In the News: Sabolinski gets 'exemplary', St Vincent DePaul food drive

School Committee members were effusive in their praise of Superintendent Maureen Sabolinski, whose performance they evaluated this week. 

At Tuesday night's committee meeting, members said they had rated Sabolinski as "exemplary" in all four categories in which she is judged. 

Committee Chairwoman Paula Mullen gave a brief overview of the contents of the evaluation. 

"I think Maureen is very, very data-driven and collaborative," she said. "She's a creative and effective problem-solver."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20151016/NEWS/151016553/1994/NEWS

The St. Vincent DePaul Society of St. Mary’s Parish in Franklin, One Church Square, will hold its seventh annual Thanksgiving Food Drive from Nov. 1 through Nov. 22, to provide a holiday dinner to those in need and to restock its food pantry shelves. 

Suggested items to donate include applesauce, cranberry juice, popcorn, peanut butter, jelly, jams, cookies, crackers, bread mixes, pudding, candy corn, cranberry sauce, stuffing, cereal, fruit cocktail, coffee, tea, cocoa, boxes of chocolates, canned yams and other vegetables, rice, chowder and a Thanksgiving tablecloth or decoration. 

Donations may be dropped off any time and may be placed in the boxes at the doors of the church.

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20151016/NEWS/151016770/1994/NEWS

Upcoming Events in Franklin, MA Area: FRI 10/16/15 - THU 10/22/15

FRIDAY 10/16/15
12-6pm   Franklin Farmers Market at The Town Common
1pm   Franklin Downtown Partnership: Networking Luncheon at Dean College (Smith Dining Center)
6-9pm   Fall Porketta Dinner at Franklin Rod and Gun Club ($20), open to public. Dinner service starts at 7pm.
8-9:50pm   Frozen Friday DJ Public Skate at Pirelli Arena

SATURDAY 10/17/15
9am-4pm   Book Sale at Franklin Public Library

SUNDAY 10/18/15
7:30-10:30am   Weekly Sunday morning breakfast at Franklin Rod and Gun Club, open to public.
8am-12pm   Ladybug 5K at J F Kennedy School on Pond Street. Bib pick up starts at 8am, Kid’s Fun Run at 9:30am, 5K at 10am. Kid’s activities, raffles, games…
9am-12pm   Library Bag Sale at Franklin Public Library
11am    Candidate Meet and Greet on the Franklin Town Common (weather permitting)
Noon   Firefighter Fund Raiser for Chad Larivee at the Jockey Club in Raynham
2-5pm   Purrfect Cat Shelter Fundraiser at Pour Richard's in Franklin
3pm   Ed the Wizard Halloween Show at Franklin Public Library

TUESDAY 10/20/15
10am    Candidate Meet and Greet at the Nason Street Playground (weather permitting)

WEDNESDAY 10/21/15
6:30-7:30pm   Doggie Tales: Read to a Service Dog, grades 2 and up, registration required

THURSDAY 10/22/15
6:30-8pm   Teen Open House at Franklin Public Library - bring your ideas, learn about valuable resources. Pizza and cake will be served.
6:30-8:30pm   Sip and Sparkle: Franklin Food Pantry Fundraiser at Pour Richard's. Shop Touchstone Crystal, sample wines and beers. $10/ticket - 100% donation to FFP.

For all the Town of Franklin Public Meetings click HERE.

For event details click HERE.

*If you have any suggestions or events for the calendar, please email Renata@BetterLivingRE.com

Franklin Candidate for Town Council: Glenn Jones

Glenn Jones and I met recently at Panera to talk about his campaign for Town Council. This is the summary of our discussion.

FM - What is your Franklin story?

Glenn Jones - I have lived in Franklin now for a little over seventeen years. Shortly after we moved here, we had our first daughter, Dakota, then along came Jillian, Simon, Rebecca, and lastly Sabrina. We live in the center of town and enjoy it very much. It is where a lot of fun places to visit are; Franklin Public Library, Historical Museum, Davis Thayer Elementary School, the Commons and so many other enjoyable places. We have embraced Franklin as our home. Our children consider themselves true Franklinites! 

I am big on people getting involved in their community; whether it’s volunteering for the Franklin Food Pantry or the community gardens, helping out with children’s activities – (school based or not). We need to support and promote the overall health and wellbeing of the community. 

I grew up in a family of educators. My mom was a teacher. My sister is a teacher. I am a licensed Vocational Electrical Teacher. I currently teach at Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School. Education is probably without a doubt THE most important thing we can do for our community, our children and our country as a whole. Keeping our children well educated will ultimately help the United States and our community be key players in the world and global economy. It all starts with education.

FM - What do you see as a challenge for the position of Town Council?

Glenn Jones - What needs to be continuously addressed, and this is speaking as the former Chairman of the Economic Development Committee, are the underutilized available resources that are right here in the Town of Franklin. What I mean by that is, we have a current commercial and industrial base that if built upon, not expanded, would dramatically increase much needed revenues. This would bring new jobs to the Town of Franklin, which has always been a major goal of mine. 

Franklin has a very reasonable tax rate. We get so much with a comparably smaller tax rate in comparison to the other peer communities. However, the wonderful services that we have come to enjoy will be challenged in the near future due to the towns pressing OPEB (other post-employment benefits) obligations. Our pension obligation has yet to be paid out of the town’s budget. We will have to find creative ways to start and continue funding this line item out of future budgets. It will be a large burden for our citizens. It doesn’t take much for these kinds of issues to have a negative domino effect. 

I can also understand the passion that our Pond St neighbors have. I grew up in a small home in Watertown with a commercial property abutting my backyard. The last thing I want to see is commercial development interwoven with residential zones. Our family home was in a residential neighborhood but the City of Watertown zoned a portion of the neighborhood block as a commercial zone. That resulted in my house backing up to a double high fence topped with razor wire. The commercial property (car stereo installer) that was immediately behind the fence had no respect for the neighbors. It was an unattractive and noisy commercial building and the surrounding property was very unkempt and not well cared for. It wasn't really the ideal situation for my family. 

My goal is to work with residents of abutting neighborhoods, together we can find a viable community solution to source revenue while keeping our neighborhoods attractive and our residents satisfied. The last thing we want to see is our property values diminish. I am a no different than my Pond street neighbors. I am a Franklin tax payer and share their passions.

FM - What do you bring to the position that would set you apart from the other candidates?

Glenn Jones – What makes me a significant candidate for this particular role in town government, is that I am experienced, I carry no special interests, I don’t bring a bias to the table, and I have no personal political agendas other than to serve my community. My feelings have been and always will be to remain a solid voice for the people of Franklin. I want to be part of a group that can work collaboratively, make the right decisions, and serve as a dedicated representative of the people of Franklin. 

My reputation is that of a dedicated, honest, hardworking volunteer. I have the track record to back it up. If anyone has questions or would just like to voice their thoughts and opinion, I will always make myself available to them. 

It has always been my opinion that the more voices we get around a particular issue, the more we can accomplish, ultimately coming to a consensus and/or at least a compromise. I know I can make that happen as a team oriented member of the town council. 

If elected I would propose the hiring of a full time public relations officer and the establishment of a Communications Committee made up of real citizens, the PR Officer and two Town Council Liaisons. The monies could be raised through adoption of House Bill - H 1566 - An Act relative to electronic publication of certain legal notices. This bill proposed by State Rep. Jeff Roy and endorsed unanimously by the Franklin Town Council (resolution 14-03) will allow for Franklin to stop having to pay pricy fees to local newspapers to post legal notices.

If you have any follow up questions for Glenn, you can contact him via:
gf_jones@verizon.net

You can also visit his Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Vote-Glenn-Jones-Franklin-Town-Council-1646758335567720/timeline/

For reference, Glenn was also interviewed in 2011
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/11/glenn-jones-answers-3-questions.html 

and in 2009
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2009/10/town-council-candidate-glenn-jones.html


Noteworthy: This information is intended to help the Franklin voters when we all head to the ballot box on November 3rd. The interview candidates have had an opportunity to review the text before publishing to ensure the accuracy of our discussion.

FHS field hockey tops Attleboro, golf ties for 7th in league Championships

From Hockomock Sports we share the results of the fall sports action on Thursday, Oct 15th. The field hockey team beat Attleboro 4-0 and the golf team finished in a tie for 7th place with King Philip in the Hockomcok League Championships.

FHS Panthers

Field Hockey

Franklin, 4 @ Attleboro, 0 – Final 

– Diana Griffin scored a pair of goals, Annie Walsh had a goal and an assists, Cassi Ronan scored once and Alex Sullivan added two assists in the win for the Panthers.

For all the other action around the Hockomock League
http://www.hockomocksports.com/thursdays-schedule-scoreboard-101515/

Golf Championship Results

Franklin finished in a tie for 7th place with King Philip

http://www.hockomocksports.com/hockomock-golf-championship-results-2015/

Candidate meet and greets - Sunday (Oct 18) and Tuesday (Oct 20)

Steve,

I'm hosting two meet and greets for all the candidates in the contested town races.  

Sunday October 18 at 11:00 A.M. on the Town Common 

Tuesday October 20 at 10:00 A.M. at the Nason Street playground 

Both are weather permitting. 

Every candidate has been invited and I hope for a great turnout of both campaigners and citizens.  It's a chance for people to come by and speak with us for more than 1 minute at a time.

Trevor Clement

School Committee Candidate for Re-election

Franklin Town Common, bordered by Main St, Beaver St, Union St and High St

Franklin Food Pantry - Current Needs List

For those of you interested in organizing a Food and/or Fund Drive for the Franklin Food Pantry, visit our "You can help Us" page for more information.  In addition to monetary donations, our current needs include the following: Salad Dressing Mayonnaise Ground Coffee Tea Bags Canned Fruit Canned Chili/Beef Stew Deodorant Hand Soap Brownie/Cake Mix updated October 2015 Food and non-food donations can be placed in the bin by the Food Pantry front door at 43 West Central St. Please be mindful of what you leave given the weather conditions.  Financial contributions can be mailed to Franklin Food Pantry, PO Box 116, Franklin, MA  02038 or made securely through our webpage.   donate securely here

Fall Porketta --> Friday, October 16th!!

Public Welcome!

Come join us for our annual Fall Porketta at the Franklin Rod and Gun Club, Friday, October 16, 2015. Time: 6pm to 9pm, dinner is served at 7pm.

Enjoy all you can eat pasta, salad, superbly cooked pork roast, roasted potatoes and desert. All included with the cost of a ticket.

Tickets are $20 per person, cash bar. Group reservations available.

Contact us to reserve your tickets or go to our website to fill out a ticket order form. http://www.franklinrodandgun.org/

Franklin Rod and Gun Club