Orchid Awards 2025
Each year, Keep Knoxville Beautiful recognizes area businesses and individuals who have made Knoxville a more beautiful place through a variety of categories. Old-timers will remember the start of this annual dinner (1979) when Mary Lou Horner presented “onion” awards to area eyesores. It was more fun then with the ever-present risk of somebody punching out Mary Lou.
Anyhow, here are the 2025 winners:
- Community Project – ReOak – Oakwood-Lincoln Park
- Green at Work – WM
- New Architecture – Agriculture & Natural Resources Building, UTIA
- Outdoor Space – Lakeshore Park Pavilions
- Public Art – Pier 865 at Cradle of Country Music Park
- Redesign/Reuse – Johnson Architecture Headquarters
- Regreening – UTK Regional Stormwater Park
- Volunteer of the Year – Sylvia and Wayne McLaurin
- Adopt-A-Road Group of the Year – Theta Chi
- Felicia Award – Sarah Brobst
- Mary Lou Horner Award – Ijams Nature Center
- City of Knoxville Bright Spot – Augusta Quarry
- Knox County Bright Spot – French Broad Veterans Memorial Park
- Knox County Schools Bright Spot – Fulton High School Outdoor Classroom and Garden
Plant more trees!
Alex Bremner, urban and community forestry engagement specialist with Tennessee Division of Forestry, speaks at Arbor Day ceremony in Knoxville.
City leaders and tree advocates gathered November 3, 2025, at Malcolm-Martin Park, 2247 Western Ave., to celebrate Arbor Day and plant some trees.
These plantings will help Knoxville and its partners work toward the Urban Forest Master Plan goal of achieving 40% urban canopy cover by 2040.
Trees Knoxville said: “Arbor Day marks the start of tree-planting season, a time to recognize how trees sustain our city, from providing shade and improving walkability to supporting biodiversity and cleaner air. Through urban forestry and reforestation efforts, trees make our neighborhoods healthier, more livable and more beautiful.”
Mayor Indya Kincannon posted: “A big thank-you to our partners at Trees Knoxville, Knoxville Utilities Board, and Keep Knoxville Beautiful for helping make Knoxville a greener, healthier city for all!”
Dam … spooky
Under the Beaver moon, river mist and legend swirl around Hales Bar Dam – a former hydro site on the Tennessee River long rumored to be haunted. TVA even has a whole “Dam Spooky!” story on its eerie past and ghostly tales – a fun read on any day. Read it here.
Notes and Quotes
Bazillion Blooms celebrates Dogwood’s 70th anniversary in 2025. With an average life expectancy of 20-30 years for urban dogwoods, odds are few if any of the dogwood trees here in 1955 are alive today. Since 2009, more than 18,500 dogwood trees have been planted through Bazillion Blooms. Trees at $25 each purchased through November 19 will be available for pick-up on December 5-6 at the Dogwood Arts office.
Gay Street Bridge: Knoxville City Council has authorized Mayor Indya Kincannon’s administration to amend two contracts necessary to reopen the Gay Street Bridge to pedestrians and bicyclists by Dec. 31, 2025. The project is within budget and will cost some $2.7 million. Details here.
Ijams Nature Center will celebrate 50 years at an Ijams Homecoming on Saturday, November 8, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. This free event will feature fun, hands-on activities for all ages, historic materials, guided hikes, refreshments and more at the Ijams Visitor Center, 2915 Island Home Ave. in South Knoxville.
Outdoor Knoxville, a calendar produced by Legacy Parks Foundation, is has a comprehensive list of upcoming local outdoor events. Find it here.
Quote: “Everything got bigger. Farms. Machinery. Trucks. Livestock herds. Houses on the lake for doctors and ag financiers. Everything but the rural working person’s bank account. Profits that used to be held by more diverse family farms flowed to bigger corporate operations backed by real capital. The rest of us became hired help.” – Art Cullen, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2017 for editorial writing in the twice-weekly community newspaper he co-owns with his brother in Lake Storm, Iowa.
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