Today, nearly 1,500 volunteers lent their helping hands to local classrooms during Hands On Nashville Day, a community-service celebration supporting 25 Metro Nashville Public Schools. “There’s no better way for us to celebrate our 25th anniversary than by serving alongside 1,500 volunteers,” said Lori Shinton, president and CEO of Hands On Nashville. “Today’s effort shows the true power of volunteerism that we’ve seen make such a difference in our community over the past two decades.” During the event, themed “Serve & Celebrate,” volunteers painted educational murals, revitalized playgrounds, applied window weather-stripping to classrooms, and completed additional facility improvements at schools …

Country music star Darryl Worley will be the celebrity guest on the Santa Train when it makes its 74th journey, on Saturday, Nov. 19. He will accompany Santa and event sponsors CSX,  Dignity U Wear, Food City and the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce on the 110-mile trek. “I’m honored to accompany the Santa Train as the celebrity guest this year,” Worley said. “The opportunity to give back and to be a part of a 74-year-old holiday tradition is one that I couldn’t pass up, and I look forward to being a part of it.” Worley, who has three No. 1 …

Award-winning nonprofit STARS is bringing together Nashville’s brightest young minds and most successful leaders for an evening of connection and philanthropy at its second annual Meet a Mentor event. Hosted by the organization’s associate board committee and co-chaired by Allison Jacob and Colton Mulligan, the event will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 19, at Studio 615 (72 Broadmoor Drive) from 6 to 8 p.m. The evening will give young professionals the valuable opportunity to establish relationships with business and community leaders from a wide variety of industries, including music, health care, marketing, education, design, politics, sports, and restaurant and tourism. …

Marine Week Nashville closes on Sunday, Sept. 11, with the city’s largest 9/11 ceremony to date, a demonstration of Marine Corps aircraft and equipment near the Cumberland River, and the Marines’ joining forces with the Tennessee Titans for the start of the National Football League season. The public is invited to join the Marines and community leaders at War Memorial Plaza from 9–10 a.m. for a remembrance ceremony in honor of the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Tennessee Dept. of Veterans Services Commissioner Many-Bears Grinder will be speaking at the ceremony, and Mayor Megan Barry will be …

The Marine Week Nashville festivities continue into the weekend with a boot camp challenge and a parade unlike any the city has ever seen, the latter rolling through Lower Broadway on Saturday, Sept. 10, from 5–6 p.m. The public is invited to take in the sights of more than 700 Marines’ ascending from Fifth Avenue to Riverfront Park. The sounds of the full ceremonial Marine Band San Diego will energize the crowd on Lower Broadway as the Silent Drill Platoon’s rifles will spin and toss without a single verbal command. Before the parade, the Marines invite big kids and little ones …

From the air, land, sea … and the Cumberland River! Please join the U.S. Marines as they demonstrate the Marine Corps Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) in downtown Nashville’s Riverfront Park. The first of two Marine Air-Ground Task Force demonstrations will be held at Riverfront Park on Friday, Sept. 9, from 1:15–1:45 p.m. The demo will be followed by a high-energy concert from Marine Band San Diego’s “Sound Strike” and the “Double Time Brass Band.” The MAGTF demonstration may be loud; but it’s going to be fun, and all demonstrations are free and open to the public. The downtown core area …

Following reveille on Thursday, Sept. 8, the Marines will wake up Nashville with physical fitness workouts at Walk of Fame park. Nashvillians will be put to the test as they join the Marines during their morning physical fitness training at 7 a.m. The hourlong training, which can be modified for any experience level, will demonstrate how to use your own body weight and will be self-paced. Marines will both encourage and motivate participants throughout the training exercise. Don’t forget to bring some water. Thursday’s other highlights include: Marine Art Project, 8 a.m.–5 p.m., at Douglas Corner Café, (five Marines paint …

Civil rights pioneer, statesman and author U.S. Rep. John Lewis will be honored with the Nashville Public Library Literary Award on Saturday, Nov. 19. Lewis will discuss his New York Times best-selling graphic novel trilogy “March” during a free public lecture and book signing that same day at 10 a.m. at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Academic Magnet High School (613 17th Ave. N). “Through the ‘March’ trilogy, Congressman Lewis is engaging a new generation of readers in civil rights history,” said Tari Hughes, president of the Nashville Public Library Foundation. “His story is inspiring and educational, and it holds …