Scenic Roots

(Freepik) Next weekend, the City of Chattanooga hosts its inaugural Hispanic Heritage Festival. Free and open to the entire community, the festival - on Sunday, October 15th from 4 PM to 9 PM in Miller Park - features music, dance, cuisine and more. Shadrina Booker is Director of Community Engagement for the City of Chattanooga. Jaime Kerns is co-founder of Culture Chatt. (City of Chattanooga &amp...

La Paz Chattanooga Paulo Hutson Solórzano is a communicator across cultures here in Chattanooga. Born in South Carolina - and raised in Managua, Nicaragua - he is co-founder of A Medida Communications. Paulo was recently honored with the Latino Leader of the Year Award from La Paz Chattanooga, the nonprofit that serves this city’s growing Latino population.

Paulo Hutson Solórzano on communicating across cultures. En Chattanooga, un nuevo festival de la herencia hispana. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

(MissLunaRose12 / Openverse) What does “neurodivergent” mean? Here’s one definition, from The Cleveland Clinic: “Neurodivergent is a nonmedical term that describes people whose brains develop or work differently for some reason. This means the person has different strengths and struggles from people whose brains develop or work more typically. While some people who are neurodivergent have medical...

“These things are your becoming” by Angela Fraleigh. (Angela Fraleigh via Hunter Museum) (Aired 10/05/23) What is gold worth in the realm of art? A new exhibition at the Hunter Museum of American Art here in Chattanooga raises that question. Angela Fraleigh is one of the artists whose works appear in the exhibition - titled, “Gilded: Contemporary Artists Explore Value and Worth.” This evening, she...

(Creative Commons) One place for the community of writers in and around this city is the Chattanooga Writers’ Guild. On Saturday, October 21st, from 11 AM to 5 PM, the Guild will host its Fall Writing Workshop at Second Presbyterian Church - 700 Pine St. I spoke with Ray Zimmerman, president of the Guild; Cynthia Young, the Guild’s secretary - and writer Paul Luikart, who will be one of the writer...

From “Wild Atlanta.” (Wild Atlanta) Stephen Wing is a poet based in Atlanta. His recently-released book - “Wild Atlanta: Greenspaces and Preserves of ‘The City in the Forest” - features poems about nearly two-dozen protected wild places around Metro Atlanta, with photos by Luz Wright. Next week, Stephen comes to Chattanooga - appearing at Wanderlinger Brewing Company on Tuesday, October 10th. Step...

(SoundCorps) Hip-hop turned 50 this year - and around Chattanooga, celebration will soon be in the air. Next week is Chattanooga Hip-Hop Week, culminating with the Chattanooga Hip-Hop Summit on Friday, October 13th and Saturday, October 14th. Stratton Tingle is executive director of SoundCorps, the music nonprofit in this city. I spoke with him about the Week, the Summit - and SoundBites, which sh...

SoundCorps: Hip-Hop Week, Swayyvo - and SoundBites. “Wild Atlanta”: Poems and photos of natural treasures. Chattanooga Writers’ Guild; “Gilded” at the Hunter Museum. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

(Chattanooga Motorcar Festival) The cars and car connoisseurs and families who gather for the Chattanooga Motorcar Festival have a chance to benefit a cause: neuroscience research. “Unlock My Brain” is a fundraiser for that cause at the Festival - on Saturday evening, October 14th in the streets of Chattanooga’s West Village. Dr. Thomas Devlin is medical director of the CHI Memorial Neuroscience I...

Brian Redman - in Chattanooga this May. (Chris Tedesco / BMW North America) Sports cars have a history. So do the people who race them. Just ask Brian Redman. He is a nine-time sports car racing champion - one of the leading racers of his generation in the 1960’s and 1970’s. In 1991, Brian founded Targa Sixty-Six: an event for owners of vintage and modern high-performance and collector cars to dri...

Brian Redman - sports racing legend - on Targa Sixty Six. CHI Memorial’s Dr. Thomas Devlin on “Unlock My Brain.” Both look ahead to this year’s Chattanooga Motorcar Festival. You’ll hear from them on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

A 1963 Chevrolet Corvette convertible - one of the cars on display at Mecum Auctions at the 2023 Chattanooga Motorcar Festival. (Mecum Auctions) Mecum Auctions is the world leader in live auctions for classic collector cars, antique motorcycles, modern vehicles, road art memorabilia - and more. Founded by Dana Mecum thirty-five years ago, the company holds auctions around the country - including a...

Part of the Concours d’Elegance. (Chattanooga Motorcar Festival) The weekend after next, the Chattanooga Motorcar Festival roars into town. This year’s gathering for cars and car aficionados is Friday, October 13th through Sunday, October 15th in the West Village - to support neuroscience research. On the festival’s final day: the Concours d’Elegance - a juried competition for vintage, historic an...

The Medal of Honor. (Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center) Last month, Captain Larry Taylor of Signal Mountain received the Medal of Honor - the nation’s highest military award for valor - for his actions as a U.S. Army officer and helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. Days after, a parade for Captain Taylor filled the streets of downtown Chattanooga - ending at the Charl...

Copies of “Differ We Must” at the Abraham Lincoln Bookshop, Inc. in Chicago. (Abraham Lincoln Bookshop, Inc.) You hear him weekdays as the co-host of “Morning Edition” from NPR here on WUTC. Steve Inskeep is also a historian - and his new book looks at President Abraham Lincoln through the people of his time with lessons for our time. The book, published by Penguin Press, is titled “Differ We Must...

“Differ We Must” - lessons from Lincoln by NPR’s Steve Inskeep. For the home of “The First Medals,” an ongoing mission of values. The Concours - and Mecum - at the Chattanooga Motorcar Festival. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

(Chattanooga Motorcar Festival) In Chattanooga’s West Village, cars - and car aficionados - are gathering to rev up one of the top auto events nationwide. That’s where this year’s Chattanooga Motorcar Festival will take place - Friday, October 13th through Sunday, October 15th. The Festival is more than a showcase - it raises money for neuroscience research. Corky Coker - a Grand Marshal Emeritus...

Eytan Davidson, the ADL’s Southeast Regional Director. (ADL) Eytan Davidson is on the front line of fighting anti-Semitism in this corner of the country. He is Southeast Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League, based in Atlanta - and this week, he will be the guest speaker for a talk here on our campus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The talk - “It’s About Combating Hate: The...

A rendering from “A Unifying Vision for Montague Park.” (montaguepark.com) Imagine a dream for a signature park in the heart of Chattanooga. It was a dream more than a century ago for Montague Park - where last week, a plan was unveiled to reimagine that dream for this century. A rendering from “A Unifying Vision for Montague Park.” (montaguepark.com) Among the features of what is known as “A Unif...

“A Unifying Vision for Montague Park” in Chattanooga. Here at UTC: a talk on combating hate and anti-Semitism. Revving up this year’s Chattanooga Motorcar Festival. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly in September 2023. (City of Chattanooga) On Thursday afternoon, live here on WUTC, Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly joined us for our monthly conversation. Among the topics: the Vision Plan for Montague Park, affordable housing and a waste-to-energy plan for the Moccasin Bend Environmental Campus.

A scene from a rehearsal of “The Winter’s Tale” from Scenic City Shakespeare at Greenway Farm in Hixson, TN. (Scenic City Shakespeare) Is it a comedy? Or a romance? The answer is: Yes. “The Winter’s Tale” is one of William Shakespeare’s later plays - and it includes the stage direction: “Exit - pursued by a bear.” Scenic City Shakespeare brings the play to Greenway Farm in Hixson in October, on Fr...

Ellen Rich and Gage Goza are two of the UTC students on stage for the production of “Blithe Spirit.” (UTC) Noël Coward’s described his play “Blithe Spirit” as “an improbable farce in three acts.” The improbable opens the new season of UTC Theatre Co. here on our campus - premiering Tuesday, October 3rd in the Fine Arts Center. Steve Ray, professor and associate head of the Department of Performing...

KiAna Clark, as a UTC student in historic preservation, takes photos inside the Joel W. Solomon Federal Courthouse in Chattanooga in 2022. (UTC) Our campus - the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga - offers a Minor in Historic Preservation through its Interior Architecture and Design Program. Students in the program base their senior thesis projects on an actual historic building here in Chatta...