Sunday, November 30, 2008

Whoosh Whoosh

Modern wind energy plant in rural scenery.Image via Wikipedia
What if some nuns in Wrentham decided to put up a wind turbine? And then high school officials in Worcester? And a Canton bank chairman? And pretty soon, the question wasn't where do wind farms belong, but how many windmills can we squeeze in to every last available space? That day is coming.
.....

"Wind power is part of that," Schulte says. "It seems to be peppered all over society right now: green, green, green. Well, this is green. This is clean energy. This is 20 years of energy with no emissions. Twenty years of energy with no pollution you have to bury in the ground. I think that's all right."

.....

Remember the nuns? Their turbine -- another SED project -- is scheduled to be built this winter. And Sister Mariann Garrity, for one, can't wait for the moment she sees those pearly white blades spinning. "The wind is just something that we've let caress our faces," she says. "It was not something, up until now, that we had learned how to harness. And when we see that turbine go up, we'll know that we are using a gift of creation in a much more effective way."

It's just like the nuns pray on Sundays. Gathered together, all 50 of them, they thank the Lord for the rain and the dew, for the heat of summer and the cold of winter. They give thanks for the seas and the rivers and the beasts, wild and tame. And they give thanks, of course, for the wind blowing outside the abbey, just waiting for a turbine to spin. "All you winds," they say together, quoting from the book of Daniel, "bless the Lord."

Read the full article in the Boston Globe Magazine here

Previous posting about the Abbey's wind project can be found here and here


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Saturday, November 29, 2008

Junior Miss Program

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29

41st Franklin Junior Miss Scholarship Program.


7 p.m.

Thomas D. Mercer Auditorium, Horace Mann Middle School, Oak Street, Franklin.

Tickets available at the door: $15

This year’s theme is "Friends."

Friday, November 28, 2008

"he knows of parents who allow underage drinking"

GHS
Posted Nov 26, 2008 @ 07:32 PM

FRANKLIN —

Outraged that some parents think it's OK for their children and friends to drink alcohol at home, a coalition of concerned residents is shedding light on the problem of underage drinking.

Franklin High School Principal Pamela Gould has helped form a group called WASTED, or When Alcohol Starts To Effect Decisions. The group will host a meeting for parents on Tuesday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m. at the high school, to share ideas to keep kids from drinking.

Many parents don't believe their children drink, but the problem is pervasive, Gould said.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Defaced already


Defaced_already, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Yes, Dolores and I found a sticker placed on the base of the "Hat's Off to Franklin" sculpture on our walk this morning.

It didn't take long for some inconsiderate soul to deface this brand new Franklin gem.

Fortunately, it removed fairly easily.

Hat's Off to Franklin - slideshow

Franklin has much to be thankful for this year. I think the "Hat's Off to Franklin" sculpture helps to summarize all the goodness that the people, businesses, organizations and local government that make up this town is capable of.






Happy thanksgiving!

"you want to help him out"

FRANKLIN - When Gabriel Dut Bethou fled his remote village in southern Sudan 14 years ago, after a raid by soldiers of the faction that controlled the country at the time, it was with fear for his own life and grief for a family he thought had been killed.

Fourteen years later, the 24-year-old is preparing to return to his homeland — this time, with unimaginable joy.

Bethou, a student and employee at Dean College in Franklin, will be reunited with his mother, Ayen Aleer, and 20-year-old sister Akuot Bethou, both of whom he spent more than a decade believing to have been killed in the attack.

He will also meet for the first time two younger sisters born after Akuot and his parents — his father was later killed in other strife — relocated to the Sudanese city of Juba: Aluong, 10, and Nyakong, 14.

Read the full article in the Gazette here

Earlier this year, Franklin Matters had posted on the story as reported in the Boston Globe


Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Franklin: frosty morning


Franklin: frosty morning, originally uploaded by shersteve.

How cold was it this morning?

Cold enough that the frost
protected by the shade
sugar coated the green grass