Light Up Downtown Franklin and Beyond

Franklin Kindness Rocks Garden Finds 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.

Franklin Downtown Partnership Executive Director Lisa Piana is pleased that the Kindness Rocks Garden will offer just one more reason to visit the downtown area. “We hope that the Kindness Rocks Garden reminds people that our residents care and support others, especially during these challenging times.”

Visitors are encouraged to visit the Kindness Rocks Garden next to Rockland Trust, 58 Main St., Franklin, and take a rock. They are also invited to leave a rock as an inspiration to someone else. 

Fall Into Downtown Franklin

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.”

Harvest Festival Canceled - New Initiatives Coming Soon

Due to the ongoing pandemic and its social distancing guidelines, the board of the Franklin Downtown Partnership (FDP) has canceled this year’s Harvest Festival originally scheduled for Oct. 3. Instead, the FDP is planning to have smaller events during the holiday season to encourage residents to shop downtown Franklin.

“These are challenging times for our local businesses,” said Lisa Piana, executive director of the FDP. “We are eager to help those businesses in whatever way we can. We have a list of exciting new initiatives for the coming fall and holiday season including our Holiday Happenings.”

Read More Here

FDP Sponsors Concert

THE BLACK BOX will present country singer Ayla Brown as part of its outdoor concert series in the theater’s parking lot on Sat., Aug.15 at 8 p.m. The concert is sponsored by the Franklin Cultural District Committee and the Franklin Downtown Partnership. THE BLACK BOX Summer Concert Series is sponsored by Dean Bank.

Tables will be socially distanced and masks will be required when patrons enter THE BLACK BOX building to access the box office, restrooms, and bar. Table groupings will be limited to six. Advance ticketing and payment are encouraged. Tickets are available online.

Read more here.

Map of Free Parking in Franklin

Business Reopening Information

The town of Franklin has provided the following information to assist businesses as they reopen.

• COVID-19 Control Plan
• Compliance Attestation
• Coronavirus Information Portal
• Reopening Resources

This is also a handy graphic regarding the Massachusetts Phase 2 Reopening:

Special FDP Meeting Addresses the Reopening of Franklin Businesses

The Franklin Downtown Partnership hosted a special general meeting on June 4 on the topic of reopening businesses following the coronavirus pandemic. State and local leaders discussed various ramifications of the pandemic on businesses and the path back from quarantine. 

Presenters in the online meeting included State Sen. Becca Rausch, State Rep. Jeff Roy, Susan Nicholl from State Sen. Karen Spilka's office, Franklin Town Administrator Jamie Hellen, and Franklin Health Director Cathy Liberty. 

An audio recording and notes on the meeting are available on Franklin Matters.

One of the topics covered during the meeting was the ability of restaurants to reopen with outdoor dining.

“I am very encouraged to learn that Franklin restaurants will soon be able to set up outside dining,” said Franklin Downtown Partnership Executive Director Lisa Piana. “I appreciate town officials expediting the approval process so restaurant owners can take advantage of this opportunity, especially now that the weather is so pleasant.”