Friday, September 25, 2020

Franklin Downtown Partnership has been busy and shows!

Downtown decorated for Fall

"On September 16, members of the Franklin Downtown Partnership, Franklin Garden Club, resident volunteers and DPW decorated the downtown area with mums, pumpkins, and other autumnal decor from Hillside Nurseries and Franklin Agway.

“This year, we feel it’s more important than ever to roll out the red carpet to our downtown by beautifying it with autumn decorations,” said Roberta Trahan, vice president of the FDP. “We want to encourage people to shop local and support Franklin businesses.”

Long-time chair of the beautification efforts in downtown, Eileen Mason, said all the volunteers maintained appropriate social distancing and wore masks while installing the fall decorations.

“We wanted to make sure we beautified the downtown in the safest way possible,” said Mason. “Many thanks to our volunteers, Hillside Nurseries, the Department of Public Works and Franklin Agway for making this possible.”
Continue reading the Downtown Partnership post 

 
Kindness Rocks find new life
 
"Franklin Downtown Partnership, Berry Insurance and other local volunteers are spreading kindness and positivity by breathing new life into the Kindness Rocks Garden located in the green space next to Rockland Trust in downtown Franklin. 

Originally installed in the summer of 2018, the Kindness Rocks Garden was a huge hit with people who took rocks painted with inspirational messages and pictures. Now, a new push is on to create more painted rocks to place at the Kindness Rocks Garden. 

“We’re excited to continue the new tradition of a Kindness Rocks garden in downtown Franklin. Together we can help spread more kindness one rock at a time.” said Kaitlyn Pintarich of Berry Insurance.

The project is an extension of a popular national initiative called The Kindness Rocks Project that has a mission of promoting random acts of kindness to unsuspecting recipients by painting and dropping inspirational rocks."

Continue reading the Downtown Partnership post 

 

John F Kennedy Elementary named a 2020 National Blue Ribbon School

Franklin Public Schools (FPS) is proud to announce that Kennedy Elementary School has been named a 2020 National Blue Ribbon School by the United States Department of Education! 

Congratulations!
 

Micro-Enterprise Grant Program Overview and Application

Small business owners may qualify

  1. The business must qualify as a microenterprise (a for-profitbusiness that has 5 or fewer employees, including the owner(s).(Note 5 employees means actual people, whether full-or part-time NOT Full-Time-Equivalents (FTEs) that has been adversely affected by Covid-19. The business can be a sole-proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or LLC.;
  2. The business must have a physical establishment in one of the participating towns:
  • Bellingham 
  • Foxboro
  • Franklin
  • Medfield
  • Walpole
  • Wrentham
  1. The business must be currently in operation and have must have been established prior to January 1, 2019;

Additional qualifications can be found in the following information regarding the Micro-Enterprise Grant Program attached here:

Program Overview & Instructions 

Preliminary Application 


Micro-Enterprise Grant Program Overview and Application
Micro-Enterprise Grant Program Overview and Application

The pressure from Gov Baker and DESE's Riley - getting pushback

From CommonWealth Magazine we share an article of interest for Franklin:

"GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Thursday continued to push schools to bring students back in person while denying allegations by the state’s largest teachers union that his administration is “bullying” local districts.

“If you are a low-risk district, and you’ve been a low-risk district for eight weeks, and you have no plan to return to in-person learning when most people in education and public health and the pediatric communities all believe that in-person learning, especially for young kids, is a critical part of their educational and social development, we want to know what your plan is to get back,” Baker said. “I don’t think that’s bullying. I think it’s a perfectly appropriate question to ask on behalf of people in those communities and particularly the kids.”

In August, Baker released a color-coded map indicating levels of COVID-19 transmission in each community, and he has been pushing communities with low levels of transmission to open their schools. But teachers’ unions have pushed back, saying many schools are not prepared to safely reopen."

Continue reading the article online
 
** Meanwhile one of the organizations Gov Baker claims to have participated in crafting the schools' guidance is saying they did not and have been trying to reach him but without success.
 
 
Steph Solis at #IRE20 (@stephmsolis) tweeted at 0:53 PM on Thu, Sep 24, 2020:
Carlene Pavlos of @MAPublicHealth says they didn't endorse or weigh in on in-person learning, despite @MassGovernor's comments: "Since March we have repeatedly asked to meet with Governor Baker or a staff member from the Governor's office, but we have received no reply." 


https://t.co/z6mPKXnMcZ
(https://twitter.com/stephmsolis/status/1309174108047978498?s=03)

** Also from the Amesbury Mayor comes the notification back to DESE's Riley outlining their response to his most recent request.

 

Image from Commonwealth Magazine
Image from Commonwealth Magazine

In the news: Gov Baker "balks" or"rebukes" President Trump

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:  "Baker balks at Trump comments on power transfer"

"Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday that he and other public officials “will do everything we can to make sure that the people’s will is followed through” after this fall’s election.

“A huge part of this nation’s glory, to the extent it exists as a beacon to others, is the peaceful transfer of power based on the vote of the people of this country,” Baker said. “Mail-in balloting has been with us forever, and that peaceful transfer of power is what the people of this country rely on when they go to vote. It is appalling and outrageous that anyone would suggest, even for a minute, that if they lose an election, they’re not going to leave. Period.”

The governor’s impassioned comments came in response to a question about President Donald Trump’s refusal on Wednesday to commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses the Nov. 3 election."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required) 

From CommonWealth Magazine we share an article of interest for Franklin: "Baker rebukes Trump power transfer remarks"

GOV. CHARLIE BAKER rebuked President Trump on Thursday for refusing to say whether he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power in the wake of the November 3 election.

In response to a question at a State House press conference, Baker criticized Trump without ever mentioning his name. The Republican governor said the peaceful transfer of power is what Americans rely on when they vote. “It is appalling and outrageous that anyone would suggest for a minute that if they lose an election they’re not gonna’ leave,” he said.

Continue reading the article online


Gov Baker press conference on Thursday, Sep 24: https://youtu.be/ORsupgAJTZ4 
The last question Gov Baker gets is where he makes his remarks to "rebuff" or "rebuke" President Trump. You can listen and make your choice. Much of the conference covers the return to school re-opening process where Gov Baker and DESE's Riley are accused of pressuring districts to return in person.
 

Thursday, September 24, 2020

Franklin Museum holiday Ornaments for sale - Columbus Day weekend

The Friends of the Franklin Historical Museum  will be selling hand-painted glass ornaments in their own velvet box .😊

This year offers 2 new designs

  • The Ray Memorial Library
  • The Clark Square Water Trough 

each selling for $18.00.

Columbus Day weekend, Oct. 10, 11, 12th , from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM

at The Franklin Historical Museum
80 West Central St, Franklin, MA

You don't have to leave your car, a one-way drive through will take place.

Cash or Checks only.

Ornaments sell out quickly, don't miss this opportunity !  

Franklin Museum holiday Ornaments for sale - Columbus Day weekend
Franklin Museum holiday Ornaments for sale - Columbus Day weekend

 

FM #351 School Committee Meeting - 9/22/20 - P1 of 2 (audio)

FM #351 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 351 in the series.

This shares part of the Franklin, MA School Committee meeting that was held on Tuesday, September 22, 2020. The meeting was conducted via conference bridge to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.

Part 1 - the first of two audio sections of the full meeting. This section covers the opening through the Superintendent’s Report covering the re-opening updates.

 
 

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The agenda doc, including connection info
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/09/franklin-ma-school-committee-agenda-sep_20.html
 
The meeting packet with all docs released for this meeting
https://www.franklinps.net/district/meeting-packets/pages/september-22-2020-school-committee-meeting-packet
 
My notes taken via Twitter during the meeting are summarized here
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/09/school-committee-meeting-recap-of-sep.html
 
Photos used in the Twitter thread can be found in the Google photo album
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ro64oXgTo4fpUdo1A

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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.

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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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
 

FM #351 School Committee Meeting - 9/22/20 - P1 of 2 (audio)
FM #351 School Committee Meeting - 9/22/20 - P1 of 2 (audio)