Birthday Celebration Sunday at Historical Museum

This story appeared in Franklin Matters Wednesday:

Help celebrate Franklin's 238th birthday at the Historical Museum - March 6

The Franklin Historical Museum will celebrate the town's 238th birthday on Sunday March 6th with cake and coffee in the museum library. Stop by for a slice of cake, have a look around and learn a little bit more about your town's history. 

Did you know that our town was originally to be called Exeter? In the original draft of the town's charter, the name throughout the document was Exeter. But on the day that the town was to be incorporated, our founding fathers with familiar names such as Fisher, Metcalf, Lethbridge, Whiting, Hawes and Boyd were inspired to cross out the name Exeter and claim the name Franklin. But why the change? 

In Blakes' History of Franklin, written at the time of the town's centennial, Blake speculated: "It will be remembered that Benjamin Franklin, with two others, had been sent to France immediately upon the Declaration of Independence in 1776 to negotiate a treaty of recognition and alliance.' The news finally arrived on the shores of this newly formed country that "on the 6th of January Louis XVI entered into a treaty of amity and commerce with the colonies."

The news was welcomed and celebrated and as a tribute to the popular statesman and diplomat the gentlemen from the 'Westerly Precinct of Wrentham' promptly changed the name on the application of incorporation to Franklin. Many other States have since honored Benjamin Franklin in the same way, but we are of course, the first. 

Join us this weekend and be among the first to experience our new monthly feature, the Item of the Month! Each month we will spotlight a different item from our collection that we hope will be interesting, intriguing and will encourage our visitors to learn something new. The March Item of the Month is an 18th century 'calash'. Not sure what it is? Come on in and find out. 

The museum is open Saturdays 10:00AM-1:00PM and Sundays 1:00PM-4:00PM. We are located at 80 West Central Street and we are handicap accessible.

The Franklin Historical Museum ready to party!

For more about the Historical Museum visit them on the web at
http://franklinhistoricalmuseum.org/  

or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/FHM02038


**In case you are interested, wikipedia lists 50 communities (cities and towns) called Franklin in the USA  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_places_named_for_Benjamin_Franklin

Davis Thayer Modules

Did you see this story in Franklin Matters? 

Removal of the modular classrooms at Davis Thayer School is a good thing for Downtown Franklin.

Davis Thayer modular units to be removed

The Davis Thayer modular units are supposed to be removed this summer. 

Walking by on Wednesday I saw equipment was being positioned to start 

the work. As this is posted, they may already be gone.

equipment positioned to remove the modular units

I went to the recent archive of photos from walking around to capture the 

'old' look. Once they are removed and the ground re-seeded, I'll share some 

photos so we can see the before and after comparison,

Davis Thayer modular units - 1

Davis Thayer modular units - 2

Davis Thayer modular units - 3

Davis Thayer modular units - 4

There were 2 classrooms within the modular units as I recall from a tour 

of the school in 2012. I'll go further into the archive to find and share 

photos of the inside.

Franklin Matters: FM #108 - Emmons St RFP Discussion (audio)

If you missed the Town Council discussion Wednesday night, Steve Sherlock recorded the meeting: 



Franklin Matters: FM #108 - Emmons St RFP Discussion (audio): The audio recording (podcast) for the Emmons St RFP discussion from Wednesday (Jan 7, 2015) night's Town Council meeting is available. ...

Franklin Matters' Survey Concerns Emmons Street RFP

For residents who are unable to make the meeting on Wednesday, you can take Franklin Matters' survey below:

What do you think should happen with regards to the Emmons Street RFP at Wednesday night’s Town Council meeting? The Councilors have four options from which to choose. Franklin Matters posted the following survey this week and we encourage you to take it. 

"Survey Says" - Which option on the 150 Emmons St property would you like to see?

If the above link does not work please copy this into your browser —  http://www.franklinmatters.org/2015/01/survey-says-which-option-on-150-emmons.html

Economic Development Meeting This Wednesday

The Economic Development Committee meeting is Wednesday, December 17, at 5:30 at Town Hall in the 3rd Floor Training Room.

The Economic Development Committee will be discussing the proposal they received for the 150 Emmons Street property.

Franklin Matters posted the following item last week with the link to the Milford Daily News story: 

Franklin Matters: "One would assume I’d be moving forward with the p...: Town planning officials received just one response to the request for proposals to develop a town-owned property at the corner of Emmons S...

A Heartwarming Story from Franklin Matters

This story appeared on Franklin Matters this week. Nice job Mirabella and Katherine!

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Harvest Festival Kids' Fundraiser Success!

Hi there! 

Katherine Kurtz (left) Mirabella Carrara (right)

I just wanted to share with "FRANKLIN MATTERS" about the wonderful, and 
successful day our girls had at their Harvest Festival booth. 

Mirabella Carrara and Katherine Kurtz, both age 9, met in pre-school, 
forming an immediate bond. They now sit side-by-side in their forth grade 
classroom at Davis Thayer Elementary. Their philanthropic hearts and love 
for American Girl dolls gave rise to the idea of selling crafts in order to raise 
money to buy toys, books and dolls for patients at Boston Children's Hospital, 
where Mirabella was treated as a baby.

The girls partnered with American Girl Place in Natick and were able to shop 
there and deliver gifts to BCH last year. 

crafts sold to raise money

With the local support and encouragement, the girls have decided to make 
this an annual event and started their efforts early this year. Through sales 
and generous donations, they raised $342 yesterday, selling hot pink sparkly 
star ornaments and earrings that they made. They also had a coloring table 
where children were encouraged to color an official Get Well card. We 
collected over 50 Get Well cards that will be delivered with our gifts in 
December.

Thank you to Franklin for supporting these girls, their great idea, and the 
children at Boston Children's Hospital! 

Kellie Carrara (mother)
Franklin, MA

making Get Well cards at the Harvest Festival

Franklin Matters: Living History Exhibit at the Franklin Downtown Pa...

Our Strawberry Stroll will be Thursday, June 12, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Here's just one of the highlights:

(story originally appeared on Franklin Matters)
Living History Exhibit at the Franklin Downtown Partnership's Annual Strawberry Stroll 

As the country recognizes the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the Franklin Historical Museum will host a living history exhibit at the Franklin Downtown Partnership's Annual Strawberry Stroll on Thursday, June 12th. 

Members of the U.S. Naval Landing Party, a Civil War reenactment crew, will exhibit a modified version of their living exhibit on the front lawn of the museum, with tents, bunks, uniforms and daily necessities of the soldiers from this historic time period. 

Students, educators, history buffs, children and folks of all ages 

have a great opportunity to speak with the Civil War 'soldiers' 

and the event certainly will be enjoyed by all.

Multi-Media Coverage of Emmons Street Discussion

Franklin Matters has posted an audio recording of the April 2 Town Council meeting and the Emmons Street discussion:  http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/04/fm-104-150-emmons-st-discussion-at-town.html


In case you missed it, Franklin Matters also posted this synopsis of the meeting:   http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/04/this-is-just-discussion.html

Finally, the Milford Daily News ran this story Wednesday -- Franklin residents:  slow down on Emmons Street parcel by Matt Tota  http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20140403/NEWS/140408709/?tag=1