Take the Hero of Hope Pledge!

Since 1949, May has been officially recognized as Mental Health Month. The first Thursday in May is celebrated as Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day, to raise awareness about the importance of children's mental health and that positive mental health is essential to a child's healthy development from birth. 

Mental Health Awareness

Over the next week, the Partnership for Early Childhood Mental Health, (which includes the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the Department of Public Health and the Boston Public Health Commission) invites all state employees to take a pledge to nurture a child’s social and emotional development. Enter your pledge and state email address at www.ecmhmatters.org, in the “for families and friends” section, and you will be included in a raffle to win an Early Childhood Mental Health Matters t-shirt.

Why take the Hero of Hope Pledge? 

Early childhood mental health means that young children are growing in their ability to understand and share feelings, have close and positive relationships, and explore and learn. Studies show that good social and behavioral skills in young children lead to good academic performance in the 1st grade and beyond.

 Read the full post on the Commonwealth Conversations, Health and Human Services website here
http://hhs.blog.state.ma.us/blog/2013/05/may-is-mental-health-month-take-the-hero-of-hope-pledge.html?utm_source=feedly

Women's Success Network's Annual June Scholarship Awards dinner

The Women's Success Network's 2013 Scholarship Awards Dinner and Annual Meeting will be held on, June 5th at Highland Country Club, in Attleboro where several women will be awarded the WSN Founders' Scholarships. These scholarships provide deserving women with the opportunity to start, return or continue their education.
 In conjunction with the general WSN Founders Scholarship, Dean College School of Professional and Continuing Studies, Fisher College and Middlesex Savings Bank will also sponsor specific awards each for non-traditional student applicants.               
Bill Napolitano of the Institute for Business Excellence, will speak briefly about how we can carry the momentum we've gained into the summer months while the official WSN programming gets ready for the September 2013 meeting. The June meeting is the last WSN meeting until we resume in September. To register for the June meeting or to obtain more information about WSN go to www.wsninc.org. 

This is water

This is water. "The capital T Truth!"




A good video for any day but maybe the best video to spend ten minutes with as this work week ends!

Past, Present, and Future of Farming in Franklin

The Franklin Historical Museum will be looking at the past, present, and future of farming in Franklin, Sunday, May 19

Until little more than a generation ago, Franklin was still a community with many large and active farms. Today, in the wake of suburbanization, a few “pioneers” are working to keep a place for agriculture in 21st Century Franklin.. Join Seth Rousseau of Akin Bak Farm and Nick Hoffman, who is opening a new community-supported agriculture (CSA) farm on Daniels Street, for a look back and a look ahead.

They will provide a brief review of how and why early settlers chose to come to Franklin to farm, with a coverage of the notable activities of earlier times – from the Garelick family, to cranberry bogs, and the famous Parmenter Red chicken. They will also describe how they hope to serve the community in the coming years with their new approach to an ancient tradition.

In addition, The Garden Girls from the Franklin Garden Club will Divide & Conquer. They'll be splitting Irises and other tabular rooted plants. They'll discuss the correct timing and the proper method of successful root splitting to create beautiful healthy plants.

The event will be hosted during regular Museum hours from 1:00-4:00pm on Sunday May 19th.

Franklin Historical Museum

Franklin Historical Museum
80 West Central Street
Franklin, MA

Parmenter - Car wash and Bottle/can drive - rescheduled to May 18

Updated: 5/10: Due to the iffy weather forecast for Saturday May 11, this has been rescheduled for Sat May 18th

Parmenter Elementary School is having a car wash and bottle and can drive on Saturday May 18, 2013 from 9 am - 1 pm. 

Please bring us your bottles and cans and have your car washed. This is to benefit our 5th grade class the class of 2020! 

Parmenter Car Wash - 2012

MassBudget: 1) comparing revenue proposals & the investments they fund, 2) health care in the House Budget

MassBudget    Information.    Participation.  Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center    Democracy. Investing in Transportation, Education Our state budget describes not only what we want to do together as a Commonwealth in the coming year but also longer-term investments to strengthen our communities, create high-wage jobs, and ensure the future vibrancy of our economy. In recent months, the Senate, the House, and the Governor have all committed to raising various amounts of new revenue to support some new investments. "Comparing Revenue Proposals for Transportation, Education, and Other Investments" outlines the differences between their plans--both for next year and for FY 2018, when the plans are fully phased in. The House and Senate proposals focus largely on transportation, particularly in later years. This is in contrast to the Governor's plan, which raises significantly more revenue to increase funding for college scholarship programs and to expand access to high-quality early education & care, among other things. By FY 2018, the House and Senate would devote less money to fixing and repairing our roads, buses, bridges and other transportation networks than the Governor's proposal. The House and Senate proposals would raise comparable amounts of new revenue, and both count on similar funding support from transportation agencies (likely including user fee increases). The two proposals differ in that: 1) the Senate version includes an additional $38 million in new revenue and; 2) the Senate dedicates $77 million to transportation that the House would leave unrestricted. "Comparing Revenue Proposals for Transportation, Education, and Other Investments" is part of a series of MassBudget briefs analyzing key elements in the budget proposals for FY 2014. Read COMPARING REVENUE PROPOSALS FOR TRANSPORTATION, EDUCATION & OTHER INVESTMENTS See ALL OF OUR BUDGET RESOURCES Health Care in the House Budget A new factsheet, The House FY 2014 Budget for Health Care, describes the Massachusetts House of Representatives' Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 budget for MassHealth (Medicaid) and other subsidized health coverage programs. The House's budget bill allocates $13.38 billion to these programs, about $221 million (1.6 percent) less than the Governor's proposal. As in the Governor's budget, the House bill reflects the significant changes to health care programs that will occur midway through the fiscal year, when central provisions of the federal Affordable Care Act take effect. This brief is the second in a series of reports describing the effect of each budget proposal on Health Care programs in Massachusetts. The briefs are produced by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center in partnership with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute--and published by the Massachusetts Medicaid Policy Institute (MMPI). Read about HEALTH CARE IN THE HOUSE BUDGET The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts. MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center | 15 Court Square | Suite 700 | Boston | MA | 02108

massDOT: travel updates

Mother's Day: Busy Travel Weekend

MassDOT encourages travelers to plan ahead and travel safely during the upcoming Mother's Day weekend especially for travelers using the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) or traveling to Cape Cod.

I-95 Foxborough: Upcoming Weekend Lane Restrictions

MassDOT alerts motorists of upcoming weekend work on Interstate 95 Southbound in Foxborough and to expect possible traffic delays due to lane restrictions. The bridge deck surface replacement project on I-95 Southbound