Upcoming Events in Franklin, MA Area: FRI 8/26/16 - THU 9/1/16

FRIDAY 8/26/16
12-6pm   Franklin Farmers Market @ The Town Common
1pm   Christmas in August End of Summer Reading Party @ Franklin Public Library
2pm   Balloons by Ciel @ Franklin Public Library
7pm   FREE Family Movie Event (Finding Nemo) @ Beaver Pond

SATURDAY 8/27/16
2pm   Chess Group @ Franklin Public Library

SUNDAY  8/28/16
3:00 - 6:30pm Franklin Historical Museum Event At Almont Gallery In Medway

TUESDAY 8/30/16
Franklin Public Schools - First Day of School

WEDNESDAY 8/31/16
8:15pm   Movies in the Park @ Choate Park in Medway

THURSDAY 9/1/16
6:30pm   Art Night Uncorked @ Franklin Art Center

For all the Town of Franklin Public Meetings click HERE.

For event details click HERE.

*If you have any suggestions or events for the calendar, please email Renata@BetterLivingRE.com

Ballot sample for the Sep 8 Primary

The September 8 primary is for the MA state level offices. The sample ballot for each party is shown below. Scroll within the document to see the additional party ballots available.

If you haven't already registered to vote in the Primary, it is too late now. You can register now for the November election on the 2nd Tuesday, Nov 8.




Or view/download the samples from the official Franklin page
http://franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_News/024A7D06-000F8513

election booths at Franklin High School where all precincts in Franklin cast their ballots

Lottery added for BFCCPS Grade Seven and Eight classes

The Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School in Franklin, MA would like to announce that a lottery will be held for enrollment in Grades Seven and Eight for the 2016-2017 school year; spaces in our Grade K-6 program are not currently available. 

Applications for this additional lottery are due no later than September 23rd, 2016 by 4pm. The public lottery will be held in the school's library located at 201 Main Street in Franklin on Monday, September 26th.

Applications are available on the school website, in the school's front office, and at the local public libraries in Bellingham, Blackstone, Franklin, Holliston, Hopedale, Medway, Mendon, Milford, Millis, Milville, Norfolk, Plainville, Upton, Walpole, and Wrentham. If you prefer, the application can be completed entirely online here http://bfccps.org/about/enrollment/enrollment-application/

If you have any questions or concerns please contact the school's Marketing Coordinator, Mrs. Joanne Basile at 508-541-3434 x140 or at jbasile@bfccps.org. 

You can also find answers to some of our most frequently asked enrollment questions at http://bfccps.org/about/enrollment/enrollmentfaq/

http://bfccps.org/about/enrollment/enrollmentfaq/

In the News: lemonade stand successful, drought conditions worsen

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"When 9-year-old Suhas Wijegoonasekara decided he'd use his first ever lemonade stand to raise some money for the Franklin Food Pantry, he had no idea the show of goodwill he was in for. 

On Aug. 21, the Franklin youth opened his stand next to the Franklin Town Common, and the donations began pouring in from people who had read about him in the newspaper and on Facebook, and heard about his effort through word of mouth. 

His goal was to collect at least $100 for the pantry, with hopes of an extra $20 to put into his savings pile for a Legos set he's been eyeing. 

The soon-to-be Kennedy School fourth grader bested his goal in spades, and on Thursday he made a $548 donation to the food pantry, presenting a box of cash to pantry Executive Director Erin Lynch."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20160825/lemonade-stand-reaps-sweet-reward-for-franklin-pantry

"The heavy showers and storms that passed through the region early Monday morning did little to ease drought conditions. In fact, the drought in Massachusetts is slightly worse, according to the weekly report from the U.S. Drought Monitor released this morning. 

A large section of central and eastern Massachusetts is considered to be in extreme drought - the second highest level of drought on the monitor. That includes much of Middlesex, Essex and Norfolk counties as well as all of Suffolk County. In total, the area of the state in extreme drought is 16.86 percent. The area of the state in severe drought, which includes nearly all of Worcester County, is now 72.2 percent, up from last week's figure of 64 percent. 

For the first time, the weekly monitor now indicates that 100 percent of the state is experiencing some level of drought or abnormally dry conditions."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20160825/drought-continues-to-get-worse

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?MA

Some folks with wells are continuing to let their sprinkler systems water the grass

Chess Group meets at the Library, Saturday Aug 27 at 2 PM

The Chess Group meets at the Franklin Public Library, Saturday Aug 27 at 2 PM

http://franklinpl.blogspot.com/2016/08/chess-group-saturday-august-27-2-4-pm.html

Reporting by Walking Around -Saturday, Aug 20 (Photo essay)

My walk Saturday found lots of good things to share. Some of these photos were shared on Facebook already but most were not and readers of the website and newsletter will get these first.

Summer St between King and RT 140 is getting re-done. The base paving was done just before the 4th of July and work on the sidewalks continues

Looks like the sidewalk is going to go around the interesting pole arrangement

initially a photo to capture the blinking light sequence. Wasn't until well after that I realized something special had been returned to the triangle! More on that later...

work on the Horace Mann greenspace and location of the new statue makes progress

yes, there really is work going on at the Library. It is tucked away in the back corner of the property so it is not visible to the passerby on Main St

another view of the construction at the Library

sidewalks on Pleasant St are being worked on, some concrete sidewalks closer to the Town Common are done, past Dean Ave, there is blacktop sidewalks and additional construction underway

nice work expanding the sidewalk to provide room around the utility pole

curbs in place and base smoothed for the sidewalk

more curbing along Pleasant St

a view of the large pond at DelCarte

the drought has lowered the water level significantly

good thing the approval has been made for the invasive species reduction, otherwise as shown here, the open water will continue to decrease

bee busy about his pollination rounds

no water spilling over the spillway

a view of the train station from the railroad bridge through the nice flowers out there by the Franklin Downtown Partnership

the water trough is back!

nice and freshly painted it has been located back on the triangle of Main and East/West Central

close up view of the fish ornaments

You can also find these photos on Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/steve_sherlock/albums/72157671773779570

Despite drought, Tri-County's garden tops 300 pounds donated

Dry conditions presented new challenges to the teacher and student volunteers responsible for maintaining the garden at Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School this summer. Despite the drought, the garden yielded 300 pounds of fresh produce by Tuesday, August 23. The garden yielded 325 pounds by the same time last year.

All of the produce harvested from the garden is donated to local food pantries.
Walking through the garden Tuesday, Culinary Arts Instructor and Garden Coordinator Nancy Haney pointed out that although the plants were wilting at a faster rate than in the past, the garden was still enveloped in vibrant red tomatoes and hulking yellow sunflowers. This year’s newest additions to the garden, cabbage, kale, and corn, were also alive and well.

Culinary Arts Instructor and Garden Coordinator Nancy Haney

Tri-County sunflower

Tri-County tomatoes

The school has donated nearly 3,000 pounds of produce to food pantries in Franklin and Medway since the garden was established four years ago. The initiative educates students about proper gardening techniques and helps to bolster philanthropy.

For more about Tri-County, visit them on the internet  http://www.tri-county.us/