When my friend Gina Changas and I heard that entertainers were needed to play the VIP tent for fundraisers during the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build, we both had the same idea: Con Hunley!
And what a good idea it was. Hunley and his band sold out the $125-per-ticket event. And when it was over, folks [...]

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Last week, the Robinson Road build site of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” was a muddy, cold mess. Heavy machines were slipping and sliding. People were falling down in slippery muck. There really was nowhere to go to get your feet on solid ground — until it froze!
But, starting late Thursday, a little oasis sprang up. [...]

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“An Evening in Paris” was the theme last Saturday for the Symphony Ball, an annual gala produced by the Knoxville Symphony League to benefit the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. But as Alan and I drove west on Lyons View Pike toward Cherokee Country Club where the event was being held, the venue could not have looked [...]

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I don’t usually get up early on a Saturday to post a blog item. But I just had to pass the word about this great opportunity that is only available today. If you are in the market for some great art — or some great gifts — you have got to get over to the [...]

Filed under: Art, Events, Knoxville, Music | 8 Comments »

We dined. We danced. We sang along to the O’Jays. We even got a little teary-eyed as the sweet Love Kitchen sisters won a lifetime achievement award.
It was the annual Knoxville Area Urban League Equal Opportunity Awards Gala Thursday night at the Knoxville Convention Center. It was a sell-out and it was a blast!
The Love [...]

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Alan and I attended Jazz Under the Stars for the third year in a row last week. It’s a fundraiser for the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra and it is always great fun. We love the fact that the event actually features the artists it benefits, whereas some other fundraisers for cultural groups oddly do not feature [...]

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Boyd’s Jig and Reel, the new Scottish pub in the Old City, packed in the crowds on its grand opening night last Friday from the ribbon cutting at 4 p.m. until the wee hours of Saturday morning. How do I know this? I was there at the ribbon cutting and back again with Alan as [...]

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It almost doesn’t matter what the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra plays during the annual Symphony in the Park concert at Ijams Nature Center. For 26 years, this event has created magic.
Also, for 26 years, the event has managed to avoid being rained out — although it was close this year! Just an hour prior to start [...]

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Let the good times roll — every year! The Mardi Gras themed Summer Supper fundraiser benefiting Knox Heritage last Friday was such a rousing success that the non-profit preservation group has decided to make it an annual event.
Here’s what happened. About 80 guests and 40 host committee members gathered in the courtyard of Kendrick Place [...]

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For many years around here, the basic charity fund-raising event entailed cocktails and a silent auction followed by dinner, a live auction, and dancing to an out-of-town band. Or, as one wag said recently, “You pay to get in and then you pay to get out!”
Today, it seems, the paradigm has shifted and the newest [...]

Filed under: Events, Food, Knoxville, Music | 8 Comments »