Community Calendar

Learn about black bears, an iconic symbol of the Smokies. Great Smoky Mountains National Park ranger-led program. Sugarlands Visitor Center, Tenn. Free. Info and confirm details: nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/calendar.htm or 865-436-1200.

New Food Pantry now available to neighborhood and surrounding areas twice a month. Every 2nd Thursday of each month we will be giving away non-perishable goods and personal care items. On the 4th Thursday of each month we will be serving a hot meal.

Free Spirit Theatre, a not-for-profit community theatre group, will present JOHN by Pulitzer-Prize-winning playwright, Annie Baker, October 21-25 at Borderland Playhouse (802 Sevier Ave., Knoxville). For tickets and more information see www.freespirittheatre.org

Discover the sorghum-making process with Mark and Sherry Guenther of Muddy Pond Sorghum. The couple travels with their mules Ada and Ida, tools, equipment, and supplies to demonstrate the traditional craft. Great Smokies Welcome Center, Townsend, Tenn. Free.

Join us at the O'Connor Senior Center for a howlin’ good time at our 2nd annual Howl-o-Ween Pet Parade & Costume Contest Fundraiser!

Dress yourself and your pet in your most creative, spooky, or cute Halloween costumes and enter to win special awards and prizes on October 23rd from 11:00 AM-1:00 PM. Featuring a free photo booth for pets & pet parents, hot cider, Ham 'n Goodys cookie fundraiser, pet-friendly vendors & community resources, and plenty of cute, spooky, fun- you won’t want to miss this year’s Howl-o-Ween event!

All proceeds directly support the programming of the John T. O’Connor Senior Center through the Knoxville-Knox Co CAC Office on Aging. Membership at the Center is free to Knox County residents over the age of 50.

Animal Farm is a fable with a sting.

The story begins with joyous triumph. The animals of Manor Farm, tired of hunger, labor and mistreatment, rise up against their human owner and drive him away. At last, they believe, they are free. They will build a new society in which all animals are equal, and no creature lives under the mastery of another.
But ideals prove easier to proclaim than to preserve.

A Staged Dramatic Reading

As part of the production, Theatre 23 is launching an educational outreach program for public, private and home-school students throughout the Knoxville metropolitan area. Director Suzy Short has developed a curriculum to accompany the production, designed to meet applicable Common Core State Standards and give students a deeper understanding of Orwell’s work, its historical context and the questions it raises about power, propaganda, language and individual freedom.

Friday, October 23 — 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 24 — 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 25 — 2:30 p.m.

Free Spirit Theatre, a not-for-profit community theatre group, will present JOHN by Pulitzer-Prize-winning playwright, Annie Baker, October 21-25 at Borderland Playhouse (802 Sevier Ave., Knoxville). For tickets and more information see www.freespirittheatre.org

Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus revels in the elegance and excess of a single night gone slightly off course. Through an elaborate game of disguise, friends, spouses, and rivals cross paths at a glittering masquerade ball where champagne flows freely, and no one is who they claim to be. Beneath the comedy, Strauss keeps a sharp eye on social pretense and the thin line between mischief and consequence, all set to some of the most irresistible waltzes ever written.

Performing October 23 and 25, this production captures the spirit of escape and reinvention at the heart of Strauss’s beloved comedy. Identities blur, and champagne carries everyone a little further than they intended. Knoxville Opera invites you to settle in and enjoy the ride - an evening where appearances shift, alliances change, and the consequences don’t arrive until morning.

Sung in English with projected English text.

Discover the sorghum-making process with Mark and Sherry Guenther of Muddy Pond Sorghum. The couple travels with their mules Ada and Ida, tools, equipment, and supplies to demonstrate the traditional craft. Great Smokies Welcome Center, Townsend, Tenn. Free.

Mountain Makins is an Appalachian Folk Life Festival celebrating the unique culture of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Known for high quality crafts and artisans, the festival features a juried arts & crafts fair, top regional musical talent, storytellers, authors, craft demonstrations, and children's activities. All activities take place at historic Rose Center.