All residents are welcome to pull on their gardening gloves and bring their tools to help plant more than 1,200 plants during Franklin’s seventh annual Beautification Day on Saturday, May 22, from 9:00 a.m. to Noon. The event will take place rain or shine.
The Franklin Downtown Partnership, together with the Franklin Garden Club and Wadsworth Farm, is again organizing the plantings for the bridge and the islands downtown. Volunteers are asked to meet at 9:00 a.m. on the center island in downtown. High school students who need community service hours are welcome to participate.
“This is our seventh year beautifying the downtown and it’s become a passion for all involved,” says Eileen Mason, Beautification Day chairperson. “We want to make a strong, positive impression on all those who visit Franklin in hopes that they may someday come back to shop, eat and relax in our wonderfully revitalized downtown community.
“We also do this to soften and minimize the ‘concrete look’ in the center of town,” adds Mason. “All this is accomplished solely through sponsorships, donations and 100 percent volunteer hours. We need everyone’s participation.”
The color scheme for this year’s plantings is pinks and blues, including Rose and Purple Wave Petunias, Blue Annabelle Lobelia, Persian Shield, Diamond Frost, and blue, white and pink Salvia.
According to Mason, the downtown beautification effort follows a year-long cycle. This spring’s plants were chosen last November, and then planted in the Wadsworth Farm greenhouses in March in order to be ready for planting this May. In October, beautification volunteers remove the plants and prepare for winter, placing evergreen decorations in containers the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
“Although we plant in May, this is a year-round project. Sponsorships and donations are what keep this effort going,” says Mason.
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 2010 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 508-330-4234 for more details.
All contributions to the Franklin Downtown Partnership, a non-profit 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.
