Franklin Matters

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Strawberry Stroll - Canceled for 2020

Strawberry Stroll Canceled for 2020

"After thoughtful consideration, the board of the Franklin Downtown Partnership has regretfully decided to cancel this year’s Strawberry Stroll. Normally held in June, the Strawberry Stroll is a tremendous community event attracting thousands of people to downtown Franklin. Given the current pandemic, however, it is impossible to know if such a community gathering will be possible or safe in June. So the FDP Board has decided to plan for an even larger Harvest Festival on Oct. 3, 2020.

In place of the Strawberry Stroll, the FDP is developing several smaller events in late summer and early fall.

“We’re considering events such as restaurant walks, small business Tuesdays, and other promotional events geared towards rebuilding local business,” said Lisa Piana, executive director of the FDP. “We are planning to hold those events once social distancing guidelines have been relaxed or removed.”

If you have some creative ideas about smaller events the FDP could organize to support local business, please email Executive Director Lisa Piana."

For more about the Franklin Downtown Partnership visit their page
https://www.franklindowntownpartnership.org/

Saturday, April 18, 2020

Recycling Center open this weekend for Yard Waste Only

"DPW News:

Due to the storm this past week, we know many residents have yard waste to dispose of. The Recycling Center will be open THIS* WEEKEND ONLY for yard waste.

Saturday 8 AM - 3 PM and Sunday 9 AM - 1 PM. Only 5 customers at a time to practice and enforce social distancing.

Shared from Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TOFranklinMA/status/1251152127902113794?s=09

* April 18, and April 19, 2020

Recycling Center open this weekend for Yard Waste Only

Senator Rausch: COVID-19 Update #13

CORONAVIRUS / COVID-19 UPDATE #13

Friday, April 17, 2020

Hi friends,

Warm greetings from virtual Beacon Hill. The Legislature has been hard at work this week. I was proud to participate in the first and second virtual public hearings ever to occur in Massachusetts, in my capacities as the Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs and a member of the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities. I expect more of these virtual hearings to come in the near future, especially with regard to election reform and my 2020 Vote By Mail Act. I've also been hard at work on efforts to support our first responders and public safety personnel.

We got some big news today in access to our democracy and elections -- the Supreme Judicial Court issued a ruling halving the signature requirements for all seats, pushing the deadline for signature submission back as far as it could go, and requiring the Secretary of the Commonwealth to go digital. I've supported signature reductions all along, and am glad to see this ruling.

As you likely know, we are in the coronavirus surge period. Everyone, please maintain extensive social distancing. Wear facial coverings if you need to go out in public, including going to the grocery store. Wash your hands. Stay hydrated. Get sleep. Get some exercise every day, preferably outside (if we're not in the middle of a massive wind and rainstorm). Be vigilant. We will get to the other side of this, eventually. The more safeguards and protections we maintain now, the quicker we'll get to recovery.

Thank you to those who have reached out to tell us that stimulus checks haven't arrived and unemployment claims have gone unanswered and small business loans aren't coming through. This is how we know to work these problems and push for solutions.

Yours in service,

Senator Becca Rausch

This newsletter was shortened for publication here, to review the full set of contents visit this link https://mailchi.mp/3f60d12f7092/covid19-update-12314218

Senator Rausch: COVID-19 Update #13

FM #247 Doug McPherson HMEA Virtual IncredABLE 5K

FM #247 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 247 in the series.

This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Doug McPherson, Vice-President of Development and Public Relations for Horace Mann Education Association (HMEA). We had our conversation via conference bridge to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.

In our first conversation, Doug and I talked about the preparation for the HMEA’s IncredABLE 5K scheduled for May 17, 2020. Alas, in this pandemic period, the road race, community walk, and family fun field day has been converted to a virtual event. Virtual? Yes, we talk about how you can run your 5K on a certified 5K course and send your results in to HEMA to count.

Our conversation includes the other elements of the virtual event still to occur on May 17, but all virtual, not on the fields at Dell/EMC.

The recording runs about 20 minutes, so let’s listen to my conversation with Doug https://www.hipcast.com/podcast/HVMrv2m7

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https://www.hmea.org/incredable-5k/

We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm).

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

How can you help?

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

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I 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 & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

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FM #247 Doug McPherson HMEA Virtual IncredABLE 5K

Panther News Special Edition: April 17, 2020 (YouTube)

Produced by Franklin High School's TV Production Program https://youtu.be/2rPz8u-PKnw

Shared from Twitter
https://twitter.com/fhspanthertv/status/1251139625185353728?s=09

Franklin Public Library: Collecting images of the pandemic challenge

"The Library would like to collect images of Franklin’s experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic ranging from the good to the challenging.

Reply with the hashtag #FranklinStaysHome.

We will get through this together!"

Shared from Twitter: https://twitter.com/FrkPublicLib/status/1250770410699984897?s=09

#FranklinStaysHome

Franklin schools cancel Spring break

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

"School officials have voted to cancel April vacation this year, making the Franklin School District the latest to erase the spring break from their calendars.

Instead, the district - like others in the area - will continue with remote learning as students remain home during the coronavirus crisis.

Schools have now been closed for five weeks, with some having gotten more formal remote learning underway two or three weeks ago.

“This will provide for continuity at this time,” Franklin school officials noted in a statement issued on Wednesday."