Video tour of the new Franklin High School

From Pantherbook, you can take a student lead and produced tour of the new Franklin High School currently under construction. The video was put together by FHS students and finished in November 2013, posted to Pantherbook on Saturday.

Nice job!





The new school is going to an amazing facility that Franklin will be proud of.

Visit Pantherbook here http://pantherbook.org/

The video appears to have been recorded in late Oct or early November given the construction status of the building exterior. I compared the photo of Principal Peter Light in the opening of the video with photos of the same location in October and November.

My full collection of posts on the high school with an almost monthly set of photos can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/12/collection-high-school-building-project.html

Public Meeting: Emmons St Building

So many of you have great ideas for the future use of the downtown Emmons Street property.  Please come and be part of the discussion!

See details below:

Tuesday, Jan 21, 2014

7:00 PM

Franklin Municipal Building 355 East Central St

3rd Floor Training Room

Discount CPR/First Aid Training Offer for Franklin Matters readers

Act First EMS, Inc. is offering $60 off CPR and First Aid Training for ALL FranklinMatters.org readers on Jan 25th at our training center located at 247 E Central Street, Franklin, MA. (Next door to Hess on Rt 140)

ACT First EMS - 247 E Central St

Act First offers high quality Public training at all of our training centers and Private On-Site training all throughout New England.

View our upcoming classes and register: https://www.actfirstcpr.com/open
To save $60 use Coupon Code: FRANKLINMATTERS 

You MUST preregister to reserve a seat. This offer cannot be combined.

Reminder: Ben Franklin Birthday Party

Celebrate Benjamin Franklin's birthday today at the Franklin Historical Museum. His birthday was actually Friday, Jan 17th but cake and refreshments are available today when the Museum is open from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM

birthday cake from Ben's party in 2012

The notice as posted to the official Franklin.webpage
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_News/01C6DCE0-000F8513

The Historical Museum can be found on Facebook. Click through to Facebook here

Franklin Food Elves Bring In Record Donations

The Franklin Food Elves’ 2013 “12 Days of Donating” campaign exceeded goals on all fronts, collecting more than 3 tons of goods and $6,700 to benefit the Franklin Food Pantry well into the new year.

The 75 Food Elves, together with Franklin Downtown Partnership businesses, collected 7,357 pounds of non-perishable goods and $6,700 in the food drive last December. That is a significant increase over 2012 when 50 Elves collected just over 4,200 pounds of goods and $5,700.

Franklin Downtown Partnership

“Thanks to the Food Elves’ hard work and commitment, the donations have helped fill our shelves, allowing us to continue serving local families,” says Linda Sottile, director of operations for the Franklin Food Pantry. “It is amazing how this effort has grown thanks to Melissa and Cameron Piana and the many, many elves who have joined in over the years. It is heartwarming to see so many youth of Franklin getting involved.”

“According to the 2013 Status Report on Hunger in Massachusetts recently released by Project Bread, there are 700,000 households in our state for whom having enough to eat is a struggle,” says Erin Lynch, director of development for the Food Pantry. “This impacts us locally, yet many still don’t realize the magnitude of the issue.

“The ‘12 Days of Donating’ generates community awareness that will have a significant positive impact long after the holidays are over,” Lynch continues. “We are so grateful to the Food Elves for their record-breaking success and for rallying such tremendous support. To each and every person who contributed we thank you on behalf of more than 600 families we serve.”

Food Elves co-founder Cameron Piana is proud of the hard work of the Elves, who went door to door in neighborhoods to collect food and other necessities. “Students like to get involved in community service projects that are fun but also have a big impact,” says Piana. “This group has definitely made an impact and we are really happy that we beat our goal by more than a ton this year.”

Local businesses were deeply involved in the campaign. DCU donated $3,000 and once again Berry Insurance donated $1,000. Eight local FDP member businesses placed a donation bin at their location and each pledged $200 if the Elves hit their goal. Those businesses were DCU, Dean Bank, Dean College, Emma’s Quilt Cupboard, Franklin Downtown Partnership, Jane’s Frames, Murphy Business and Pour Richard’s Wine & Spirits.

Support snowballed to include companies and organizations outside of Franklin who donated goods and dollars upon hearing about the campaign.

“It’s gratifying to see the community response to this effort,” says Nicole Fortier, Downtown Partnership president. “We want to thank everyone involved for going above and beyond and supporting this campaign.”

Franklin Food Pantry

For more information about the Franklin Food Elves campaign please contact the Franklin Downtown Partnership at downtown.franklin@yahoo.com. For more information about the Franklin Food Pantry please call (508) 528-3115 or go to their website, www.franklinfoodpantry.org.

Pictured left to right, front row: Nicole Fortier, Dean Bank and Downtown Partnership; Erin Lynch, Franklin Food Pantry; Linda Sottile, Franklin Food Pantry; Beth MacBrian, DCU.  Second row:  Kevin Goffe, Dean Bank; Ann Williams, Pour Richard's Wine & Spirits; Cameron Piana, Food Elves Co-founder; Haley Frank, Food Elves Captain; Dave Drucker, Dean College; Jane Curran, Jane's Frames.  Third row:  Cam Strouse, Emily Shea, Karen Cunningham, Evan Strouse, Carter Castillo. 

Seven of the 75 Food Elves, left to right:  Karen Cunningham, Emily Shea, Haley Frank, Evan Strouse, Cameron Piana, Carter Castillo and Cam Strouse.

Poem-A-Day: A Dream Within a Dream by Edgar Allan Poe

The Academy of American Poets publishes a daily email 'Poem-A-Day'. Today is Edgar Allen Poe's birthday.

Edgar Allan Poe was born 205 years ago today, in Boston, Massachusetts. Poe's work as an editor, poet, and critic had a profound impact on American and international literature, and his short stories mark him as one of the originators of both horror and detective fiction. Poe died on October 7, 1849.

A Dream Within a Dream

by Edgar Allan Poe

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow:
You are not wrong who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.  

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand--
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep--while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream? 

Today's poem is in the public domain.

You can find the webpage version of this 'Poem-A-Day' here. Follow the link if you would also like to subscribe to receive your own copy of the daily email.

For more about Edgar Allen Poe you can read his entry on wikipedia here or on poets.org here

Franklin Girls Softball Registration

Registration for the 2014 season is open online for all age groups. Please visit the FGSA website at www.fgsafastpitch.org, and click on the registration button on the left hand side. There is just over two weeks left to register, so please sign up right away.

League fees will not be increased this year, Instructional and Intermediate will remain at $115 and Junior and Senior will stay at $135.

Franklin Girls Softball

**REMINDER - All Sixth graders should register for the Junior division and, just like last year, 6th graders will be placed in the division best suited for their skill set to ensure player safety.

There will also be a Walk-In Registration on January 25th at the Elks Club on 1077 Pond St. from 8:30am-11:30am for those that would like to pay with either cash or check.

Players eligible for the JUNIOR and SENIOR leagues, please "SAVE THE DATE" of March 8th for the skills session. It will be held at the Field House at FHS between 9am-3pm. Specific times will be emailed to you, like last year, for when your daughter should arrive, once registration closes.