Saturday, November 3
Language of Life literacy festival
The Future Is Ours will host Language of Life from noon to 3 p.m. at East Lake Recreation Center. Language of Life is a multi-cultural opportunity for faith-based and other literacy and education providers to share their programs with Chattanoogans. Activities include vendor booths set up by area churches and service providers offering literacy and educational training opportunities; music by both English and Spanish performers; two types of football games: American football and European soccer; games and activities with a fall festival theme; and free food featuring both traditional Southern and Hispanic foods. Improving literacy to help reduce gang activity and violence in Chattanooga is a primary goal of The Future Is Ours and the Gang Task Force. Boyd Patterson, Gang Task Force coordinator, said, “Illiteracy is intimately connected with poverty and crime, thus linking it to gang activity. Helping a child improve his literacy doesn’t require a teaching certification or specialized training; so, almost anyone can make a contribution to our community’s children.” Language of Life is a free event open to the public. For more information about The Future Is Ours, visit www.thefutureisours.net.
Ronald McDonald House’s Bowl-A-Rama Fundraiser
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Chattanooga invites the Chattanooga community to participate in their 3rd annual Bowl-A-Rama fundraiser. Taking place on three separate days, Bowl-A-Rama is set for Saturday, November 3 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Holiday Bowl for competitive league bowling and Wednesday and Thursday, November 7 and 8, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Pin Strikes Bowling Alley for friends and family teams. The event, sponsored in part by Ameriprise Financial, Physicians Care and Maxim Pediatric Services, will benefit families of seriously ill and injured children receiving care at Chattanooga hospitals. For more information, call 423-778-4300 or visit www.rmhchattanooga.com.
Hamilton YMCA First Annual 5K Run
A family-oriented 5K run is set for Saturday, November 3 at Hamilton Place. The run will begin at 8:30 a.m. at Academy Sports + Outdoors and wind through the 200-acre shopping complex. The money raised will benefit this year’s YMCA Strong Kids Campaign, which supports a number of programs – including Y-CAP, a mentoring program for at-risk youth, as well as afterschool programs, academic enrichment programs, Youth Leadership Chattanooga and Y memberships. Registration forms are available at the Hamilton YMCA, Academy Sports and online at HamiltonPlace.com. The YMCA will provide free on-site childcare during the event.
Saturday, November 10
Crabtree Farm’s Fall Fair
Crabtree Farm’s Fall Fair will take place from noon to 5 p.m. at the farm, located at 1000 East 30th Street. The family friendly event will feature fun-on-the-farm activities such as tractor rides, competition for prizes, scarecrow stuffing, a photo booth corn hole and horseshoes, tours and live bluegrass music. The event will also feature a raffle with items from local artisans and businesses. Guests are encouraged to bring their own food to fry in local lard or pick up a brat from The Missing Link. Hot mulled cider and cold beer also will be on sale. For more information, call 423-493-9155, extension 13.
Tuesday, November 13
History Center presents third gallery talk
The Chattanooga History Center will present the third session in its series of programs previewing the exhibit galleries that will be in its new facility at the Tennessee Aquarium Plaza. “ The Drum Is Beating and I Must Go” will be held in the History Center’s meeting room at 7 p.m. Space is limited and pre-registration is required by Monday, November 12. For more information, or to register, call 423-265-3247. CHC Executive Director and Historian Dr. Daryl Black will lead the examination of the third gallery visitors will encounter as they move through the new exhibit space. In addition to discussing the historical story, participants will learn the reasons specific artifacts were chosen for exhibit in this gallery and will examine some of the artifacts. In the weeks after Abraham Lincoln was elected president, ten states left the Union. But, in Tennessee, loyalties were divided. Where slaveholders held the majority, secession was favored. In East Tennessee, where slaveholders were few, Union Loyalty was common, though not solid. Through the railroad, the area had business ties to the deep south. In Chattanooga, the divisions followed a pattern that appeared across East Tennessee. In rural areas, the majority of small farmers favored the Union, but in towns, sympathies leaned toward the Confederacy. “The Drum Is Beating and I Must Go” tells the story of the divided community, Tennessee secession and Chattanooga’s pivotal role in the Civil War.