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Providing accurate and timely information about what matters in Franklin, MA since 2007. * Working in collaboration with Franklin TV and Radio (wfpr.fm) since October 2019 *
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Davey the Clown |
Laughter Yoga on the Town Common |
an abridged version of Shakespeare's Henry IV, part 1 |
Franklin Cultural Festival - Arts Happen Here |
TRAFFIC ALERT-Emergency utility work-expect heavy delays on Rt 140 from Union to Fire HQ. Seek alternate routes for next 24-36 hours.
— Franklin Police (@franklinpolice) July 30, 2015
construction on 140 |
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The Support for Addicts and Families by Empowerment or S.A.F.E coalition will meet at 7 p.m., Aug. 12 at Franklin High School. More than 100 people attended the group’s first meeting, which saw doctors, law enforcement officials and treatment counselors discuss the state’s opioid epidemic.
The coalition will serve as a local resource for residents searching for information or help - for themselves, family members and friends - as it follows the lead of the 20 other town groups working closely with the Norfolk County District Attorney’s office.
The second meeting will feature Dr. John Kelly, the director of the Addiction Recovery Management Service at Mass General Hospital in Boston. Kelly, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, is expected to cover the genetics of addiction and the need to frame the dialogue on the opioid epidemic as a public health crisis rather than a drug problem.
A 3-year-old Franklin boy was taken to a hospital via medical helicopter after a vehicle struck the ride-a-long trailer attached to his father’s bicycle Thursday morning.
According to police, several frantic callers reported the accident at 6:53 a.m., which occurred at the intersection of Sanford and Village streets.
The child was taken to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester and was in stable condition Thursday afternoon.
The boy was riding in a trailer attached to the bike of his 33-year-old father’s bicycle, which was traveling north on Sanford Street in the center of the roadway when it was “waiting to make a left hand turn onto Village Street," police said in a press release.
PMC riders arrive at Remington-Jefferson water stop |
Ben Gardner's Boat performing for Best Buddies fund raiser |
Franklin Cultural Festival - Arts Happen Here |
Franklin, MA’s first Cultural Festival is up and running now through Sunday, August 2, offering five consecutive days of artistic performances and fun events staged throughout the Franklin downtown area.
Franklin Cultural Festival - Arts Happen Here! |
It’s great to see another family oriented celebration in Franklin taking its place on a roster of quite a number of annual festivals and events hosted in this Massachusetts town of some 32,000. Here’s just a partial list of the events in town that Franklin residents already enjoy every year: summertime Concerts on the Common, the Strawberry Festival, the 4th of July Celebration, the Feast of St. Rocco, the Harvest Festival, and the Holiday Stroll.
But the importance of this new Festival to the Franklin community extends well beyond the inauguration of another fun thing to do in town. The Franklin Cultural Festival is a key component of a joint effort by town officials, local businesses and Franklin educational institutions to have a Franklin Cultural District in the downtown area officially recognized (or “designated”) by the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) under its Cultural Districts Initiative.
MA Cultural Council |
The goal of the MCC’s Cultural District Initiative is to help artists, cultural organizations, and arts-related businesses to locate and thrive in the approximately 30 designated cultural districts that already exist throughout the Bay State. The Initiative seeks to spur economic growth and foster tourism in each district, helping promote the reuse and revitalization of older urban centers while increasing property values throughout the communities in which each district is located.
MCC designated cultural districts can receive support and assistance under certain programs established or identified by the MCC and draw on existing cultural resources to encourage artists to live and work in the host communities.
If Franklin is successful in getting an officially designated district, it could become another major step forward in the ongoing revitalization of the Franklin downtown area.
The key to a successful effort in obtaining official designation of a cultural district is demonstrable community participation in the arts. The Franklin community has many valuable building blocks already in place that will support a vibrant culture district and should help the Franklin Cultural District get designation from the MCC.
These resources include educational institutions such as the Dean College School of the Artsand Dean’s respected Palladino School of Dance.
Franklin School for the Performing Arts |
Having a Franklin Cultural District in place should encourage some of the students at these educational institutions to decide to stay in town after graduation and practice their crafts in locally.
Dean College's Main Stage
Franklin is home to performance venues such as the BLACK BOX Theater, the Circle of Friends Coffee House, and the Main Stage Theater at Dean College. In addition, the Franklin Town Common is eminently walk-able from the downtown area and hosts summertime concerts and many annual community events. The auditorium at the new Franklin High School is stunning and should be an asset to the community for years to come.
All these venues would help sustain the Franklin Cultural District by giving performing artists stages on which to put their talents on display.
Franklin abounds with good places to eat and drink, which is important for the tourism aspect of the proposed Franklin Cultural District. Here are the eateries scheduled to participate in the “Taste of Franklin” event Sunday during the Franklin Cultural Festival in Franklin, MA.
A "Taste of Franklin" - Sunday - Aug 2 |
The Franklin Historical Museum is another asset to the downtown’s intellectual life and is a good tourist destination.
Franklin Historical Museum |
If you are looking for more proof of an economic rationale for a Franklin Cultural District,Jane’s Frames is a stalwart of the arts in the heart of downtown Franklin. The Franklin Art Center opened in town within the last five years and has become a successful supporter of the visual arts in Franklin. The Franklin Art Center was instrumental in the recent establishment of the Franklin Sculpture Park.
Franklin Sculpture Park |
A Franklin Cultural District should encourage more such arts-related businesses to open in Franklin, MA.
This post has reviewed some of the significant cultural resources that exist in Franklin, Massachusetts. These help make Franklin, MA a great place to call home!
The Franklin Cultural District would help tie all those cultural resources together and augment their beneficial impact on the Franklin community. Having a designated Franklin Cultural District would also further cement Franklin’s growing recognition among Massachusetts home buyers as a “destination community” on the I-495 corridor. The District would help Franklin compete for business and attract more educated, affluent home buyers. Franklin residents have so many reasons to support the establishment Franklin Cultural District!
Contact Franklin broker Warren Reynolds for help with buying or selling a home in Franklin, Massachusetts!
"This is probably the most important and most influential commercial site the town of Franklin has," said Judith Pond Pfeffer
Richard McCarthy, an engineer with Kearsarge’s partner on the project, Innovative Engineering Solutions Inc., reasoned that solar projects do not cause the same headaches as large commercial ones.
“The people of Franklin need to say, ‘OK, we’re going to get $125,000 a year, but what do we then get? Do we get more traffic? No. Do we get more kids in the schools? No. Do we get more lights? No. Do we get more signs? No,’” McCarthy said. “You get a very passive neighbor that basically sits there and doesn’t do much of anything to anybody.”Continue reading the Milford Daily News here
Residents interested in running in the November town election will be able to take out nomination papers starting next week.
Papers for the Nov. 3 election will be available from Monday, Aug. 3, to Monday, Sept. 14, from Town Clerk Deborah Pellegri, whose office is located on the first floor of the Franklin Municipal Building, 355 East Central St.
Residents will need to return signed papers by Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 4 p.m.
All nine seats on the Town Council are up for election, as well as seven seats on the School Committee.
Voters will choose a new town clerk, as Pellegri is retiring from the four-year paid position. At least two people have already shown interest in running: Assistant town clerk Teresa Burr is considering pulling nomination papers; Diane Padula-O'Neill in late March said she would pursue the seat.
The ballot also includes seats on the Board of Assessors, Board of Health and Planning Board.Continue reading the Milford Daily News here
Although the project is in the early stages of development, a proposed natural gas pipeline would bring 21.2 miles of pipeline through Milford, Medway, Franklin, Bellingham and several other area towns.
The Access Northeast project, announced by Spectra Energy last fall, will reportedly bring up to 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas to the region’s gas-fired power plants each day to help keep costs low and save electric customers $1 billion each year.
The $3 billion project would directly connect to up to 70 percent of New England’s power plants helping to lower electricity rates as early as winter 2018.
screen grab from Spectra Energy Access Northeast page |