Franklin raises a garden

Several groups in the community will be coordinating their efforts to build 11 raised gardens on 6 locations as part of the Earth Day activities, April 17th.


The Franklin Community Garden project began as a cooperative effort between the Franklin Hockomock Bernon YMCA, New England Chapel, and Franklin Foods Pantry. These groups share a common interest in the long term goal of developing a community garden in Franklin.


The purpose of community gardening is to develop a sustainable culture of food growth, to provide education for both children and adults, and to provide less advantaged community members access to fresh, healthy produce. Our first step to reaching the long term goal of a community garden is to accomplish the short term goal of developing 15 raised garden beds throughout Franklin. These community garden beds will develop relationships between community members and develop the infrastructure for a broader community garden.    We will be engaging community partners such as schools, faith organizations, other non-profit organizations and other committed community members to participate in the project.


This Community Garden project is partly funded by the Hockomock YMCA and $60,000 grant received by MetroWest Community Healthcare Foundation.


The project is also grateful for the following contributions:

• Lumber and building supplies are being provided and subsidized by Koopman Lumber Co.
• Compost and soil is being donated and delivered to the garden sites by Steve Nedoroscik from McIntyre Materials
• Laura Tangerini of Tangerini's Farm in Millis is donating seedlings and transplants in addition to help/advice as needed

The planning committee met at Cafe Dolce this past week:

• Deb Schwab, Ben Franklin Charter School
• Lauren Marciszyn, YMCA                 
• Ken Norman, Franklin Senior Center
• Robin McLaughlin, United Way
• Nicole Harter, Franklin resident & key contributor
• Jodi Koeman, New England Chapel
• Leann Danielson, YMCA
• Amy Cornwell, New England Chapel &  Cornerstone Christian Academy
• Sandy Bryant, Franklin resident & key contributor 

What will happen with the produce from the gardens?

Food/harvest obtained from the raised beds should be used at the sites for foods/meals and a portion of the food grown/produced will be donated to those Franklin community members with limited access to fresh produce via the Franklin Food Pantry. 

What will be planted?

Currently planning to have a gardener to work with each site to determine the crops to be planted, a planting schedule, regular maintenance plans, and harvest.  The hope would be that the gardeners would work with the sites to help meet their needs, but also to communicate with other site gardeners to share ideas and knowledge.

When will the raised beds be constructed?

The plan is to coordinate this with Earth Day on April 17th. Each bed location will be a building site. The building materials to be delivered to each site a couple of days prior.  

Where will be the raised beds be located?



Currently there are 11 beds planned at six sites in Franklin

• Hockomock YMCA
• Cornerstone Christian Academy/New England Chapel
• Ben Franklin Charter School
• Franklin Food Pantry
• Senior Center
• Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC)

What can I do to help?

If you are part of one of the sites where a bed will be located, there should be a contact person with information. Otherwise show up at the ECDC Senior Center for 9:00 AM. The ECDC Senior Center will serve as the "training" site for all groups. After the first raised bed is constructed, folks can return to each of their sites to construct their own.

Note: This information did change on 4/14/10. The original "training" site was going to be the ECDC, it is now going to be next door at the Senior Center.  

Note: The Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) is one of the schools that are part of the Oak St /Horace Mann Complex.


Note: This post was compiled based upon text provided by Lauren Marciszyn and Amy Cornwell i addition to my own notes from the meeting. Thanks for your input Lauren and Amy! And yes, I took the photo!

In the News - walk for multiple sclerosis

Almost two years after her diagnosis, the Franklin woman will walk for MS on Sunday to raise money for what she describes as a curable disease.

"I think there is a cure in my future, in my lifetime," Dwyer said. "The more money there is for research, the more we can figure out what causes this - and cure it."

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

Jodi Dwyer's fund raising page for the MS Walk on Sunday can be found here:
main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/jodidwyer




Franklin, MA

Curbside Yard Waste Collection

Franklin’s Curbside Yard Waste Collection will be held on Saturday April 17^th, May 1^st and May 15^th. 

Be sure to have all material in paper bags, trash barrels or cardboard boxes.  

Brush must be bundled and shall not be more than 4 feet in length and 6–inches in diameter.  

DO NOT USE PLASTIC BAGS THEY WILL BE REJECTED

Franklin, MA

HMEA 5K Race/Walk - May 23rd

What happens on May 23rd?

Who is HMEA?

Why you should help?

These questions and more can be answered in this brief video.




If you'd like to register to run or walk, you can go to HMEA.org.
If you'd like to contribute as part of my fund raising page, there is a widget on this page or here: http://www.firstgiving.com/stephensherlock

I hope to see you on May 23rd!

In the News - Clara Lodi

Even at 84, the Franklin resident helped out wherever she was needed - right up until her one-year battle with cancer ended Tuesday.

"She just would always do what needed to be done ... whatever she got involved in, she did to her fullest," said Lodi's oldest son, Ruston of Newton.

Read the full article about Clara Lodi in the Milford Daily News here

Franklin, MA

In the News - Override

The Milford Daily News does some funky things with their RSS Feed. Case in point this week, the article on the Town Council meeting Wednesday did not appear in their MDN feed but did appear in the weekly Franklin Gazette feed.

You can find the full text of the article here.

There isn't anything new in the article itself that wasn't already reported here. Of great interest is the list of comments from our fellow Franklin residents. Have fun reading them!

The one reason why there should be an override is for the voters to have their say. Do the majority of commenters represent the majority of voters? We'll see come election day.



Franklin, MA

"Our primary concern is not making candy"

The existing 55-year-old factory had been added to over the years, but its size makes for tight working quarters and its infrastructure is barely passing its health inspections.

"It's passing code, but it's not going to do that forever," Sister Mariann Garrity said.

Garrity said one reason for construction is the walls, which have a bumpy surface and cannot be washed - creating a sanitary issue.

"The most important reason we are building a larger candy factory is that we'd like to expand our production," she said. "The building now is too tight space-wise to be able to do that."

Read more about the Sisters candy operation and fund raising effort for their new building here


Franklin, MA