A letter from Ashley Stanley to the Spoonfuls community

Death by a thousand cuts

͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌    ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­

 ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏

Dear friends, We've seen a lot over the last 15 years, particularly over the last five. Frankly, though, my senior leadership team and I have never seen anything quite like this. Just this morning, we convened with over 20 of the food programs in our network: pantries, meal programs, shelters, community centers and others across the state that receive Spoonfuls' deliveries. We held space to come together and talk… to discuss shared challenges, opportunities for collaboration, and ways Spoonfuls could support. And what we heard – what we already knew – is that this isn't business as usual. In 15 years of Spoonfuls (including the years we worked continuously to be a food resource for our neighbors throughout a global pandemic), we and our partners have never seen anything like what we're seeing now. With near daily announcements of various federal and state program and funding cuts (the latest just yesterday as we learned that USDA is canceling $3.3 million dollars' worth of food deliveries to Massachusetts' food banks, causing ripple effects for our partners and for Spoonfuls), programs we know and love in communities where we live and work, and people we care about, are in trouble. Because of this, we are no longer treating our work as "business as usual" and, instead, are proactively moving into emergency response. Right now: Our team is on the road, having recovered and delivered around 115,000 pounds of food to organizations reaching over 56,000 of our neighbors since Monday. We're working to source additional food for programs that have seen reduced supply and greater demand. That's most of them. We're optimizing our routes and working with our partners to ensure we're operating in the most efficient and effective way possible to reach as many communities and as many programs as we can in our current service area. It's always been our focus, but now more than ever it is critical that we leave no good food behind. People so badly need it. We're gearing up for expansion to other parts of the state (coming later this year to Bristol County, Bridgewater, and Brockton). We're lending our voice and perspective to coalition conversations aimed at building awareness of the ways federal and state policies impact people in our own backyards. We have more to do. More than ever. Like we've said before, we're in this together. In solidarity, Ashley Stanley Founder & CEO P.S. If you want to do something right now, give what you can. Donate here. Every dollar we receive enables us to deliver a pound of food. Your support is critical. Find us on social:   Copyright 2025 Spoonfuls. All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 189 Wells Ave Ste 100 Newton, MA 02459

Appraisal event at the Historical Museum - April 27

He’s baaaaaaack!!!!

Antique Appraisal at Historical Museum - April 27

We had the good fortune of meeting and interviewing Jim Johnson, fellow Franklinite and antique appraiser extraordinaire last year before his appraisal event at @franklinhistoricalmuseum

He is as every bit clever and funny as he is knowledge- a true gem of a gentleman.

You do NOT want to miss this opportunity to have your valuables appraised!!! #antiqueappraisal #antique #newenglandantiques #antiqueroadshow

Shared from ->   https://www.facebook.com/share/1BxbDwT6qd/

Franklin Public Radio - wfpr.fm schedule for Saturday, March 29, 2025

Yes, Franklin has it's own radio station -> wfpr.fm. Franklin Public Radio has a brand new schedule for the locally produced shows that fill our air waves. 

It ia available anywhere, anytime at wfpr.fm or in the local Franklin, MA area at 102.9 on the FM dial.

Tune in to listen to the following:

Franklin Public Radio - wfpr.fm schedule for Saturday

Get this week's program guide for Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) online  http://franklin.tv/programguide.pdf 

Franklin Public Radio - wfpr.fm schedule for Saturday

What's happening in Franklin, MA: Friday, March 28, 2025 ???

Friday, March 28

* "Look Up" Gallery (Franklin Public Library during open hours)

10:00am Knitting Group (Franklin Public Library)

1:00pm Thrifty Threads (Franklin Federated Church)

For additional details on Library & Senior Center events ->     
https://www.franklinma.gov/calendar.aspx?CID=37,24&showPastEvents=false

**  NO  Town Meetings today   **

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Why are there multiple calendars?

What's happening today in Franklin? 

Respectfully, the Library and Senior Center calendars are too full of events to include all their events so we tend to focus on the major events. Town and School meetings are also kept separate. Links for all the calendars are shared here:

Find the full Community event calendar  https://bit.ly/FranklinCommunityCalendar

If you have an event to add to the calendar, you can use the form to submit it for publication:  https://bit.ly/Submit2Calendar

The Town meeting calendar is found  https://www.franklinma.gov/Calendar.aspx
The School district calendar is found  https://franklinpublicschooldistrictma.sites.thrillshare.com/o/fpsd/page/school-calendars

Interactive Seafood Event at Parmenter Elementary!

From Evan Chelman, Parmenter Principal

 

"Today, Parmenter Elementary students had the amazing opportunity to explore the wonders of our local waters through an interactive seafood event! 

Students got to meet, touch, and learn about different types of fish and shellfish that swim right in our local waters.  

The event was a perfect complement to our district-wide lunch menu, featuring freshly baked, locally sourced fish! A huge thank you to Red’s Best and fisherman Gus Sanflippo, who caught the fish just two days ago aboard his vessel, the Lily Jean, in Gloucester, MA.  

Special thanks to Aaron Lenart, RD, Assistant Food Service Director, for educating our students and making this event both fun and educational!  This event helped connect students with the source of their food and teach them about sustainability in our local waters."

I was invited to observe and report on this event. The kids had a variety of responses to the seafood and very appreciative of the experience.

Additional photos can be found -> https://www.franklinps.net/o/gmpes/live-feed#8679990

Franklin Food Pantry Expands Shopping Hours!

Dom Agostino, one of The Pantry’s volunteer greeters

Great news! 

Registered clients can shop inside The Pantry during Walk-in Shopping, on Tuesday from 2 PM to 3:30 PM. 

No appointment is necessary for Walk-in Shopping, and the visit is considered a client’s once per week opportunity to receive assistance from The Pantry.

Walk-in Shopping offers the flexibility and convenience that so many of our clients have requested, and healthy proteins, dairy, fruits and vegetables, pantry staples, and personal care and cleaning items that clients depend on.

To become a client, or for more information, please visit The Pantry website at www.franklinfoodpantry.org, or contact Laura Du, Client Services Manager, at Ldu@franklinfoodpantry.org, or 508-528-3115.

April highlights for Library events include a typewriter orchestra, yup typewriter orchestra (audio)

FM #1414 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1414 in the series. 

This session shares my conversation with Mitzi Gousie, Programming and Outreach Librarian with the Franklin Public Library. We had our discussion on Monday, March 24, 2025 in the Franklin TV & Radio Studio.

 

We talk about 

• Reviewed the regular open hours, book sale and holiday scheduling for the month

• Open on Sundays 

• Book sale weekend April 11 & 12

• Closed Sunday & Monday, April 20, April 21 

• Library events for April 2025

• Family events

• Kiddos, or “littles”

• Teens

• Adults

The show notes include links to the Library page and to the calendar of events where registration for some of the events is required/recommended.

The recording runs about 28 minutes, so let’s listen in. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1414-franklin-public-library-april-2025-highlights-03-24-25/

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Mitzi Gousie’s email -> mgousie@minlib.net 

Franklin Public Library page ->  https://www.franklinma.gov/233/Franklin-Public-Library 

New event calendar -> https://www.franklinma.gov/942/Calendar-of-Events 

April Library newsletter -> https://www.franklinma.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=48 

April press release -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/03/whats-happening-at-library-in-april-2025.html 

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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!

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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

April highlights for Library events include a typewriter orchestra, yup typewriter orchestra (audio)

For grins: my Grok generated profile (Grok is the Ai for Twitter/X)

"Steve Sherlock, a relentless live-reporter of Franklin's council and school meetings, believes local elections shape the future more than any other —catch him geeking out over agendas and Zoom links with a fervor that'd make even the dullest budget hearing sound like a blockbuster. 

For grins: my Grok generated profile

FranklinMatters is dishing out a daily buffet of Franklin, MA highlights, from TV schedules to solar sites and funky 12-tone tunes 

The X community, like

@FHSSports

praising their sports coverage, actively tags FranklinMatters in local school sports updates"

Each time I look at it, three times yesterday, it changed slightly each time

https://x.com/FranklinMatters