Upcoming events

Switch to Calendar View

• Blount County First Wednesday Meet-up

  • When
    01/07/2026
  •  
    6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
  • Location
    NEW LOCATION Peaceful Side Brewery, 106 Everett Ave, Maryville, TN 37804

  Come Join us at the Peaceful Side Brewery, 106 Everett Ave, Maryville, TN 37804

  This is a new location that we are trying out. 

  If you enjoy looking at menus ahead of time, check out this link: 

  https://peacefulsidebrewery.com/taproom-menu/
  

  This will be a monthly event on the First Wednesday. 

  Please disregard the notice below about forwarding this email. If you know of others who would enjoy this event, please share. 

  Show details
• Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge/Sandhill Cranes

  • When
    01/10/2026
  •  
    8:30 AM
  • Location
    Meet at Kroger Parking Lot,

  We will be meeting in the Northshore Kroger, 9501 S Northshore. Go to the parking lot behind the gas station. 

  After meeting at 8:30 AM to determine who wishes to carpool we will set off for the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge (directions below).  

  After viewing the cranes (bring good binoculars and cameras), we will make plans for lunch at a local eatery. 

  Come join us for a fun field trip. 

  Site Directions: On I-75, take exit number 25 in Cleveland, Tennessee. Travel north on Highway 60 through the town of Birchwood. Approximately 1.7 miles north of Birchwood, turn right on Shadden Road. Go one mile and turn right on Blythe Ferry Road. Take the next left on Priddy Lane and follow signs.
  

  Show details
• January RET Book Club

  • When
    01/11/2026
  •  
    4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
  • Location
    Zoom

  More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity

  by Adam Becker

  Tech billionaires have decided that they should determine our future for us. According to Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, and more, the only good future for humanity is one powered by technology: trillions of humans living in space, functionally immortal, served by superintelligent AIs. In More Everything Forever, science journalist Adam Becker investigates these wildly implausible and often profoundly immoral visions of tomorrow—and shows why, in reality, there is no good evidence that they will, or should, come to pass. Nevertheless, these obsessions fuel fears that overwhelm reason—for example, that a rogue AI will exterminate humanity—at the expense of essential work on solving crucial problems like climate change. What’s more, these futuristic visions cloak a hunger for power under dreams of space colonies and digital immortality. The giants of Silicon Valley claim that their ideas are based on science, but the reality is darker: they come from a jumbled mix of shallow futurism and racist pseudoscience. More Everything Forever exposes the powerful and sinister ideas that dominate Silicon Valley, challenging us to see how foolish and dangerous, these visions of the future are. 290 pages

  *********************************************************************

  Please disregard the message about forwarding below.

  
  

  Show details
• Third Sunday In-Person Meeting

  • When
    01/18/2026
  •  
    10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
  • Location
    PSCC Hardin Valley Road

  For the return of our first in-person third Sunday meetings, we will be welcoming Jules Edwards who serves on the board of Abortion Care of Tennessee/Mountain Access Brigade. 

  Jules will be outlining the work that these organizations do to help women in Tennessee who find themselves needing abortion care. 

  Tennessee is effectively a state with a total abortion ban. Jules will share how essential providing services is, and provide an option for making a difference. 

  We meet in the Cafeteria Annes of the Goins Administrative Building. Direct access is from the back of the building, off the small parking area for PSCC vehicles. 
  

  Coffee and other hot beverages will be available. Bring snacks to share if you wish. 

  The Zoom link will be in the newsletter and email announcements. Be sure to choose the correct link from the announcement. 

  If you know of others who may be interested please feel free to forward the announcement email and disregard the prohibition below. 

  Show details
• January RET Reflections

  • When
    01/25/2026
  •  
    4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
  • Location
    Zoom

  Here We Go Again with Resolutions!

  How have you set yourself up for failure again this year?  Are you like than salmon forever trying to swim upstream but never making it past the hungry bear?  Well, we'll give it a try anyway.  What one thing would you really like to accomplish this year that seems to have escaped you all these years?  Or rather how would you like the world to change?  Maybe you don't need a change to your behavior, but rather a change to your environment to spur you on.

  **************************************************************

  Please disregard the message about forwarding below.

  Show details
• Knox County Fourth Wednesday MEET-UP

  • When
    01/28/2026
  •  
    6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
  • Location
    Corner 16, 9637 Kroger Park Dr
Knoxville, TN 37922

  Come join an informal gathering for food and conversation at the Corner 16 Restaurant, 9637 Kroger Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37922 near Pellissippi and Northshore.

  If you are interested in seeing the menu beforehand, you can check it out here.  

  Disregard the notice below about forwarding this email. Feel free to share with others who may be interested. 

  Show details
• 2026 Scholarship Application

  • When
    05/01/2026
  • Spaces left
    189

  Register

  
  

  Show details