Franklin Matters

Saturday, August 6, 2011

In the News - kites, horses

Franklin couple lives to make kites

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Justin Birmbaum and Whitney Clearman, Daily News staff

Franklin woman wants drivers to beware of horses

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Alison McCall/Daily News staff

Headed out to Sturbridge today for the PMC!

An email from Marty Middelmann provides info n the PMC schedule:

Thank you all for contributing to my PMC ride. So far I have raised over $4,600!

I'm headed out to Sturbridge today for my 3rd Pan Mass Challenge.

If you want to be a part of it you can watch the opening ceremonies at 7:00 pm tonight either on WCVB Channel 5 or, if you don't happen to live in Massachusetts, live streamed online at www.thebostonchannel.com.

(Don't worry everybody, you'll only miss the first hour of the Yankees/Red Sox game ;-) )

I will be posting updates throughout the weekend on Twitter http://twitter.com/PMC_M8R and on my FaceBook Page: http://www.facebook.com/PMCMarty

---------------------------------------------------------
Martin Middelmann
Pan-Mass Challenge Rider
Cure Cancer by donating here:
http://pmc.org/MM0373
---------------------------------------------------------

Friday, August 5, 2011

Farmers' Market: noon to 6:00 PM

Franklin Farmers Market, Friday, 12:00pm to 6:00pm

Located on the Town Common

Reminder that the Farmers' Market now accepts SNAP dollars and can double your purchasing power.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/07/franklin-farmers-market-doubles-food.html

Visit the Food Pantry tent at the Farmers' Market for details.

British Beer Company - ribbon cutting

The United Chamber of Commerce welcomed the British Beer Company (BBC) with a ribbon cutting ceremony this week. The British Beer Company opened in January in the former Applebee's location at the Franklin Village Mall. It is a very popular place with waits up to 90 minutes on Friday's nights.

For more information on the United Regional Chamber of Commerce visit their website
http://www.unitedchamber.org/

Related post:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/12/british-are-coming-to-franklin.html

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Jane's Frames: You don't want to miss this Inventory Clearance Sale!

Custom Picture Framing & Art Gallery

Dear Steve,

30-75% off all Framed Art

Jane's Frames is continuing this amazing SALE

until August 13th!

You will also save an extra 10%* off this already discounted Framed Art.

Help us make room for the August 18th Artists' Reception and Show

*bring in coupon below*

All Unframed Art, including giclees, photography prints and posters are also 25-60% off .

Save 25% on your 1st Custom Frame*	Save 30% on your 2nd Custom Frame* Save 35% on your 3rd Custom Frame* Check out our website www.Janesframes.com
Offer Expires: August 13, 2011 Custom Frame includes in-stock frame and mat*

Save an extra 10% off!	In order to make room for the August 18th Artist Gallery Reception and Show we have greatly reduced all our Framed Art up to 75% off. You will receive an extra 10% off this reduced price with this coupon. This is only for you, our loyal and valued customers.
Offer Expires: August 13th, 2011

Forward email

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Jane's Frames | 11 East Central Street | Franklin | MA | 02038

Note: This is not a paid advertisement. I have used and paid for framing services from Jane's Frames

Interesting reports on school funding

Two interesting reports for summer reading:

The Design of the Rhode Island School Funding Formula

from Center for American Progress by Kenneth K. Wong

Measuring Inequity in School Funding

from Center for American Progress by Diana Epstein

In the News - high school sports

Franklin High fall sports registration slated

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Math can explain Franklin

I had heard that the walking speed of people in cities varies according to the size of the city. The larger the size of the city, the faster the walking speed. Think about it and you can see from your own travels that this is true. Walk around Franklin. Go to Boston. Go to New York. You do need to walk much faster in New York to keep up with the flow on the sidewalk don't you?

The walking speed is one aspect of the theory that is coming together now about how cities and companies grow. Why does this matter? What has Franklin done? The population has tripled since the 1960's.

The problems Franklin faced when it was 10,000 people are different that it is now 30,000 people. The ideas that worked for 10,000 won't necessarily work for 30,000 people. Why? A multitude of reasons but there is one basic and fundamental reason that is now explained by Geoffrey West with this new theory.

Watch the video (18 minutes). More than once to get the information and begin to digest it.

Fascinating stuff. Follow the links to the TED Talk page and find additional information on the studies that have brought this theory to light.

I happen to think that Franklin tends to behave like a teenager. We are in that middle stage of growth trying to remain a kid yet forced to recognize that we have an adult-like body. We still want to play but are being forced to work, and not just 'to work' but 'to work' differently than our parents. It is a new and changing world.

How do you think this applies to Franklin?

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view the video.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

How quiet is it?

How quiet is it in Franklin?

I guess there is nothing to say?

In the News - Cultural Council

Franklin Cultural Council looking for members

by Staff reports

Monday, August 1, 2011

Election 2011 - Summary

Election results
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/11/election-results-nov-8-2011.html

Election results (Town Clerk sheet with counts by precinct)
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/11/election-results-2011-precinct-totals.html

Election Time Line and info
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/08/franklin-election-details-are-now.html

Offer to Candidates
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/03/offer-to-candidates-for-election.html

Candidate questions
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/09/what-would-you-like-to-know.html

Candidate Interviews
Rich Aucoin answers 3 questions
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/10/rich-aucoin-answers-3-questions.html

Deborah Bartlett answers 3 questions
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/10/deborah-bartlett-answers-3-questions.html

Ed Cafasso answers 3 questions
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/11/ed-cafasso-answers-3-questions.html

Sean Donahue answers 3 questions
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/10/sean-donahue-answers-3-questions.html

Glenn Jones answers 3 questions
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/11/glenn-jones-answers-3-questions.html

Tina Powderly answers 3 questions
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/11/tina-powderly-answers-3-questions.html

Jeffrey Roy answers 3 questions
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/11/jeffrey-roy-answers-3-questions.html

Candidate Night Summary
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/10/candidate-night-summary.html

Candidate Night Video clips (each link takes you to that section)

Town Clerk Treasurer/Collector

Board of Health Town Council

School Committee

Note: the Forum was only for the contested positions. The candidates for Constable declined to appear.

Town Council Attendance Chart
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/09/franklin-ma-town-council-attendance.html

Election sign collection (captured with my phone camera while running around town)
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/10/election-signs.html

Milford Daily News articles

"I feel, why change this now?"

"It isn't something you can do overnight"

The Nov 8th line up confirmed
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/09/november-8-election-line-up.html

The line up gets closer
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/09/ballot-line-up-is-being-confirmed-today.html

Vote Tuesday
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/11/in-news-vote-tuesday-friends-get.html

Milford Daily News candidate profiles

Constable

Profile of Phillip Brunelli
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/11/in-news-brunelli-veterans.html

Profile of Charles Delfino
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/11/in-news-delfino.html

Planning Board

Profile of Greg Ballarino
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/11/in-news-ballarino-noreaster-schools.html

Profile of William David
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/11/in-news-david-fire-safety-storm-fallout.html

Town Council

Board of Health

Profile on Phillip Brunelli
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/10/in-news-brunelli-nclb-local-aid.html

Profile on Richard Aucoin
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/10/in-news-aucoin.html

Profile on Donald Ranieri, Jr
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/10/in-news-ranieri.html

Town Clerk

Profile on Deborah Bartlett
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/10/in-news-bartlett-casino-bill-national.html

Profile on Deborah Pellegri
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/10/in-news-pellegri-scrapbooking.html

Board of Assessors

Profile on Ken Norman
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/10/in-news-norman-film.html

Profile on Vincent Debaggis
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/10/in-news-debaggis-spaghetti-flu.html

Treasurer/Collector

Profile on Mark Denommee
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/10/in-news-denommee-book-sale.html

Profile on Jim Dacey
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/10/in-news-dacey.html

School Committee

Candidate websites

(if you know of a candidate website not listed here, please let me know)

Deb Bartlett - https://sites.google.com/site/debbartlettfranklinma/

Mark Denommee - www.markdenommee.com and http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mark-Denommee-TreasurerCollector-Franklin-MA/132051246894946

Sean Donahue - http://donahueforfranklin.com/ and http://www.facebook.com/donahueforfranklin

John Jewell - http://www.jewellforschoolkids.com/

Glenn Jones - http://www.glennfjones.com/intro.htm and http://www.facebook.com/pages/Glenn-Jones-Franklin-Town-Council/199711333421

Tina Powderly - http://www.tinapowderly.com/ and http://www.facebook.com/TinaPowderly

Jeffrey Roy - http://jeffreyroy.com/

Downtown Project - paving progress

On my walk downtown Sunday morning, I took these photos. Depot St looking toward the Municipal parking lot. The train station is down to the right.

Emmons St at the corner of Main St. Dean College is immediately to the left.

Additional info on the two downtown projects funded by State and Federal money can be found here
http://franklindowntownpartnership.blogspot.com/p/downtown-project.html

"are there enough people who understand the need for a school?"

The Boston Globe West captures the high school building project in part by writing:

The complexity of the current building would make renovations very invasive to the school day, officials said. With 19 different roof lines and walls primarily lined with cinder block, construction workers couldn’t possibly refurbish the school in a discreet manner.

“We would literally have to rip apart the walls to get to the plumbing,’’ said Sabolinski.

As the building committee conducted a feasibility study, it discovered that renovations would also prove very costly. In a budget document released to the public in March, the committee revealed that an extensive renovation would cost $97.9 million before state reimbursement. In the same document, the projection for a model school stood at $91.6 million. But the state allocates an additional 5 percent to the total reimbursement of the model school project, which lowers the final town cost to just under $40 million.

For years the committee debated the renovation-rebuilding quandary, until the scales tipped decidedly last month when the Massachusetts School Building Authority indicated that it would probably invite Franklin to join its model school program. A quasi-independent government agency, the state authority aims to streamline public school building projects throughout the Commonwealth.

You can read the full article here:

In the News - record destruction

Franklin Public Schools to destroy records

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

PanMass Challenge: Franklin riders

To help with the fund raising efforts of the Franklin riders for the PanMass Challenge, here are the links to their individual fund raising pages (in alphabet order by last name):

Tim Brightman http://www.pmc.org/profile/TB0006

Peter Lounsbury - http://www.pmc.org/profile/PL0048

Paul Metcalf http://www.pmc.org/profile/PM0053

Martin Middelmann http://www.pmc.org/profile/MM0373

Jeff Nutting http://www.pmc.org/profile/JN0077

Ethan Pearl http://www.pmc.org/profile/EP0070

Michele Pearl http://www.pmc.org/profile/MP0164

Jeff Roy http://www.pmc.org/profile/JR0142

Debbie Van Vort - http://www.pmc.org/profile/DV0016

Scott Young - http://www.pmc.org/profile/MR0067

If there are other Franklin riders, please let me know and I'll add them here.

PanMass Challenge rides through Franklin Saturday

The Remington Jefferson School complex will be busy Saturday morning. The site is a rest stop on the course for the PanMass Challenge. Hundreds of bike riders will roll through, take a quick break, some refreshments, pose for pictures with friends and family and ride on!

Slide show of photos from 2009:

The site lays out the purpose of the PMC in plain words - "When cyclists register for the PMC, they are signing up for a fundraising mission first and a bike ride second. ... Raising money for cancer research and treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is the core of the PMC mission."

"We're remaining true to the mission," said Starr.

---

Riders settle into their own methods of raising money. Most send out letters each year, via email and the Postal Service, but their recipients vary from 50 people who give much, to 200 people who give what they can. Some letters are personalized, some are identical form letters. Some have heart-wrenching stories, while others simply remind loyal followers that it's the time of year to give again.

To donate to any of the riders or teams in the PMC, check pmc.org and plug a name or team into the search bar.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/archive/x1764488225/Pan-Mass-Challenge-Finding-funds-for-the-fight#ixzz1TgLc8QXC

To help search for Franklin riders, I have a page set up with the links to their individual fund raising pages.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/07/panmass-challenge-franklin-riders.html

If there are other Franklin riders, please let me know

"The drug containers work like a mailbox"

Medway and 12 other Norfolk County towns are using the drug containers after Morrissey wrote the county police chiefs in May and asked them to participate in the program.

Franklin and Wrentham also have the boxes, and about 300,000 people will have access to the containers across the county, Morrissey said.

Franklin Police Chief Stephen Williams said a container has been at the station for about a month.

"I think prescription drug abuse is endemic almost everywhere," Williams said. "We're seeing many of our young people become involved in it, and where are they getting the drugs from? From their mom and dad's prescriptions and friends."

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Stepping up to fill in the gap

Look closely. Franklin ball field, A sign clearly stating that the backstop was donated by the fence company to the Franklin Girls Softball Assoc. The property is owned and maintained by Franklin but as the budget shrinks from year to year, organizations and companies are stepping up to fill in the gaps. This is happening all over town. It is the little things like this that make Franklin a good place to live.

Thank you Mr Fence and Franklin Girls Softball Assoc

Other recent examples:

1 - Eagle Scout project
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/07/franklindean-station-looks-better-now.html

2 - Downtown Partnership
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/07/living-in-cracks.html

Are there other examples, you can share?

Friday, July 29, 2011

Franklin/Dean Station looks better now!

Local Eagle Scouts from Franklin organized a beautification project with the help of the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company for the Franklin/Dean College commuter rail station. Scouts and MBCR staff planted shrubs and flowers as part of the project.

MBCR operates the commuter rail system under a contract with the MBTA.

Thanks to the Eagle Scouts!

Photo 1 (L-R): Molly Dickenson, Samantha Conway, Patrick Cunniff, Cathy Tomaso, Grant Conway, Cameron Cawley, Mike Miga and Chris Gerber – all of Franklin.

Photo 2 (L-R): Molly Dickenson, Grant Conway, Cathy Tomaso, and Samantha Conway

Farmers Market Open Today !

Franklin Farmers Market, Friday, 12:00pm to 6:00pm

Located on the Town Common

In the News - Milford Trail, tornado cleanup

For those who like to ride their bikes

Milford trail work almost done

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Brian Benson/Daily News staff

For those with some spare time this weekend

Volunteers needed for tornado cleanup this weekend

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Staff reports

Mower n More summer 2011 closure

How about a lawn mower service that you can request via the web? You can pick a date/time to set the appointment and then they appear in your driveway? Such a service does exist. I was surprised to find them but have used the website and find it quick easy to use.

The following email was just received:

Hi Steve,

Please be advised that Mower n More will be closed for vacation from August 11, 2011 to August 29, 2011.

Until then, we are happy to offer a deep discount on mower tune-ups:

$20 off up to 22 inch = $59 (a regular walk-behind)
$40 off 23-42 inch = $159 (most common riding mowers or wide walk-behind)
$50 off over 42 inch = $189 (Garden tractors or commercial walk-behind)
$29 off Extended-area surcharge = $0 (with a minimum purchase of $150, except Sharon and Mansfield)

Our experience shows that most major repairs are a direct result of under-service: Lack of lubrication, components out of adjustment, restricted cooling air flow (engine, deck spindles), rubbing parts, dirty air filter, low oil etc...

Book Now
Use promo code 811

Offer is only valid as long as appointment slots are available by August 10, 2011.

Click here for more information about our service.
Click here to see what is included

This message is sent to you as a customer of Mower n More. We believe the content to be beneficial to you, but if you would like to be removed from future mailings, click here to send us a removal email.

Mower n More, P.O. Box 201, Hopedale MA, 01747. (508) 478-2004

The Mower and More website can be found here: http://mowernmore.com/

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Wachusett St - final paving layer added

The final layer of paving was added early this week to Wachusett St.

No puddles appeared after the rain went through the area Tuesday night so that is a good sign.

They still need to finish the driveway for the Parmenter School as show in this photo.

"for a lot of reasons it's the best choice"

Town officials originally thought to make repairs to the high school, which has so many problems that a national school accreditation agency put Franklin on warning status. To make the necessary repairs, workers would need to gut the school as the whole building would need to be brought up to the current building code.

A new building is expected to be constructed atop the current tennis courts, a baseball field and a softball field, putting the school closer to the football field and track.

Construction would take two years; renovation would have required four years of work, officials have said.

School leaders have said a key benefit of a new school would be that students could make use of the existing structure while a new one is being built.

"I think for a lot of reasons it's the best choice, not the least of which (is) there will be no disruption of the educational process," said Thomas Mercer, chairman of the town's School Building Committee.