Franklin Beautification Day to be May 21
The Franklin Downtown Partnership is recruiting volunteers to help spruce up the downtown during the eighth annual Beautification Day on Saturday, May 21. The event is scheduled from 8 a.m. to Noon, rain or shine.
Together with the Franklin Garden Club and Wadsworth Farm, the non-profit Partnership will install more than 1,400 flowers and greens on the bridge and islands downtown and in planter boxes in front of some businesses. All residents, especially students in need of community service hours, are encouraged to spend some time digging in the dirt to help decorate downtown Franklin. Volunteers will meet at 8 a.m. on the center island in front of the Rome Restaurant.
“We have planned some beautiful, eye-catching displays this year,” says Beautification Day Chairperson Eileen Mason. The color scheme for this year’s plantings is white, blue and burgundy, and includes Compact Sun Patience, Burgundy Star and Blue Moon Petunias, Victoria Blue Salvia, Lobelia, Lantana and Red Proven Winner’s Grass. “These are hardy plants that will stay blooming and beautiful from spring through the fall.”
The Partnership and Garden Club work year-round on this beautification effort. This spring’s plants were chosen last November and then grown in the Wadsworth Farm greenhouses over the winter. After the initial planting, the Partnership coordinates with the Garden Club members to water and maintain the gardens and flower boxes throughout the warm months. Next fall the boxes will be cleaned up and prepared for volunteers to decorate for the winter holidays.
“Every year our volunteers do an amazing job. If it weren’t for them and the donations we receive from residents and businesses we wouldn’t be able to create these beautiful displays and brighten up downtown Franklin,” says Mason. “We welcome anyone who wants to get their hands dirty with us or make a donation to offset the cost of the new boxes and the flowers.”
Sponsorship opportunities are still available. Gold and platinum-level sponsors will have their names prominently displayed on a sign in the center island for the 2011 season. Silver sponsors will have their name displayed on a group sign in the center island for the remainder of the year.
Interested sponsors and volunteers should contact Eileen Mason at emason11@verizon.net. Details about sponsorship can also be found on the Partnership’s website, franklindowntownpartnership.org/, under the Sponsorship tab.
All contributions to the Franklin Downtown Partnership, a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization, are tax deductible. Please make checks payable to: Franklin Downtown Partnership, P.O. Box 413, Franklin, MA, 02038. For more information about the Partnership and becoming a member contact Executive Director Lisa Piana at (774)571-3109 or downtown.franklin@yahoo.com.
