Phil's Phriends - 8th Annual Live Music Silent Auction - April 9th

Join us for our 8th Annual Live Music Silent Auction, April 9th, at Showcase Live at Patriot Place in Foxborough, featuring live music from THE Average White Band and Sugarfoot and the Brass Kicking Horns. Help Phil’s Phriends raise funds to fight cancer through the Pan Mass Challenge and the Jimmy Fund.

Tickets are only $25 per person and must be purchased in advance. Limited tickets are available, so please reserve your spot as soon as possible. To reserve tickets, click here.

We look forward to you joining us for a great event. The doors to Showcase Live will open at 6:00pm. At that time you will be able to order food and beverages, preview auction items and make initial bids. The Average White Band will take the stage at 8:00pm and play until 9:30pm. At that time, we will open the silent auction bidding for 1 hour. At 10:00pm Sugarfoot and the Brass Kicking Horns will take the stage and complete the evening.

All ticket sale proceeds bought from Phil’s Phriends will be donated to the PMC and Cancer Research. All tickets bought through the Showcase Live Box office will be for the Average White Band Show and will not be considered a donation. Auction item bidding will be open to the entire crowd at Show Case Live. Please help Phil’s Phriends support our young PMC pedal partner – Emily Taylor – by raising money for cancer research. We look forward to seeing you at the event and thank you for your support!

The Average White Band are widely regarded as one of the best soul and funk bands in the history of music. Though perhaps best known for their timeless instrumental mega-hit ‘Pick Up the Pieces’ the band’s strength actually lay in their consistently accomplished song-writing, stretching across several gold selling albums and multi-grammy nominations for the legendary Atlantic Records. Sugarfoot & The Brass Kickin’ Horns is a 7 piece band with male & female vocalists and one of the finest horns sections around. The band plays the absolute best funk and dance hits from all eras including Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi, Madonna, Journey and many more.

To get tickets, click here.

The Silent Auction brochure can be viewed here:

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

You can subscribe to the Phil's Phriends blog to get regular updates as they prepare for this year's Pan Mass Challenge  http://philsphriends.wordpress.com/


Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view the file.


Franklin, MA

FM #63 Week Ending 4/4/10

This is #63 in the series. Let's take less than 10 minutes to find out what matters in Franklin, MA as the week comes to a close on April 4th, 2010.

Time: 4 minutes, 53 seconds



MP3 File

Session Notes:


This internet radio show or podcast is number 63 in the series for Franklin Matters.

Let's take about 10 minutes to review what matters in Franklin, MA as the week ends Sunday April 4th.

In this session I cover the Financial Planning Committee meeting that occurred March 31 and look ahead to the Town Council meeting on April 7th.

You should recall that the Financial Planning Committee is the one chartered as a subcommittee of the Town Council to put together the long term or five year financial plan for Franklin. The committee prepared their first report last year.

You can view that here.
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_BComm/financial%20planning%20committee%20report/

The group is focused on updating the report with current numbers. They are concerned about showing where the numbers have changed, and why, against the baseline forecast. The forecast for this year is remarkably close to where we were predicted to be overall.

They also need to review the proposed action items and show what progress has been made on them. While much progress has been made (I'll leave it to the report to provide the details), the financial situation still requires action. The choice is to continue to cut services or raise taxes to maintain the level of service we have reached.

I know the “o” word is very sensitive but there should be a discussion about our priorities. There should also be a choice provided to the voters.

The Town Council meeting on April 7th will be a good one on a number of fronts.

1 – Rep Vallee and Sen Spilka are scheduled to provide a legislative update on the Chapter 70 and other state aid coming to Franklin.

2 – Jeff Nutting should have the opportunity to provide an update on what this means for the overall Town Budget. As you may recall, the School budget proposed to increase 2.2 M. Technically, they can't call it a “level service” budget as they are adding back the late bus. Word has it that they should be looking more at a level funded budget at best.

3 – Wording on the Charter changes has been finalized so now the Council will get to discuss it again before deciding to send it forward or not. If it does go to the legislature, the charter changes still will come back to Franklin for the registered voters to have a vote and accept or reject.


For the full schedule of Franklin Meetings, check out the town website
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_MeetingsCal/?formid=158


As I close this session this week, let me remind you that

• If you like what I am doing here, please tell your friends and neighbors
• If you don’t like something, please tell me

Thank you for listening!

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/

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!

Job Search Jam Sessions - May 14

“This is an ‘unconference’ for the unemployed and underemployed,” says Steve Sherlock, lead organizer. “The event’s organizers and session facilitators all have experience dealing with the challenges of layoffs and unemployment, and they are enthusiastic about sharing what they’ve learned in a peer-to-peer setting.”

“Job Search Jam Sessions participants will share experiences and ideas with their peers, make potentially valuable new contacts and refine their job search skills. And at the end of the day they’ll return home more confident and motivated to pursue new opportunities.”

The Job Search Jam Sessions will feature both seminar-like sessions and informal opportunities to network in small groups. There will be sessions devoted to job interviews and the use of social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.  The agenda will be adapted to reflect the needs and interests of participants.

"schools will be eligible for about 50 percent reimbursement"

The School Building Authority will also visit Franklin's Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School today to look at problems with their hot water and air conditioning systems.

Superintendent-Director Barbara Renzoni said upgrades to those systems could cost a minimum of $350,000.

"I was just (on the roof) looking at the (water storage tanks) and they are all corroded and rusted and leaking," she said.

Both systems are at the end of their life cycles at 33 years old, said Renzoni. The systems are original to the building, she said, and the school has been "nursing them along" for the past few years.

The school's two 250-ton air conditioner "chillers" are so old that they are difficult to fix because their parts are rare, said Renzoni. The refrigerant the chillers use has recently become regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, Renzoni said.

"Contractors are now obligated to disclose how and why they're using it, and the quantity (we use) would not be acceptable," she said.

Renzoni is hoping the School Building Authority can help offset the cost of these capital projects.

"And because Tri-County is sensitive to the 11 member towns' fiscal constraints, the school is only asking the towns for their minimum contribution to the school, which is a number the state determines," said Renzoni, "it further enhances our need for assistance."

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

Franklin, MA

"This is where we want to end up"

At a forum hosted by Sen. Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, and the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, executives filled a training room at Franklin's EMC office yesterday morning to discuss the highlights and needs of the IT field.

"An educated work force is the lifeblood of these companies," said Joyce Plotkin, president emerita of the Mass Technology Leadership Council.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

Franklin, MA

ELECTION NOTICE

TOWN OF FRANKLIN – ONLY PRECINCTS 2, 3 & 4 MAY VOTE

SPECIAL PRIMARY ELECTION

DATE: TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2010

TIME: 6:00a.m. – 8:00p.m.

PLACE:
FRANKLIN HIGH SCHOOL
OAK STREET

IF YOU RECENTLY REGISTERED AT THE REGISTRY…BRING IN YOUR RECEIPT!
Attest: Deborah L. Pellegri, CMC, Town Clerk

Questions should be directed to the Town Clerk, 1-508-520-4900




Franklin, MA

Norfolk County Mosquito Control Project - spraying starts

The Norfolk County Mosquito Control Project will be conducting helicopter applications of the biological larvicide Bti to control mosquito larvae.  The application will be conducted over specific large wetlands in the towns of:

Avon/Bellingham/Braintree/Canton/Dedham/Dover/Foxboro/Franklin/
Holbrook/Medfield/Medway/Millis/Milton/Needham/Norfolk/Norwood/
Plainville/Quincy/Randolph/Sharon/Stoughton/Walpole/Westwood/
Weymouth/Wrentham

The application may be conducted at any time between April 5, 2010 and September 30, 2010 as conditions warrant


http://www.massnrc.org/ncmcp/ControlStPr/LarvicideNotice.htm



Franklin, MA