Franklin Matters: reporting by walking around

Showing posts with label reporting by walking around. Show all posts

Monday, November 30, 2015

Walking in the rain on Saturday (photo essay)

The light rain did not stop me from walking around Franklin on Saturday

new traffic calming island on Oak St

sidewalk at the Oak St/Horace Mann schools

new batting cage among the new athletic fields ar FHS

maybe a new piece has been added to the Sculpture Park. possibly titled "2 mismatched gloves by the rock"

fish swimming along

looks like preparation for a new sign for the Mosley Mills

big old tree now cut down by the Agway on Cottage St showing its rings

Monday, October 5, 2015

Reporting by Walking Around: Pond St Tour (audio)

Saturday was a rainy day so on my walk I decided to explore the former sewer treatment plant on Pond St here in Franklin. The property is not as flat as one might think. There are some significant drop offs as the land rolls out to the wetlands along i495.

Clearly, I may have been the most recent visitor but have not been the only one. Evidence of dirt bikes wheeling through the trails and along the dirt roadway is in abundance. There is also a section of the woods where some banners and other tape marks off the path for corners as if there had been a race of some sort once upon a time.

Here is a brief audio recording while I was in the middle of the property admiring some stone walls.

Check out the Flickr slideshow of the key photos of what I saw on the walk.

What remains of the sewer treatment plant?

Not much. There are concrete sewer pipes in a pile here, some wells for checking the water quality here and there. The one significant piece I did find was the remains of the circular aeration tank.

circular shape of the familiar aeration tank

Monday, September 28, 2015

Reporting by Walking Around - Sunday, Sep 27 (photo essay)

a good reminder

Signs and other promotional material are available at http://drivelikeyourkidslivehere.com/

Fortunately, Franklin Police do pay attention to speeding and coincidentally, the speed monitor boards were out in both directions on Union St on Sunday. They had been switched over from alerting about the railroad crossing closing for Saturday.

speed monitor on Union St

The traffic was a mess on Saturday trying to navigate around Franklin. Folks unaware of the crossing repair work were being re-routed on East St to West Central St and then to Cottage. Or via Cottage downtown to West Central.

the newly repaired railroad crossing on Union St

brick cross walk showing increase sign of wearing, brick will be coming out soon

even with all the construction, have a wonderful day!

Monday, September 21, 2015

Reporting by Walking Around - Saturday, Sep 19, 2015

The walk was good Saturday. Follow along and see what is happening around town.

No school on Wednesday Sep 23

The photo was taken earlier in the week and not previously posted. With the Jewish holidays last week and this week, and Labor Day, the schools won't see a full five day week until the week of Sep 28. Not a bad way to ease into the school year!

construction continues to make progress albeit slowly downtown

The intersection of Emmons and West Central continues to be worked on. The updated project schedule was shared earlier this week. If you missed it, you can find it here:
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2015/09/downtown-project-update-10.html

Monthly library book and bag sale weekend

Capstone project to raise money for wells and water worldwide

Framcisco Coakley is working on his capstone project for the Charter School. He organized a 'walk-a-thon' for Saturday morning to help raise money for Walk4Wells.org/ For every $249 raised, one well is installed in a community in need.

An information stat for the walk-a-thon Saturday

Walk4Wells is based in Rhode Island and seeks to build wells around the world to help improve accessibility to drinking water. As Franklin depends upon the underground aquifers for its own water supply, it makes sense to help raise awareness.

clean fill being added to the space where the parking lot will be expanded at the Senior Center

The building committee for the Senior Center 2nd Floor project will need the expanded parking lot for when the project is complete. A property on Beaver St became available, was purchased, the building razed, and now work is continuing to fill in the space.

The Senior Center building committee has a funding request before the Town Council on the agenda for this Wednesday's meeting.
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2015/09/franklin-ma-town-council-agenda-sep-23.html

the blue is padding to cover the cement wall

The new practice field is already being used.

the blue is padding set to provide a cushion

The blue is set away from the cement wall to help provide a cushion.

new FHS tennis courts painted and ready

The tennis courts are painted and ready.

The Tower truck was used to hang a large US flag

Later in the afternoon, I came by West Central to find the Fire Dept's tower truck hanging a large US flag. Apparently hung out to honor the 10th Anniversary motorcycle ride in memory of Lance Corporal Shayne Cabino. Additional information on Shayne's Run can be found here
http://www.shaynesrun.com/

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Reporting by walking around - Saturday, Aug 29 (photo essay)

Reporting by walking around on Saturday morning, Aug 29.

The DPW is replacing the sewer line on Dale St.


sidewalk work along West Central in front of the Historical Museum


sidewalk work in front of Dean on West Central

sidewalk work on the other side of West Central at Dean


sidewalk in front of Davis Thayer

new sidewalk on Davis Thayer where the modulars were located

the FHS boys cross country team out for their workout

the FHS girls cross country team out for their workout

Sculpture Park, Franklin Art Center ladybug

fish painted during the Cultural Festival now hung along the railing

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Reporting by walking around: Sunday, Aug 16 (photo essay)

The walk Sunday took me out Chestnut St through Chestnut Ridge and back East Central to find out what was happening in that area. Turns out that there is a bunch of things going on.