Franklin Food Elves “12 Days of Donating”

This year the Franklin Food Elves “12 Days of Donating” Campaign marks 13 years of helping neighbors in need during the holiday season.

The Elves will once again shift their collections for the Pantry to monetary donations only. The move away from food collections last year was necessary because the Pantry has no room to store the large amount of products that are donated during the holiday season.

(left to right) Julia Buccella and Natalie Dextradeur,
co-leaders of the Food Elves Campaign

“We are truly grateful for the incredible amount of food we receive, but we are simply out of space,” said Erin Lynch, the Pantry’s executive director. “After the holidays, when end-of-year giving subsides and food drives are infrequent, monetary donations will help us through the lean months that follow.”

The Food Elves Campaign is now the Pantry’s largest fundraiser, raising nearly $24,000 last year.

“The community’s response was incredibly positive,” said Lynch. “The Elves delivered the message about our needs and the constraints of our facility, and their neighbors responded with enthusiasm. They rallied behind the Food Elves and really showed their support for the Pantry and the nearly 1,000 individuals who count on us.”

Monetary gifts allow the Pantry to buy what they need when they need it. They can supplement the nonperishable food that is collected through food drives with fresh and frozen foods like chicken, beef and other meats, dairy products, eggs, fresh vegetables and fruits.

an open house and tour at the Franklin Food Pantry
for a group of Food Elves to kick off this year’s holiday drive

Over the next few weeks, the Food Elves will reach out to their neighbors about how they can support the Pantry. Donations can be made in two ways: through a check donation that the elves will pick up personally and deliver to the Pantry; or through each Elf's own personal campaign page on CrowdRise. 

CrowdRise is the world’s largest and fastest-growing fundraising platform dedicated exclusively to charitable giving. Each Elf will be able to keep track of how much each personally raises.

There are more than 130 elementary, middle and high school students involved in the Food Elves. Any student interested in becoming a Food Elf for the 2019 Campaign can sign up online at www.franklinfoodpantry.org/franklin-food-elves/.

School Committee - meeting recap - Nov 13, 2018

The Superintendent's report can be found online
https://www.franklinps.net/sites/franklinmaps/files/uploads/superintendents_report_to_school_committee_november_13_2018.pdf

I did not participate in the budget workshop but the doc used can be found online
https://www.franklinps.net/district/school-committee/files/resources-budget-workshop


The full set of documents released for this meeting
https://www.franklinps.net/district/school-committee/pages/november-13-2018-school-committee-packet-documents

My notes reported live for the meeting can be found here

• Live Reporting: Consent Agenda to Closing
• https://www.franklinmatters.org/2018/11/live-reporting-consent-agenda-to-closing.html
• Live Reporting: Discussion / Action Items
• https://www.franklinmatters.org/2018/11/live-reporting-discussion-action-items.html
• Live Reporting: School Committee - Meeting - November 13, 2018

• https://www.franklinmatters.org/2018/11/live-reporting-school-committee-meeting.html

Parmenter School has a new sign!

THE BLACK BOX Local Artist Series presents The Noyz - Nov 21

THE BLACK BOX Local Artist Series presents The Noyz. Performing well-known dance/rock from pop radio, we invite the crowd to join the party! The Noyz are scheduled to start playing at 8:00 PM.

Tickets can be purchased online or at the door
https://www.theblackboxonline.com/events.php?id=1187

THE BLACK BOX Local Artist Series presents The Noyz - Nov 21

You may recall The Noyz rocked the crowd when they took their turn on the Dancing on Dean stage at the Harvest Festival 
 https://www.facebook.com/franklinmatters/videos/250440799152425/

Franklin Senior Center Newsletter - December 2018

FRANKLIN SENIOR CENTER'S

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

DECEMBER 2018

(Click on link)

Or view/download from the Town of Franklin page

http://www.franklinma.gov/sites/franklinma/files/uploads/dec18connection.pdf

Franklin Senior Center Newsletter - December 2018

"It’s obvious that there needs to be an adjustment made”

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

"As cities and towns participating in a program that provides state funds to support affordable housing and open space preservation watch the state’s contribution dwindle, Community Preservation Act (CPA) advocates have fresh hope that Gov. Charlie Baker supports a fix. 

Almost two decades since the passage of the Community Preservation Act, about half of the communities in Massachusetts have opted into the program. The communities in the program have agreed to impose a surcharge on local property taxes with the promise of a state match to preserve open space, renovate historic buildings and parks and to build new playgrounds and athletic fields. 

The state matching funds are derived from a $20 fee assessed on certain real estate transactions through registries of deeds. The fee structure and match rate formula have not been changed since the CPA went into law in 2000 and as more communities adopt the CPA, each town’s share of the pie becomes smaller. 

When Gov. Paul Cellucci signed the CPA into law in 2000, the idea was to have the state match 100 percent of what each municipality raised by its property tax surcharge. That happened for the first six years, but the partnership has become more one-sided in the last decade-plus."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20181117/baker-open-to-fee-hike-to-boost-cpa-match

The Community Preservation Act was before the Franklin voters in Nov 2007 and failed to pass.

Ballot Question 1 

Yes - 1528            No - 2174
The Community Preservation Act did not pass.

- See more at: http://steves2cents.blogspot.com/2007/11/franklin-community-preservation-act.html#sthash.Wo1X7DV6.dpuf (Note - this was from the period just before Franklin Matters became its own web page)

The Veterans Walkway at night in the snow

Town Administrator Search Subcommittee - Meeting Nov 14, 2018 - audio

FM #152

This internet radio show or podcast is number 152 in the series for Franklin Matters.

This recording is the of the Town Administrator Search Subcommittee held Wednesday, Nov 14, 2018. The subcommittee is comprised of Town Councilors Matt Kelly, Tom Mercer, Melanie Hamblen, and Debbie Pellegri. Karen Bratt, Human Resources Director for the Town of Franklin also participated.

The position was posted in several places from Oct 18 to Nov 13. 24 applications were received. All met the minimum BA requirement. 18 met the minimum of 3 years of town administration experience but only 4 were directly in that role. One additional candidate held a deputy role. This would provide a pool of five candidates to work with.

The discussion around the unique qualifications of the Franklin role and form of government lead into the qualifications of the current Deputy Administrator Jamie Hellen. Jamie started in Jan 2016 and has been working to learn the role for almost three years.

The committee moved to bring Hellen forward as the candidate for replacing Jeff Nutting upon his retirement to the full Town Council. Jeff had previously announced his retirement to begin sometime in 2019. If the Council does not agree with this approach, the subcommittee can return to work with the pool of candidates gathered thus far.

The session recording runs just approximately 33 minutes. Without further ado, here is the audio recording.





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This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but I can't do it alone. I can use your help.

How can you help?

In particular, if you have an interest in real estate, zoning or construction, I would like someone to follow the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals and Conservation Commission meetings. I’ll provide the guidance on note taking and sharing. You need to bring an inquisitive and open mind and willingness to learn and share.

Overall:

• If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors.
• If you don't like this, please let me know.

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements.
Thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark and Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes = search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters on iTunes

Flashback Friday: An Alumni Cabaret - Nov 23

THE BLACK BOX will present Flashback Friday: An Alumni Cabaret on Friday, November 23 at 7:30 PM. Enjoy performances by alumni of the Franklin School for the Performing Arts (FSPA) and Franklin Performing Arts Company (FPAC) in an intimate cabaret venue with a professional band. Singers will be reprising some of their favorite past performances from FSPA and FPAC.

Students from the Franklin School for the Performing Arts have gone on to appear on Broadway, in national and international tours, regional theater, TV, feature film, professional dance companies, opera companies, and more.

Tickets are available at www.theblackboxonline.com or by calling the box office at 508-528-3370.

Flashback Friday: An Alumni Cabaret - Nov 23