You may get quoted for a book on "Massachusetts Town Greens"

I have been commissioned by a major book publisher to write a book, "Massachusetts Town Greens," and am thrilled to have the Franklin Town Common in the mix. 

At this time, I am looking for quotes from Franklin residents on why they love their town common. It could be a general statement/perspective or something based on personal experience. 

By posting on the Franklin Matters page under my post or sending your feedback by email to feedback@visitingnewengland.com, I will be more than happy to include a few quotes in the book. 

The book will be out around July 2016 and be about 260 pages. 

Thanks! 

Best regards, 

Eric Hurwitz

Franklin Town Common

The wikipedia entry for town greens  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Village_green

You can respond to Eric on the Franklin Matters Facebook page here
https://www.facebook.com/franklinmatters/posts_to_page

or via email to me and I can forward it on to Eric.

FPAC 2015 Gala - Silver is the New Black

Franklin Performing Arts Company

FPAC's Gala Celebration is only a week away! Have you purchased your tickets yet? If not – click here: http://tinyurl.com/ng7xz8y Click here to see Highlights from past Galas! https://youtu.be/S4A75UKcDqQ Enjoy Dinner, Dancing and Fantastic Entertainment featuring a special performance by Broadway's Jenn Colella.  Spectacular Live and Silent Auctions include: Four Matilda Company Seats to see FPAC's own Jack Mullen on Broadway, including a visit with Jack after the show (These are the best seats in the house!); a Dream Vacation for Eight in Glorious St. John at White Cottage Villa; a 3-bedroom (sleeps 12) suite at the Holiday Inn Club Vacations in Kissimee, Florida (near Walt Disney World) during April Vacation week; Bruins, Patriot and Celtics tickets! See you October 3rd! FPAC 2015 Gala - Silver is the New Black View card

Franklin Node Joins 350 Mass The Greater Franklin node is the newest addition to 350 Mass! Node members from Franklin, Medway, and the surrounding towns are organizing to stop Spectra's Access Northeast gas pipeline. Node members are calling on local town officials to withhold approval for Spectra's pipeline proposal. The node is also coordinating with the Stop the Medway Power Plant group  -- on September 17, the two joined forces for a protest outside a meeting between Lt. Governor Karen Polito and Medway selectmen.

The node meets on the first and third Thursdays of every month. Carolyn Barthel is the node coordinator and can answer any questions: her email address is carolyncbarthel@gmail.com.  What: 350 Mass Node Meeting (Franklin) When: Thu, October 1, 7pm – 9pm Where: First Universalist Society in Franklin, 262 Chestnut Street, Franklin

To view the full 350 Mass newsletter follow this link
http://betterfutureproject.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/d/50788B05A743CF11

In the News: Y costume swap, Solar Challenge succeeds, Neighbor Brigade recognized, Sen Spilka plans office hours

The Hockomock Area YMCA invites families in the community to participate in a Halloween costume swap Oct. 8 and a farm day at Wards Berry Farm Oct. 13. 

Families are invited to bring their clean, gently-used costumes into any Member Service Desk at the following branches: Bernon Family Branch, 45 Forge Hill Road, Franklin; Invensys Foxboro Branch, 67 Mechanic St., Foxborough; and North Attleboro Branch, 300 Elmwood St., North Attleborough, no later than Oct. 7.

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20150928/NEWS/150926376/1994/NEWS

The Franklin Solar Challenge has reached another milestone, earning a solar array for a local nonprofit organization. 

The challenge, which offers increasing tiers of savings for townspeople who agree to put solar systems on their properties, has been ongoing. It was originally set to end in September, but was extended to Oct. 15 to accommodate higher-than-expected interest.

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20150928/NEWS/150926180/1994/NEWS

The Franklin Town Council recently honored a local volunteer group for the work it does for area residents. 

The council, at its meeting last week, read a proclamation in honor of and awarded a trophy to the local chapter of the Neighbor Brigade. 

Council Chairman Robert Vallee read the proclamation to chapter leaders Linda Gagnon and Cheryl Ferri.

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20150928/NEWS/150926155/1994/NEWS

Franklin has its own Neighbor Brigade chapter

State Sen. Karen Spilka (D-Ashland) or representatives from her staff will be available for district office hours in Franklin and Medway on Friday, Oct. 2. Constituents are invited to share their concerns, questions and policy priorities and hear updates on the latest news and events from the State House and in the district. 

Medway's office hour will be held 12-1 p.m. at the Muffin House Café, 116 Main St., Medway. 

Franklins office hour will be held 1:30-2:30 p.m. at The Cake Bar, 17 E Central St., Franklin. 

Residents who are unable to attend or are interested in scheduling an appointment should contact Spilka’s office at 617-722-1640 at any time.

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20150929/NEWS/150926079/1994/NEWS

How will the pilot work out?

In a pilot program announced Friday, Boston's MBTA is going to start tracking public-transit rider movements using beacons--stationary devices that measure the movements of people carrying smartphones, usually using bluetooth or Wi-Fi. 

It's similar to technology used by retailers to track customer movements in store. In another example, a Boston startup, Cuseum, uses beacons to track people's movements through museums, providing data designed to help museum operators engage with visitors.

An important item on a number of front is provided  by the following statement by the MBTA in their press release:

No personally identifiable information will be collected through this pilot program. Operating in a transmit mode similar to GPS, beacons cannot see, collect or store any personal data or consumer information. Beacons are transmit-only Bluetooth low energy devices that send out a signal that can only be used by user-enabled apps running on mobile devices to trigger location-specific content. In order for a mobile device to detect a beacon, a user must download an app that utilizes the technology and opt-in to allow the app to receive the beacon's signal.

While one of the objectives is to
"How beacon technology can be used to help the MBTA better communicate with riders"

another is to
"How brands can increase engagement and interaction with commuters based on proximity"

Will the communications really improve alerting riders to the schedule changes, or simply that someone has something to sell around the corner remains to be seen?

MBTA logo

You can read the Boston Innovation article here
http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2015/09/25/mbta-beacons-t-pilot-rider-tracking-tech-advertisers-others/

Note: the pilot supposedly started on Friday but what app is required to take part in this was not specified.

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!

Opioid Abuse in Massachusetts: What Parents Need to Know

"The number of annual deaths related to opioid use in Massachusetts increased dramatically between 2000 and 2014, according to the Department of Public Health (DPH). Parents should be aware that young people are at high risk of becoming involved in this fatal epidemic. Data provided by Governor Baker’s Opioid Working Group indicates that 74 percent of individuals with a substance use disorder began using by age 17. 

With resources from DPH, start a discussion about opioid abuse with your children, and learn how the Opioid Working Group is taking steps to protect young people from addiction."

screen grab of MA GOV page on "What parents need to know"

Continue reading the MA Gov article online 
http://blog.mass.gov/blog/government/opioid-abuse-in-massachusetts-what-parents-need-to-know/

"a pump will be needed to send water to the plant"

We need to be aware of what is happening in our neighborhood, not just along our streets but just over the town line. Medway is tackling the issue of the proposed power plant expansion and now Millis is getting involved.

The Board of Selectmen is expected to approve a contract with an engineering firm to perform a review of the town’s water system to determine the feasibility of selling water to Exelon, which is planning a 200-megawatt expansion of its Medway plant. 

The Medway water system is already overburdened, and as a result, the town can't sell water to Exelon, which needs an average of 95,000 gallons per day for emissions control for two proposed 100-megawatt turbines at its existing 117-megawatt oil-fired facility on Summer Street. Exelon is proposing to purchase water from Millis, which would then pump the water into Medway’s water system.

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20150927/NEWS/150926483/1994/NEWS

Additional resources:

Medway Peaker Project page  http://www.medwayenergy.com/about-our-project/facts/

Boston Globe's "The Argument" with both sides for the story
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/west/2015/08/13/the-argument-would-exelon-proposed-power-benefit-medway/nUCI1wACGvtYsim7XgZZZP/story.html

And the Stop Exelon Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/nopowerplantmedway

and webpage  www.stopmedwaypeaker.com

Neighbor Brigade is recognized for their work by the Town Council

In one of the shorter Town Council meetings, the Council heard the Neighbor Brigade presentation, recognized them for the work they do, and effectively handled several legislative items in about 30 minutes.

Linda Gagnon, Cheryl Ferri and Council Chair Bob Vallee

The Neighbor Brigade is a volunteer organization that helps individuals and families in need. They have been in existence for 5 years, founded by a woman from Wayland. Linda Gagnon was inspired to bring this community service to Franklin.

They provide a virtual network of services and this is their 3rd year of service for Franklin. They had 15 requests in the first year, 400 requests last year. The requests keep coming in. They coordinate to deliver meals and provide other help as needed.

The volunteers go above and beyond the call of duty. A mother loses her husband and doesn't know how to start a lawn mower. Another mother dealing with impending surgery, no other family support, the volunteers provide that help.

The Neighbor Brigade is in contact with other organization like the hospital, Schools, Fire Dept, Police Dept to make referrals as necessary.

To join or donate to the NEighbor Brigade visit them on the internet at
http://www.neighborbrigade.org/  or in Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/neighborbrigade


In the business portion of the meeting, the Council approve payment of a bill from 2015 fiscal year that just arrived. The Council authorized payment from insurance for a couple of occurrences. This is required when the amount exceeds 20,000 dollars.  

The School Building committee was formally disbanded. While the major work of the committee is complete, there remains a 'punch list' of items that still require attention. Tom Mercer, the committee chair, has been empowered to address those until they are complete.

The Senior Center Renovation Project was funded for an additional 601,000. This provides a total of 1.6M for the project to cover the current estimate. The Committee will now put out a formal bid for the work to be done to build out the second floor, add an elevator and do some other work in the building.

The complete notes taken live during the meeting can be found here:

• Live reporting: Legislation, through closing
• Live Reporting: Town Council - Sep 23

Improvement plans and accreditation are an ongoing cycle

The School Committee meeting featured the overviews of the school improvement plans for the 2015-2016 school year. The Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) and all the elementary schools presented. The Horace Mann Middle school also presented to give Shawn Fortin a chance to cover the work before he leaves in October.

(The new principal for Horace Mann was announced on Thursday as Rebecca Motte. She is currently an assistant principal at the Annie Sullivan Middle School.)

The school improvement plans build upon the District Improvement Plan presented in the prior School Committee meeting. Each school takes the district level plan and brings it to their level.

Links to each elementary school plan are included below. The district plan can be found here:
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2015/09/live-reporting-district-improvement-plan.html

Other note worthy items from the meeting:

The FHS accreditation process will begin Mar 2017. Committee leads have been appointed, training is starting and more info will be shared as the process develops. Recall that one of the drivers of the new FHS facility was to help close an accreditation item. The new school building opened successfully in Sep 2014, the item was closed and the whole new accreditation review cycle will begin again.

On October 15, music students from around the District will be performing at the October Stroll in business locations downtown.

As fall arrives this week, the District is gearing up for first snow planning meeting. They are looking to make some refinements on the snow plan, including to the process for clearing the FHS parking lots.

Finally the last FHS building Committee was held and the committee will be officially disbanded as the work is now complete. This is an item on the Town Council agenda for Weds. 

Updated from the Town Council meeting, while the major work of the committee is complete, there remains a 'punch list' of items that still require attention. Tom Mercer, the committee chair, has been empowered to address those until they are complete.

The set of notes reported live from the meeting on Tuesday, Sep 22 can be found here: 

• Live reporting: closing
• Live reporting: Action items
• Live reporting: Horace Mann Middle School
• Live reporting: Elementary School Improvement Plan...
• Live reporting: School Committee - Sep 22, 2015

the entrance to the new FHS

Franklin Food Pantry seeks additional donated space

The Franklin Food Pantry seeks additional donated space for our busy season!

Space will be used for non-perishable donations October through January. 

Franklin Food Pantry

Looking for:

• Ground level receiving and storing, no stairs.
• Roughly 800 square feet or more.
• Indoor temperature controlled.
• Room to setup tables and shelves for volunteers to sort and store food donations.
• FFP staff will need daily keyed access for scheduled donation drop-offs.

Please email erin@franklinfoodpantry.org or call the Franklin Food Pantry (508-528-3115) if you can help. 

Thank you!

Hayrides at Hoffman Farms - weekends through October

"Come visit Hoffmann Farm on the weekends this fall! We will have Hayrides out to our pumpkin patch, $8pp and you get a to pick a pumpkin!

Kids under 2 are free! 

Rides start at 1pm Saturday's and Sunday's through October. Rides go out every half hour and last ride is at 4:30. 

We have all your fall decor and the farm stand is open 10-6 daily with lots of fall veggies!!!"

Find more info about Hoffman Farm on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/HoffFarm?

Hoffman Farm - Facebook photo

FHS field hockey drops match, football touchdown video

The FHS field hockey team lost 2-0 to Walpole and we can shared this video of a key touchdown pass from Friday night's football game. Both items were shared from Hockomock Sports.

Field Hockey

Franklin, 0 vs. Walpole, 2 – Final 

– Seniors Taylor Reutlinger and Maddie Gendreau and junior Dana Lewandowski played a strong game for Franklin according to head coach Lisa Cropper.

For all the results across the Hockomock League on Saturday
http://www.hockomocksports.com/saturdays-schedule-scoreboard-092615/



And one of the highlights of Friday night's football game where the Panthers came back from a 13-0 deficit to win 14-13 was this pass.

"we’ve driven and rated every mile in town"

Milford Daily News has a long article on the road maintenance programs of the MetroWest communities and quotes DPW Director Robert (Brutus) Cantoreggi in a couple of places.

"If the base road is good, you can do maintenance over and over at a third of the cost of a full-depth reclamation," said Milford Highway Surveyor Scott Crisafulli. 

To maintain road integrity, local departments of public works and highway departments deploy an array of tools. The least intrusive, said Franklin DPW Director Robert "Brutus" Cantoreggi, is crack sealing. 

“With crack sealing, we take an emulsion and use it to fill hairline cracks,” he said. “That’s to keep out water which, during the winter, causes potholes. 

“It doesn’t look great, but it’s a very cost-effective way to maintain roads,” he added.

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20150926/NEWS/150926528/1994/NEWS

Crack seal

crack seal on Everett St, Franklin in 2014

Chip seal

chip seal on Delta Dr in 2014

rework the road base

Lewis St in 2015

new base

new base coat in place, the curbing and sidewalks are being installed before the final coat is applied on Lewis St

Final coat

the raised crosswalk at Dean College on the newly paved Main St

FHS football and field hockey win while golf and volleyball lose

It was a break-even Friday for the athletic teams at FHS where they posted wins in Football and Field Hockey while the Golf and Volleyball teams lost. The detailed results are shared from Hockomock Sports.

Football

Taunton, 13 @ Franklin, 14 – Final

• 1st Quarter: No scoring.
• 2nd Quarter: (T) Damion Theodule 1 yard rush, XP good; (T) Tanner Costa 46 yard rush, XP fail.
• 3rd Quarter: No scoring.
• 4th Quarter: (F) Brad Jarosz 1 yard rush, Nick Yelle XP good; (F) Jake Wolowacki 53 yard pass to Sam Harrell, N. Yelle XP good.

FHS Panthers

Volleyball

Mansfield, 3 @ Franklin, 1 – Final 

– Mansfield picked up wins in the first two games and finished it off in the fourth game. The Hornets took a 25-9, 25-21, 24-26, 25-18 win behind 10 kills from Meg Hill, six kills from Colleen Riley and 13 digs from Cathryn Heavey. Franklin’s Caroline Maguire had three kills, three blocks and a pair of aces, Aubrie Kutil had six kills and Dayna McCue finished with 22 digs and three aces.

Field Hockey

Franklin, 1 @ Taunton, 0 – Final 

– Franklin senior Kelsey McPhee scored the lone goal of the game while Panther goalie Samantha Jones have a big save on a breakaway to preserve the lead. Head coach Lisa Cropper said seniors Abby Egan, Maddie Gendreau and Kenzi Pleshaw all played well defensively.

Golf

Franklin, 171 @ King Philip, 156 – Final 

– King Philip’s Mickey Riley was the match medalist, shooting a 37 to lead the Warriors. Matt Dao shot a 40 for the Panthers.

For all the results around the Hockomock League
http://www.hockomocksports.com/fridays-schedule-scoreboard-092515/

"We've been meeting on the subject for over a year"

The town has removed parking meters along downtown East Central Street, a move that could be made permanent. 

Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting said the meters were being removed to accommodate ongoing roadwork taking place in the center of town. He said the status of the meters after the work is completed is in question. 

"There's been a proposal to not (put the meters back), but it hasn't been approved," he said. 

Nutting said the police department would be enforcing a two-hour parking limit where the meters once were. That regulation, he said, would remain in effect until the Town Council adopts more permanent rules.

New flag pole? No. Parking meter in process of being removed.

Continue reading the article online (Subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20150925/NEWS/150926713/1994/NEWS

Franklin News from the Twitterverse - Saturday, Sep 26

Drug Tack-Back Day is today from 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM, drop off your extra prescription medicines at the Franklin Police Station, 911 Panther Way.

As part of our #StopAddiction effort, tomorrow is our state-wide Drug Take-Back Day http://t.co/nFUhj2ybop pic.twitter.com/buq8IRiqnB

— Charlie Baker (@MassGovernor) September 25, 2015

----------

Concussion Awareness week concludes but the need for concussion awareness goes on!

THIS IS AWESOME! #ConcussionAwarenessWeek #ttpledge #orange #20ForTwellman #THANKYOU @BPSportsNewss https://t.co/VWDyC8JSib

— ThinkTaylor.org (@ThinkTaylorORG) September 25, 2015

-----------

As mentioned during the School Committee meeting on Tuesday, each Friday at the High School is a dress up theme day. This Friday (Sep 25) the Freshman Class won.

Congrats to the Freshmen who won today's Franklin Friday!! pic.twitter.com/HJf3EXdTs4

— FHS Student Gov't (@FhsGov) September 25, 2015

Free Flu Shot Clinic - Oct 13

For all Franklin residents 6 months or older

No copays

PLEASE

• Bring your insurance cards
• Wear a shortsleeved shirt

When?  Tuesday, Oct 13 from 1:00 to 3:00 PM

Where?  Franklin Senior Center

Franklin Senior Center

This was shared from the official Franklin page
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_HealthNews/02211207-000F8513