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 *
One of the ways my informational radar works is with alerts. The Town of Franklin has a number of alerts that can be set up for you to receive an email with an update. Monday morning, was busy as three public hearings were announced for the next Town Council meeting April 6, 2022.
This works for some aspects of Town business. Alerts and notifications are a work in progress and I will continue to advocate for additional alerts.
In the meantime, you can also subscribe to the calendar so when an item gets added to the calendar you get notified. An RSS reader is needed for this however. https://www.franklinma.gov/calendar(Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the RSS icon, click it and subscribe with your RSS Reader).
Below are the official 2022 Hockomock League Girls and Boys Indoor Track All Stars, selected by the coaches in the league. We share the FHS selections and provide links below for the full League listing.
Making Music Matter With Franklin High School Unified Music - Kate Rudolph, Writer
"Ever hear a concert in the band room after school on a Friday afternoon? That is the FHS Unified Music Club jamming out together, and making memories.
FHS Unified Music was started in 2018 by Franklin Alumni Max Allard, who wanted to bring FHS students of all abilities together, and share their love of music. The Club’s slogan, M3, stands for “Making Music Matter.” This phrase was adapted to emphasize the idea of inclusion coming in various forms. The club goes beyond just singing and playing instruments, by supporting each other in solo performances, or whole group karaoke. "
FHS Diversity Awareness Club Hosts Geography Night - Hailey Michenzie, Writer
"Franklin High School (FHS) traveled the world recently! FHS Diversity Awareness club hosted a Geography Night in the school cafeteria on Tuesday, March 1 from 5-8 p.m. On this night, students and community members came together to learn about each other’s culture, heritage, and sample some delicious food.
Students shared fun facts, historical figures, music, and food that represented their culture. The night allowed FHS and the community to learn more about different cultures and heritages that make up our world."
The Player Perspective: FHS Basketball Captains Reflect on Final Season - Ryan Martin, Writer
"The courts are cleared, jerseys hung up, and laces untied – Another successful season is officially in the books for FHS Boys Basketball. After a year where the Panthers barely broke a .500 record and graduated their entire starting lineup, this inexperienced team came together and shocked many Hockomock opponents. A streaky group all year, the Panthers rallied off both seven and eight-game winning streaks this season before a 2nd round playoff loss to Catholic Memorial in the MIAA Playoffs two weeks ago today. To reflect on Franklin’s season, and look ahead to what could be next for the Panthers next season, I caught up with the team’s two Senior Captains: Sean Vinson and Will Tracey"
"Mary Dickins had been a spectator at poetry nights before and knew “the poetry clap”. She mimes a polite tapping of fingers. But when she made her debut as a performer at the age of 62 at the legendary Bang Said the Gun night in south London, “it was so anarchic and wild – like nothing I had seen before”. The audience stamped feet, shook shakers. “It felt transformative. I thought: ‘I’ve got to have more of this.’”
Even though Dickins says she “constantly has impostor syndrome – I always feel that I’m going to be found out”, becoming a performance poet has given her a place on a stage of her own making.
All her life she has written, mostly without being seen or heard. Her mother died when she was nine, and, after she went into a care home at 13, Dickins’ writing “stayed in notebooks”. “Never really took it anywhere,” she says (she has a habit of eliding the personal pronoun, as if she might be an impostor in her own sentences)."
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
If this inspires you to write, there are opportunities around to do so. For example, the Senior Scribblers meet weekly at the Senior Center on Wednesdays (once a month to record at the Franklin TV Studio). If interested, call the Senior Center or let me know (I am part of the group).
Mary Dickins: ‘The sillier I allow myself to be, the better the writing is.’ Photograph: Teri Pengilley/The Guardian
"The coronavirus vaccines most widely used in the United States remained highly effective at preventing the worst outcomes from infections even in the face of the highly transmissible omicron variant in January, a report released Friday by federal disease trackers shows.
While protection against mild illness waned over time, the mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech provided a robust shield against death and needing mechanical ventilation, the study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.
The study bolsters confidence in the vaccines to prevent the most serious outcomes for covid-19 patients, even after the omicron variant fueled an increase in cases, hospitalizations and deaths this winter, said William Moss, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who did not participate in the study."
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
9:00 AM 12:00 Noon and 6:00 PM Jazz Journey – with Pamela Hines 2 hours. An insightful tour of Jazz Greats in a golden era
11:00 AM 2 PM and 8:00 PM SAFE Radio– Jim Derick and Dr. Anne Bergen Addressing issues of Drug Abuse Disorder
Franklin All Access TV - Our Public Access Channel (Comcast 8, Verizon 26) = TUESDAY
7:00 am The Black Box: Electric Youth 2022 9:00 am It Takes A Village: Philip Hulbig 10:00 am Frank Presents: Greg Dowd 11:30 am Senior Connection: Kitchen Gadgets Pt. 2 12:00 pm Brook'n'Cookin: Scones 12:30 pm Sandhya: Donuts 1:30 pm Pizzapalooza: White Pizza 2:00 pm New England Candlepins: Summer 2018 Show 5 3:00 pm Candlepin New Generation: Show 3 3:30 pm Battleship Cove: Inside The History Pt. 8 4:00 pm Battleship Cove: Inside The History Pt. 8 4:30 pm Extended Play Sessions: Season 10 Show 4 - Dicenso Clark 5:30 pm Physician Focus: Unequal Treatment: Disparities in Health Care 8:30 pm Pack 92 Pinewood Derby 2022
Franklin Pride TV - Our Educational Channel (Comcast 96, Verizon 28) = TUESDAY
7:00 am Public School Event: Concert Hour Day 2
9:00 am Public School Event: Lifelong Winter Music 2021
10:30 am FHS Boys Varsity Basketball: v Catholic Memorial 03-08-22
12:30 pm FHS Boys Varsity Hockey: v Hingham 03-08-22
2:00 pm It Takes A Village: Philip Hulbig
3:00 pm FHS Girls Varsity Hockey: v Andover 03-04-22
9:00 pm FHS Girls Varsity Basketball: v Springfield Central 03-12-22
Franklin Town Hall TV - Our Government Channel (Comcast 11, Verizon 29) = TUESDAY
This episode shares my conversation with Town Council Chair Tom Mercer. This is one of a series of conversations meant to provide a recap of the prior Council meeting. Akin to one of the many sports post-game analysis broadcasts we are familiar with in New England, this would be a discussion focused on the Franklin Town Council meeting of March 16, 2022:
ok, what just happened?
What does it mean for Franklin residents and taxpayers?
We cover the following key topics
Recognitions/promotions
Police Department - Sergeant Connor Crosman
Police Department - Detective Laura Canavan
New Hire: Police Department - Derek Mackey
Storm water received 1st approval
Capital plan
Preliminary FY23 Budget Model
Our conversation runs about 37 minutes:
Links to the meeting agenda and associated documents released for this meeting are included in the show notes.
Let’s listen to Tom and I in this Town Council Quarterbacking session
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 your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
"FHSTC is onto Regionals! Feeling grateful to be recognized as a Top 3 school, and punching our ticket to Regionals."
"BIG shout out to our All-Star Awards in: scenic design (Kaiti), costume design (Heidi, Ren, Will), sound design (Matt),
Ensemble work for the Rock Creatures (Heidi, Millie, Amanda, Colin, Will, Shea, Alex, Ava, Jake, Patrick), and an acting award for Simon, who played Don. "
"Brendan McCormick ('22), Timothy O'Keefe ('22), Evan Raider ('22)- Top 10 Business Operations Research! 2021 ICDC Qualifiers, 1st Place Districts 2022! Leadership, Character, Consistency. Any team/organization would be well served to include these 3!"
"Nihara Lijan (‘23) ICDC Qualifier- Innovation Plan! Shout out to Mr. Bobrowsky on the collab! The power of cross-curricular project based learning on full display!"
Norfolk County Register of Deeds, William P. O’Donnell, appeared on a segment broadcast by Quincy Access Television commemorating Women’s History Month and recognizing a number of distinguished women, both past and present, with ties to Norfolk County. “There are numerous prominent woman with ties to Norfolk County”, noted the Register, “ranging from first lady Abigail Adams, the wife and mother of two presidents, who was born in Weymouth and buried in Quincy, to lesser known but important figures such as Katherine Lee Bates, a nineteenth century Wellesley resident, who, inspired by the beauty she observed from the top of Pike’s Peak, wrote the lyrics to “America the Beautiful”.
Some of the other women mentioned by Register O’Donnell in the segment include historic figures like Deborah Sampson from Sharon, who fought and was wounded in the American Revolutionary War, Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan, both from Wrentham, whose story has been chronicled in books and in the 1962 movie, “The Miracle Worker”, Harriet Hemenway from Canton, who co-founded the Massachusetts Audubon Society in 1896, Dr. Helen Cleary, the first woman to be elected to the Town of Norfolk’s Board of Selectmen and the actress Lee Remick from Quincy, an Academy Award nominee in 1962.
Norfolk County is also birthplace of a number of contemporary women such as the astronaut, Sunita Williams, a 1983 graduate of Needham High School, who has performed the most spacewalks by a woman, National Public Radio’s Audie Cornish, Mindy Kaling, the writer and actress best known for the television series “The Office” and of course, Needham’s own Aly Raisman, the winner of several Olympic medals in women’s gymnastics and the recipient of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
“I appreciate Mark Crosby and the folks at Quincy Access Television providing me the opportunity to honor the contributions and accomplishments of women from the communities in Norfolk County that have had a positive impact in our lives”, stated Register O’Donnell.
The Norfolk County Registry of Deeds is located at 649 High Street in Dedham. The Registry is a resource for homeowners, title examiners, mortgage lenders, municipalities and others with a need for secure, accurate, accessible land record information. All land record research information can be found on the Registry’s website www.norfolkdeeds.org. Residents in need of assistance can contact the Registry of Deeds Customer Service Center via telephone at (781) 461-6101, or email us at registerodonnell@norfolkdeeds.org.
This free program is available through a grant from the Massachusetts Councils on Aging (MCOA) and the Executive Office of Elder Affairs
Session 10: Interview Preparation
Tuesday March 22nd: 10 am – 12 pm
Congratulations, you've been invited to an interview! What do you do next? Prepare! And prepare. And prepare.
But, how?
Join facilitator Melody Beach, as she discusses all things interview-related, with an emphasis on what you should do before the interview.
Why you need to know about this: The interview is the landing that follows all the mental and physical gymnastics of your job-search. Perfect the interview landing and your chance of landing the job goes way up!
Start your journey towards self-realization, reinvention and transformation with our virtual sessions - delivered via Zoom.
"For decades, Edwin's gift store was a staple in Franklin, becoming a community landmark and the go-to place for unique gifts.
Now the former Edwin's will take on a new life, this time providing the staples -- and more -- to residents who find themselves struggling to put food on the table and pay the bills.
After sitting vacant for about four years, Edwin's will become the new home of the rapidly expanding Franklin Food Pantry. The 4,992-square-foot building at 341 W. Central St. was recently sold to the pantry by SVN Parsons Commercial Group, Boston for $950,000. "
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
Disclosure: I volunteer for the Franklin Food Pantry Capital Campaign committee which will be coordinating efforts to raise funds to pay for the mortgage and establish support for ongoing operations of the Food Pantry to support our neighbors.
Communications Director Laura Often (left) and Executive Director Tina Powderly (right) in front of Edwin's the new home of the Food Pantry - specific timeline remains TBD (Heather McCarron photo)
