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Franklin Public Radio - wfpr.fm Schedule for Wednesday, March 26, 2025 |
Providing accurate and timely information about what matters in Franklin, MA since 2007. * Working in collaboration with Franklin TV and Radio (wfpr.fm) since October 2019 *
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Franklin Public Radio - wfpr.fm Schedule for Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
CommonWealth Beacon: Codcast episode features Ed Augustus on housing (audio)
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CommonWealth Beacon: Codcast episode |
Monday, March 24, 2025
Franklin Food Pantry Offers Eight Unforgettable Vacations at Party for the Pantry Event - March 29
• Trips valid for 3 years with no blackout dates• 4 and 5-star accommodations• Most packages include round-trip airfare for two from any major U.S. international airport• Dedicated AmFund travel specialist to assist with every detail• Options to upgrade, extend, and add travelers
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features local bands |
The Franklin Food Pantry, Inc. offers supplemental food assistance, household necessities, and resource referrals to more than 1,800 individuals per year. The Pantry relies on donations and grants to purchase items and pay for daily operations, and partnerships with The Greater Boston Food Bank, Spoonfuls, and local grocery stores to achieve greater buying power and lower costs.
Programs include In-person Shopping, Curbside Pick-up, Emergency Food Bags, Mobile Pantries, Home Delivery, Kids’ Snack Bags, Weekend Backpacks, Holiday Meals, and the SNAP match at Franklin Farmers Market. The Pantry is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization in good standing in Massachusetts, recognized by Charity Navigator as a Four-Star Charity, and awarded GuideStar’s Platinum Transparency ranking. The Pantry is located at 341 W Central St. in Franklin, MA on Route 140. Please visit www.franklinfoodpantry.org for more information.
Each year, the American Fundraising Foundation (AmFund) carefully chooses organizations to support through sponsorship of events, year-end grant distribution, virtual silent auctions, and other programs to raise much-needed unrestricted funds for the important mission of those organizations. AmFund currently partners with nearly 700 organizations in support of their funding needs.
The national headquarters is in Florida and opens its training center to nonprofit organizations for lunch and learns and special programs. Its Educational Foundation is a federally recognized 501(c)3 and provides professional training for Development Directors, Executive Directors, Board Members, and others leveraging more than two decades of fundraising experience. It offers expertise in a variety of topics for groups ranging in size from 12 to 1000.
Since its inception in 1999, the AmFund Foundation has distributed more than $60 million for worthy causes. Its signature silent auctions featuring once-in-a-lifetime experiences are presented at organizations’ special events drawing admiration, praise and excitement as the entire process elevates the event in the eyes of patrons, board members and the community.
AmFund annually donates unrestricted funds known as Golden Pear Grants, to select organizations. The Golden Pear, prominently part of AmFund’s logo, is deeply rooted in history as well as in its mission. Throughout history the pear has been honored as a sacred fruit signifying wisdom, prosperity, good health, longevity, and future happiness – all the things Amfund seeks for its nonprofit partners. For more information about AmFund, visit www.amfund.org.
Sunday, March 23, 2025
Franklin Town Council sets June 3 for date of Override vote on $3,862,672 to balance FY 2026 budget (audio)
FM #1412 This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1412 in the series.
This session shares the Franklin (MA) Town Council Meeting of Wednesday, March 19, 2025. 8 of the 9 of the members participated in Council Chambers (1 absent - Dellorco).
Quick recap:
after approval of 2 prior meeting minutes, the Council get to the key item and after a brief discussion took two votes;
one to approve the amount and ballot question text
the second to set the date, Tuesday, June 3, 2025 for the override
both votes were 8-0-1 (1 absent)
The School Committee had met earlier that evening and voted unanimously to support the override vote. Chair Dave Callaghan and Vice-Chair David McNeill stood up to make that announcement during the discussion
Other legislation for action on the minimum item agenda for the evening; 2 items to extend the sewer and water lines to a new residence that had already been approved in the first vote both received the passing vote by the same 8-0-1 vote (1 absent) via roll call
A resolution accepting gifts to the Veterans services was approved and thanks extended
Town Administrator's Report
Jamie acknowledged receipt of a letter from Archbishop Henning commending the work of the Fire Dept on the St Mary's Church fire. He had just recently attended the re-opening masses. The letter will be posted to the Town pages
The lease for Town use of the Ferrara's parking lot was signed to extend the agreement for 5 years
The final approvals on the deed and associated documents for the Old South Church were completed and to be handed over to Habitat for Humanity so the docs can be filed with the Registrar of Deeds, and work can begin to renovate the building for a residence
After a round of Councilor comments, the meeting closed
Let’s listen to the meeting recording which runs about 1 hour and 38 minutes. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1412-town-council-mtg-03-19-25/
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Franklin TV video for replay of meeting -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoNPkBHRLzI
The agenda doc released for the meeting -> https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03192025-1639
My full set of notes taken during the meeting (in one PDF) -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TPEkxHcViPCNwOGHmiydPVt1rGW5Xy05/view?usp=drive_link
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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.
How can you help?
If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like something here, please let me know
And if you have interest in reporting on meetings or events, please reach. We’ll share and show you what and how we do what we do
Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
------------------
You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
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Franklin TV video for replay of meeting -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoNPkBHRLzI |
Franklin TV: Show Me a Sign!
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wfpr sign at Davis Thayer |
Thank you for watching.Thank you for listening to wfpr●fm.And staying informed at Franklin●news
Get this week's program guide for Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) online http://franklin.tv/programguide.pdf
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Watch Listen Read all things that matter in Franklin MA |
Saturday, March 22, 2025
Watch, Listen, Read: The 6th Joint Budget Listening Session - Wednesday, March 19
Updated FY 2026 budget document -> https://www.franklinma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/4593/2025-03-05-Town-Council-Preliminary-Budget-Presentation-v2
Citizen discounts and exemptions -> https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/4418/Local-and-State-Assistance-Programs-PDF
Franklin Town Council sets June 3 for date of Override vote on $3,862,672 to balance FY 2026 budget (audio)
FM #1411 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1411 in the series.
This session of the radio show shares our “Town Council Quarterbacking” with Town Council Chair Tom Mercer. We had our conversation via the Zoom Conference Bridge on Friday, March 21, 2025.
Our conversation condensed the Town Council meeting of March 19, 2025.
We focus on two questions:
• ok, what just happened?
• What does it mean for Franklin residents and taxpayers?
Topics for this session
Discussion and vote to set an override before the community in the amount of $3,862,672 and on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. There were 2 separate votes, one on the ballot question text and the second on the date. Both passed with the same 8-0-1 (8 for, none against, 1 absent - Dellorco)
The School Committee had met earlier that evening and voted unanimously to support the override vote. Chair Dave Callaghan and Vice-Chair David McNeill stood up to make that announcement during the discussion
Other legislation for action on the minimum item agenda for the evening; 2 items to extend the sewer and water lines to a new residence that had already been approved in the first vote both received the passing vote by the same 8-0-1 vote (1 absent) via roll call
A resolution accepting gifts to the Veterans services was approved and thanks extended
Town Administrator's Report
Jamie acknowledged receipt of a letter from Archbishop Henning commending the work of the Fire Dept on the St Mary's Church fire. He had just recently attended the re-opening masses. The letter will be posted to the Town pages
The lease for Town use of the Ferrara's parking lot was signed to extend the agreement for 5 years
The final approvals on the deed and associated documents for the Old South Church were completed and to be handed over to Habitat for Humanity so the docs can be filed with the Registrar of Deeds, and work can begin to renovate the building for a residence
Let’s listen to my conversation with Tom as we recap the Town Council meeting. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1411-town-council-quarterbacking-03-21-25/
--------------
Franklin TV video for replay of meeting -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoNPkBHRLzI
The agenda doc released for the meeting -> https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03192025-1639
My full set of notes taken during the meeting (in one PDF) -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TPEkxHcViPCNwOGHmiydPVt1rGW5Xy05/view?usp=drive_link
--------------
We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.
How can you help?
If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like something here, please let me know
And if you have interest in reporting on meetings or events, please reach out. We’ll share and show you what and how we do what we do
Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
------------------
You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
![]() |
Franklin TV video for replay of meeting -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoNPkBHRLzI |