LGBTQ+ Pizza and Boardgames Meetup to be Held at Horace Mann Square - Oct 9

LGBTQ+ Pizza and Board games Meetup to be Held at Horace Mann Square outside Piezoni

RSVP at http://franklin.nonscene.boston

The "Non-Scene" Gay Friends of Greater Boston, a meetup.com social group, will be hosting a pizza and board games meetup for the LGBTQ+ community right here in Franklin! The free event will be held at Horace Mann Square outside Piezoni on October 9th, 2021, at noon. Board games will be provided, but attendees can also bring their own. Attendees are also encouraged to support local downtown dining establishments and eat with us outdoors.

The "Non-Scene" Gay Friends of Greater Boston was established in 2010 to provide an alternative to the traditional LGBTQ+ nightlife. "I've found it very difficult to meet other LGBTQ+ people in Franklin, outside of commonly used dating apps" explained meetup organizer and Franklin resident Maxwell Morrongiello. The meetup is now one of the world's largest LGBTQ+ meetup groups with almost 8000 members.

Town Councilor and ally Cobi Frongillo applauded the upcoming event explaining, "only a few years ago, it was commonplace to see Franklin students wait until college to come out because they weren't sure they'd be supported in town. To now be hosting meet-ups for our LGBTQ+ neighbors is a fantastic step forward in supporting all community members."

Attendees are asked to be fully vaccinated and wear masks indoors, with masks being optional outdoors. "During these crazy times, we want to provide opportunities for people to socialize, while also ensuring people can remain safe," explained Morrongiello.

 "I have had wonderful experiences connecting with the LGBTQ+ community in the Boston area through this meetup, had fun doing a wide range of activities together, and not worry about fitting in" expressed longtime meetup member and event attendee Matthew Shibin. "The organizers do a fantastic job and are always open to feedback and suggestions about new activity ideas."

Attendees are required to create an account to join the meetup group, and rsvp at: http://franklin.nonscene.boston

Non-tax-deductible contributions to support our events can be made at: http://contribute.nonscene.boston

The "Non-Scene" Gay Friends of Greater Boston is registered doing business as "Non-Scene Boston"

Meet MC the owner of Timeless Crossfit & Fitness

After being in the corporate business world for 17 years, MC left to pursue her passion for fitness. She is a certified personal trainer, group exercise instructor and nutrition coach. Her fitness career in Franklin eventually landed her a great opportunity to own and operate her own gym.

Timeless Crossfit & Fitness is a welcoming and approachable way to begin or continue your wellness journey. You’ll immediately feel like Timeless is your second home. A place to escape the rat race and focus on building your health. MC is passionate about breaking down the “stigma” of Crossfit and making it a workout for everyone.

Crossfit classes run all throughout the day! If you’re new to Crossfit you can sign-up for the On-Ramp program which is 3x 1 hour sessions that teach you about crossfit standards, 1-1 personal assessment and all the foundational movements.

I want to emphasize that Timeless is more than just Crossfit. There is a wide variety of classes:

- strength & burn

- Step class

- strength & conditioning

- TRX

- Shred & tone

- Woman’s boxing (I love boxing, helped me get into the best shape of my life!)

- Cycling

- Kettlebell

- Barre

- Yoga

There is also a small group training class for those with disabilities and a youth strength and conditioning class (ages 11-17).

There is childcare which is an amazing service for parents trying to balance their workouts/family life.

Lastly, Timeless Crossfit & Fitness takes COVID and safety very seriously. Lots of cleaning! If this is a concern preventing you from working out, talk to the staff to learn more! Everyone has a different comfort level so I just encourage talking to them directly about this!

(Photography credit 📸: @ryanosbornephotography)

#localfranklin #franklinma #franklinmassachusetts #franklinmass #medwayma

Shared from Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CUQKyq7lXh8/?utm_medium=copy_link

copy of @ryanosbornephotography photo posted to Instagram

FHS Panther Hockey says "Thank you"

"Thank you to our amazing community for helping make the FHS Bottle & Can Drive and Franklin Food Pantry Drive a huge success. Looking forward to seeing you all at Harvest Festival!

@FHSSports @PanthersJVPuck @ToFranklinMa @FranklinRec @FYHockey" 

Shared from Twitter: https://t.co/bJDcjuGaHR

some of the collection by the FHS Panthers Boys Hockey team

Franklin (MA) Police: Consider this lockup routine before you go to bed

A good reminder from the Franklin Police Department:

Franklin (MA) Police: Consider this lockup routine before you go to bed

Shared from Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CUJEHqqMXl7/?utm_medium=copy_link

And a good reason to use this routine every day:

"LOCK YOUR CARS. LOCK YOUR CARS. LOCK YOUR CARS. 

Not to sound like a broken record but over the last 2 weeks the department has taken 4 reports of stolen cars from neighborhoods overnight. Each of these incidents involved cars being left unlocked with keys left inside them. Cars were stolen from Southgate Road, A Street, Mary Anne Drive, and Mary Jane Road.  

All 4 of these cars have been recovered and are being processed by Franklin Detectives. These cars are being found abandoned or unoccupied in Framingham and Providence. Don’t allow yourself to fall victim to these crimes. Never leave your keys unlocked in your cars overnight."

Shared from Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/162770995915/posts/10157832171275916/

Lifeline Awareness Week

 

"Living alone can be isolating, especially over the past year when socializing has been a health risk due to COVID-19. That is why the Department of Telecommunications and Cable (DTC) wants you to know, no matter your income, there are ways for you to have a home phone, cell phone, and internet plan. Since 1985, the Lifeline Program, a service administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company as part of the Universal Service Fund, has kept Americans connected and safe by providing low cost and no cost phone service options for eligible low-income consumers.

To commemorate the availability of this government service, the DTC and its partners­—the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA)—are participating in Lifeline Awareness Week from September 20-24, 2021. Through this awareness week, these groups hope to educate the public about this life saving prevention program."

Continue reading the article online
http://blog.mass.gov/consumer/massconsumer/lifeline-awareness-week/

In the revised and "preliminary final" Housing Production Plan almost 12% of Franklin householders live alone, and 7.1% of those are over 65 years old. 
https://www.franklinma.gov/planning-community-development/files/preliminary-final-2021-housing-production-plan

Lifeline Awareness Week

If you only do one thing with your privacy settings ...

"There’s probably a little bit of Google in every part of your life. The company hosts a sprawling network of tools and apps we use for everything — from school assignments and work emails, to watching how-to videos and making calls. The good news is that Google has tried to collect its most important privacy settings into one place, which means you can protect your data in Gmail and Google-owned YouTube at the same time.

Google offers a “Privacy Checkup” to get through settings quickly, but defaults to more mild options than we’ve listed below. There are some trade-offs when you limit Google’s data collection, according to the company. Google services that give recommendations might not be as helpful, and any ads you see will be less accurately targeted.

These privacy setting recommendations are based on your Google Account settings on the Web. You can also access them through individual Google apps or your settings on an Android phone by going to Settings → Google (or Google Services)."

Continue reading the article online. (Subscription maybe required)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/09/23/google-privacy-settings/

If you only do one thing with your privacy settings ...

"The region is one of many across the globe being struck by severe drought."

"Sergio Koci’s sunflower farm in the lowlands of northern Argentina has survived decades of political upheaval, runaway inflation and the coronavirus outbreak. But as a series of historic droughts deadens vast expanses of South America, he fears a worsening water crisis could do what other calamities couldn’t: Bust his third-generation agribusiness.

“When you have one bad year, you can face it,” Koci said. Some of his 20,000 acres rest near the mighty Paraná River, where water levels have reached lows not seen since 1944. On the back of two years of drought-related crop losses, he said, the continuing dryness is now set to reduce his sunflower yields this year by 65 percent.

“When you have three bad years, you don’t know if there will even be another year,” he said.

From the frigid peaks of Patagonia to the tropical wetlands of Brazil, worsening droughts this year are slamming farmers, shutting down ski slopes, upending transit and spiking prices for everything from coffee to electricity."

Continue reading the article online. (Subscription maybe required)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/09/24/argentina-brazil-south-america-drought/

Meanwhile, on the home front:

"Breaking news in the weather department this morning... We have now moved into first place for the wettest July through September. #EnoughIsEnough"

https://twitter.com/growingwisdom/status/1442073286591062017

We have now moved into first place for the wettest July through September