 1050 World’s Fair Park Drive, Knoxville, TN 37916. 865-525-6101, www.knoxart.org, info@knoxart.org

The Knoxville Watercolor Society will host a showing of new paintings by its members at the Fountain City Art Center from May 14 to June 11. There will be an opening reception on May 14 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM at the Center. The reception is free and open to the public.

In “Student Exhibits,” Mary Secrist’s students’ watercolors will be on display at the same time as the KWS exhibition, a perfect teamup!

213 Hotel Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37918. Information: 865-357-2787, www.fountaincityart.com

Hanson Fine Art & Craft Gallery, 5607 Kingston Pk, Knoxville, TN 37919. Hours: Monday-Friday 10AM-5:30PM; Saturday 10AM-5PM. For information: 865-584-6097, www.hansongallery.com

An exhibit featuring the work of TVUUC members and friends will be on display at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. This show displays the TVUUC congregation's wide range of artistic talent and is displayed in the entry exhibit hall at TVUUC. The public is encouraged to share the vision and artistic skill of the TVUUC community. Free and open to the public!

Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919. Information: 865-523-4176, www.tvuuc.org

Many high quality pieces produced in East Tennessee will be on display!

Opening reception May 8, 7-9pm; gallery talk at 6:30 pm.

Oak Ridge Art Center, 201 Badger Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 9AM-5PM; Saturday-Monday, 1-4PM. For information: 865-482-1441, www.oakridgeartcenter.org