Franklin Matters

Monday, May 3, 2010

"tanning should be completely off limits"

As teens across the state flock to indoor tanning salons to prep for their big nights, the House of Representatives will start reviewing a bill passed by the Senate Thursday that raises the minimum tanning age from 14 to 16.

"Research has shown teens who use (tanning beds) have an increased risk of skin cancer by 75 percent," said bill supporter Sen. Karen Spilka, D-Ashland. "... We have an obligation to do something to help raise awareness."

And while the state considers upping the age, the federal government plans to implement a 10 percent tanning tax this summer as part of President Barack Obama's health care reform package - a move some local salons say could hurt their already-strained business.

Read the full article:

Tanning remains popular with teens despite efforts to limit it

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Ashley Studley/Daily News staff

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Senior Center - May Newsletter

The newsletter for Franklin's Senior Center is now available on the Senior Center webpage (PDF), or viewable here:

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Save File: SeniorCenter_May2010_connection.pdf

Arlington starts local effort to save school jobs

Arlington, MA has been mentioned recently because of their 5 year plan and is in the news this week with a couple of groups starting a local fund raising campaign to save school positions by raising a million dollars.

The five year plan they put together sometime ago did result in an override that their budget then lived with for five years. Franklin could do something similar but the appetite for such a deal is not likely to generate enough of a movement to get it going considering the override history here.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Turn the language around

Let's listen to some kids turn things around.
It is easier than you think.
View this brief video. It is only a couple of minutes.

Now, imagine if we could think of someway to approach the override with the same turn around process.

Instead of negatives, could you approach it as a positive?

Franklin, MA

Stamp Out Hunger - May 8th

Join us on Saturday, May 8th for Stamp Out Hunger — the nation's largest annual single-day food drive!

Letter carriers in more than 10,000 communities will collect food items and deliver them to local food banks to help some of the millions of Americans, including an estimated 16.7 million children, who face hunger every day.

Simply place bags filled with nonperishable food items like canned meats, canned fish, broths, baked beans, mixed vegetables, rice and soups next to your mailbox on Saturday, May 8th.

Your letter carrier will pick up the bags and deliver them to the Franklin Food Pantry.

If you are interested in volunteering at the pantry on May 8th to help sort donations, please email annemarie@franklinfoodpantry.org or visit www.franklinfoodpantry.org.

Thank you for your generosity!

This was originally posted on the Franklin, MA website here

Friends of the Franklin Library: May Book Sale

The Friends of the Franklin Library is preparing for one of the largest May Book Sales ever and we need your help!

The May Book Sale set up begins on Tuesday, May 11. We need volunteers to assist with the set up through the beginning of the sale on Friday, May 14th. The set up and sale will again be housed at the DPW garage off of Hayward Street. Set up times are from 9:30 AM– 2:30 PM Tuesday through Friday (May 11th-14th).

We also need help on each day of the sale. Friday (member’s night) 4PM – 8PM and Saturday, May 15th, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. We are planning a bag sale on Sunday, May 16th, from 9AM to Noon and will need help with clean up from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

A perk of volunteering is selecting books (early shopper) for yourself while you work.

Please send me (jandrma@comcast.net or 508-520-9955) the days and times you can volunteer. If you would spread the word and bring a friend that would also be appreciated. Just let me know and I will add them to the schedule.