Franklin Easter week staple loaded Fountain Park with thousands of colored eggs and hundreds of kiddies in search of some sweet treats and more. Soon each weekend will be filled with downtown family friendly events as the summer events season kicks off with May Mart.
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The Franklin Area School District released a video announcement about a plan to move the sixth-graders from their Central, Sandycreek and Victory elementary classrooms to the junior-senior high building starting next year.
Superintendent Eugene Thomas presented the plan in a shareable video available on the district's website and YouTube channel. The district also issued a press release that outlines the plan. This change will affect 142 students currently enrolled in fifth grade in the three schools. There are currently eight sixth-grade teachers. Thomas said that the number of teachers who move to the junior high school is still being determined based on final numbers and any special needs considerations. Some of the primary reasons given for the change include:
"This move was announced and made in the best interest of students, the staff, and parents well ahead of time to allow for a smooth transition. We value and welcome input and feedback regarding the implementation of this plan. The initial proposed plan details include:
Thomas said the change will open space up in the elementary schools and allow them to create more programs for Franklin students that will keep the education initiatives in the district and not be outsourced. He noted that Victory has pre-k students aged 3 and 4, but the students at Central and Sandycreek are currently attending pre-school at other locations, including Child Development Centers. "Franklin Area School District has the expertise and ability to offer more services in an efficient and effective manner which, in the long term, will benefit all students in all grade levels," Thomas said. Next steps include:
The district is accepting feedback on the plan. "Please communicate your ideas and/or student-centered concerns to your building principals either through email or by calling them. For additional information, please watch the video link on the District website at www.fasd.k12.pa.us," Thomas said through the press release and in the video.
“Good King Wenceslas,” an original musical play by local composer and playwright John Krumich, will premiere this weekend at the Barrow-Civic Theatre. Krumich first wrote the production under the title “Saint Wenceslas” to be performed by his student ensemble in Virginia. When the retired music teacher and his wife Amy relocated to Cooksburg, he started attending shows at the Barrow-Civic Theatre. The quality of the theater productions and local talent here drew his interest back to his composition and script. “Then I decided to really make it something that could be done by a community theater,” he said. As part of that effort, he wrote additional music and improved the script. He also reached out to his sister Beth Orris, also a retired music teacher and the head of the Venango Chorus, who connected him with people in the area associated with music and theatre productions so he could workshop the concept and strengthen the storytelling. More photos here: sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p562951421
More photos here: sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p562951421
In November, they helped organize Artists Sunday to lay out a red carpet to connect creatively with artists and merchants. It provided a chance to see original work by local and regional artists and to purchase said art to give to a loved one or friend. Art isn't an easy commodity, but if thought of correctly, it is an investment not only monetarily but sheer enjoyment-wise. We have become a culture of clickers. We don't sit to enjoy a newspaper, we don't hang a picture on our wall to gaze at and contemplate. We quickly consume and move on. Artists Sunday challenged folks to do more. Artists Sunday in Oil City had dozens of artists on both the north and south sides set up in studios and established businesses with the hope they each drew people in to see what was the hullabaloo. Everything purchased was made by an artist. Let me repeat: EVERYTHING PURCHASED IS MADE BY AN ARTIST. Oil City's hosting of Artists Sunday was no accident. The city is loaded with talent that includes incredibly gifted authors, opera singers, two and three-dimensional artists and multimedia specialists. And there is always room for more. What makes Oil City unique is the way it welcomes artists to a place where they can survive and even thrive. Artists Sunday is one way of the efforts to showcase that talent for area residents and draw attention from curious artists who want to learn more about the city's art program. Hundreds of people joyfully scuttled from stop to stop even after an exhausting weekend of Black Friday and Small Business Saturday shopping to see what original artists had to offer. "It was a good start," said Lena Wheeler, one of the artists showing around town. "It takes time to build. It was smart to have the local businesses involved. Anytime we can collaborate between businesses and artists it is a benefit to the town." Artists Sunday grew out of the pandemic as a means to connect people to galleries and art. It has become a genuine movement to understand each community and the artists within it. Oil City's effort has a similar history, growing and changing each year. In 2023, it branched out to include more stops and more artists. According to Barbara Pierce, who organized the event through Arts Oil City and the Main Street Program, it brought unexpected people to downtown Oil City. Part of the late afternoon draw was local makeup artist Kaleb Lewis, who appeared on the reality show "Face Off." Students from his recent multi-week Hollywood-esque style makeup class showed off their work. During the class, which was funded in part by a grant from Arts Oil City and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Lewis worked with five students through the process of creating masks and applying the finishing touches to creating a character. On Artist Sunday, the makeup applications could be viewed, fish bowl style, in a room at the National Transit building. The main event was a presentation in the Great Room once the shopping hours had concluded. And it was packed. Standing room only. It was quite a showstopper for a successful effort that will likely grow in 2024. View more of the photos below.
Franklin Area Senior High School held its annual Christmas concert featuring their concert choir and band as well as the Madrigal singers. The lobby provided guests an opportunity to see and even purchase the work of the art students and help them raise some funds for the Legacy Art Project.
PLEASE DO NOT RANDOMLY STOP AT THE HOUSE! They have an interested party already. If interested please only leave a message here and they will will receive your inquiry. Or message us at 8and322@gmail.com and we will give the home owners your information. They have had people walking around their yard and that was not the intent of this story. Kindness! UPDATED: Several inquiries about the fountain have been received. The family is asking for no further questions at this time. Please do not visit the home without asking first.
“We have tried so many ways to gift it, donate it, etc., but as soon as folks find out it costs upwards of 10K to move it, they run,” Jen said. The removal cost is an estimate Mike and Jen figured out based on the fact that it took a crane and a crew to put the fountain together when it was installed just a few years ago.
The couple have disconnected the fountain, but it is otherwise in very good shape and fully functioning. It just needs a better place, where it blends better into the surroundings. Then the Krzmarzicks can complete their vision for their new home, in their new city. “I dream of planting a period-appropriate Victorian garden in the spring, but... no luck yet,” she said. (If you are interested in the fountain, leave a comment below or email us at 8and322@gmail.com and we can pass it on for you.) Franklin's First Baptist Church and Barrow-Civic Theatre treated listeners to traditional and classical holiday music over the weekend. Both shows featured top notch performances showcasing the rich talent the area has to offer. The Barrow had Handel's "Messiah" followed by a set of festive, folky Christmas tunes with holiday decorations and ugly sweaters on both Friday and Saturday evening. The theater is fundraising currently for new lights and other technical improvements. The Baptist church had a collection of musicians and singers performing a wide variety of pieces from standards to piano concertos by Dennis Geib and Evan Wolfgong. Kevin Downey, a former Taste of talent winner and local favorite, came back to perform. The event was free with donations accepted for the local Mustard Seed Missions, which is dedicated to helping those in need of a hand. The high end cultural art experience is alive and well in little ole Franklin.
Who would've thought that a freshman on the junior varsity team with size nine basketball shoes would be the hero of Franklin's 48-22 victory on the road against Cambridge Springs Thursday night. But "Shoeless Estella Adams," Franklins rock solid star point guard, realized her duffle bag was light because she forgot to pack her shoes. "They need to be size nine," Adams told her teammates trying to help solve this conundrum before the game. In stepped Haven Goodman who offered up her shiny new purple and grey sneakers for Adams to don in time for the opening tip-off. The shoes didn't appear to give Adams the same magic as her own. She went scoreless until near the end of the first half when she had a steal and a breakaway wide-open layup. When the ball hit the cords she and the team erupted in a celebration that would normally be reserved for a milestone. But as her head coach Ryan Justice explained, it was because the layup actually went in. "It's a nice little inside joke with the team... you can put this in print," said Justice. "Stella has issues making layups for some reason, even wide-open ones. Everyone got really excited because she made a wide-open layup. It's unbelievable, she can make threes left and right, but she can't make a wide-open layup for some reason." Maybe it was the shoes
Below are some more photos from the game featuring more Cambridge players
The concert featured the junior high band and chorus, the senior high band and chorus, jazz band and select chorus. The students have been working all fall on their music and this holiday lets them show off their hard work to family and friends.
Christmas came a little early to Franklin, as a small group of business leaders and community members gathered this weekend to unwrap the city’s new directional kiosk. The four-sided structure was delivered and put into place last month but left mostly covered up tightly. On Saturday morning, Franklin Area Chamber of Commerce director Jodi Lewis and Franklin Retail & Business Association coordinator Jennifer Taylor cut away the ropes and tore back to the plastic to unveil the fruits of a yearslong community collaboration. “It takes a lot of steps to make something happen,” Taylor said at the informal kiosk debut. She traced the start of the project back to an idea shared during a retail association meeting several years ago when a member suggested the city could benefit from having a posted directory similar to what is often seen at malls. The thought was that directories in the parking lot and similar pedestrian-friendly areas would help visitors find all the shops and restaurants located downtown and understand the variety of offerings in Franklin.
There is also a window on each side that can be updated by the chamber and retail association, who are tasked with keeping it up to date. For the first year, two of those windows will feature ads for the Oil Region Alliance and the Stifel, who both helped cover the final bits of money needed to pay for the $20,000 project. The other two windows will have maps - one of the downtown businesses and the other of the Oil Region National Heritage area. In year two, one of the ad spots will be for an events calendar.
On Saturday, the windows were empty because the kiosk had not been opened at all before the unveiling and the final touches were still being made to the map, according to Taylor. Lewis said she can't wait to see it finished off with the completed maps and ads.“Now that it is here, I can see them in the parking lots.” "This is the biggest crowd I've ever seen here," Franklin's mayor Doug Baker declared after Saturday night's Light Up Night electric parade. Along the parade route, spectators were four rows deep or more on both sides of Liberty Street. They were entertained by nearly 60 units including a colorful combination of floats, performance groups and decorated vehicles. Santa made his highly anticipated appearance at the end of the parade and was greeted by several loud cheers from the hundreds of folks watching near the judging stand. After the parade was over Pat Dolecki, president of the Franklin Fine Arts Council and interim events and marketing coordinator.said she was glad the parade went well but was ready for the main event of the evening. "'I'm ready for the light up of the tree." she said adding that she has her fingers crossed that it goes off without a hitch and is a nice tree for the people attending. Baker led the countdown to the lighting of the big tree in front of the courthouse, which was donated by Dixie McEntire, who was also on hand for the celebration. Thousands of people gathered near the 12th Street intersection as the street lights went dark and the tree lights came on. It was followed by a spectacular display of fireworks over Fountain Park. "In 2023, we lost our greatest resource and dear friend, Ronnie Beith. Her spirit has been with us ever since and we hope we are making her proud," Dolecki posted on Facebook following the holiday kick-off. Prior to the parade, several holiday-related events were held throughout downtown. HOLeY Jeans gave a short concert to open the Christmas Tree Extravaganza in the Barrow-Civic Theatre lobby. There are 55 trees on display, each decorated by a different agency, business, group or school. Outside, Santa met with visitors on Liberty Street, and Nathaniel Licht, Rachael Mellor, Tammi Dahl and a few special guests sang at the judge's platform.
Below are more scenes from Franklin's Light Up Night.
As could've been predicted, the team who has spent years learning the craft of volleyball passing, digging, setting and spiking beat the team who plays football pretty easily in a fun end of the season fundraiser for the Red and Black All-Sports Booster Club.
It was a fun night in Franklin. The weather might have felt like early fall but it was all Christmas in Franklin on Friday as the city's annual tree arrived, signaling the coming Light Up Night holiday kick off is nearly here. The more than 30-foot tall evergreen made its trek from Buttermilk Hill in the balmy 50 degree morning temperatures and was decorated in the sunny breeze of the afternoon in front of the courthouse - a stark contrast to last year's bone chilling weather. This year's Christmas centerpiece was donated by Dixie McEntire. Getting the tree on location and into place were Klapec Trucking Company, Paul Bunyan Tree Specialists, Sunbelt Rental Equipment, ITC, Inc. and a large team of helpers. Once the tree was up. Several volunteers strung up hundreds of lights as others assembled and placed the star on the top. Earlier in the fall, lights were wrapped around several trees in Fountain Park. On Friday, additional folks decorating the gazebo at the the corner of Liberty and West Park streets. The final touch will be string the lights between the poles along Liberty Street once again. It will be a festive look to downtown as the popular Light Up Night activities get underway. There are a few early events planned for Friday, November 17. The Barrow-Civic Theatre will host Branson Country Christmas for a 2 p.m. show, which features an all-star cast of Branson's top entertainers with new music, new jokes and a tribute to veterans for the first half of the show. The Franklin Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual Wine & Spirits Walk will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. on November 17 in businesses throughout downtown. Tickets are still available and can be ordered by calling 814-432-5823.
A colorful songfest, a bloomer flagged sea-faring fruit, lessons on acceptance, bug crawly cuteness, insights on teamwork and overcoming toxicity through finding your own tribe and a scared, blind slitherer whose friends have their back are all part what is happening on stage at Franklin High School this week with the production of "James and The Giant Peach." Students from Franklin and Rocky Grove have spent the last couple of months learning how to be singing bugs, perfecting evil step-sister type antagonists, and building a giant orange vessel surrounded by fake waves and floating clouds. This week all that work comes to a dramatic conclusion in the form of a full-scale musical. "You can see this fun and zany story - one that’s perfect for the entire family - three times," said musical director Sarah Gilbert. Shows will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Franklin High School auditorium. Ashton Shingledecker (FHS) plays the role of James Henry Trotter. His two cruel, and nasty aunts, Spiker & Sponge, are played by Madolyn Williams (FHS) and Kendal Fonzo (FHS).
More photos from the performances below.
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