Community Town Hall Discussion Series: The Town Gazebo

On Monday night, the League of Women Voters and Venture Local Franklin hosted the first in the Town Hall Discussion Series. The topic of discussion was proposed designs for the town gazebo. Several people brought designs and displayed them for people to discuss.

Video of the moderated discussion portion of the event is below.


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Town Hall Discussion Series Introduced at Press Conference

Pictured (L-R) Matt Bateman, Patti McClure, Nancy Scott, Kristina Moe and Angela Moore

The League of Women Voters and Venture Local Franklin held a joint press conference at the town gazebo in downtown Franklin to introduce their upcoming Town Hall Discussion Series. The first topic will be a discussion about proposed designs for the new town gazebo. 

It will be held on March 31, 2014, beginning at 6pm in Tartan Hall on Church Street.

A copy of the press release (with full details) is below:

Press Release Discussion Series

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The League of Women Voters and Venture Local Franklin to announce details for the upcoming Community Town Hall Discussion Series at Monday Press Conference

PRESS RELEASE

WHO: League of Women Voters and Venture Local Franklin

WHAT: Press Conference to announce the upcoming Community Town Hall Discussion Series.

WHEN: Monday, March 17^th, 11:00 AM

WHERE: The Gazebo in Downtown Franklin

WHY: Details for The Community Town Hall Discussion Series will be announced. The goal of this first discussion is to bring together ideas about the design and use of the gazebo.

INTERVIEWS: Organizers will be available to answer questions after the press conference.

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League of Women Voters and Venture Local Franklin Host a Hangout with the Candidates

The League of Women Voters and Venture Local Franklin hosted a Hangout with the Candidates last night at Macon Bank were the candidates for Aldermen and Mayor had the opportunity to draw from a pool of four questions and answer them, then could address any other topic or speak about their campaign within a six minute time limit. Nine of the ten candidates for Alderman and both the candidates for Mayor were in attendance and everyone gave a good account of themselves. 

A video of the full event is embedded below, along with a few photos and some of the slides from the presentation at the event.

I would like to thank the local League of Women Voters and Venture Local Franklin for teaming up to host this event for the community. Both organizations contribute a great deal to our community and we are blessed to have these groups of civic-minded people volunteering their skills to help their neighbors. Here are some links to help you find out more about these organizations:

League of Women Voters 

Facebook 

Website 

Venture Local Franklin

Facebook 

Website 

Twitter 

Google Plus Community 

Here is a slide show of the photos that turned out good enough to share:

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Local Entrepreneur Promotes Cash Mobs

+Matt Bateman, local entrepreneur and promoter of all things Franklin, appeared on Martin Brossman's Show via a Google Hangout. I have posted a video of that above.

Matt has also written an update on the local Cash Mob effort he has helped organize. Here is an excerpt:

The calm before the storm

Before each cash mob, we meet up 15 minutes before our scheduled mob.  We meet at a central location that’s closest to the biz we’re about to bombard with cash money.  For example, with  our downtown businesses, we’ve been meeting at our cool and historic, Franklin Clock Tower.  This works well for us for so many reasons.  First, we’re a large group standing together and that immediately draws attention.  Grabbing passerby’s attention is always a good thing.  Second, I always pass around a clipboard asking folks to “sign in” to let us know they were there.  I also ask for email addresses to add to our growing lists for our e-news.  This ensures that we’re always promoting to a growing audience for each new cash mob.  Next, I make announcements and go over the “rules.”  Like I mentioned before, VLF is involved in other initiatives, so I take a few minutes to talk about what’s new.  Then I go over our rules (don’t worry, we’re not that strict! HA!).

1.  Commit to spend at least $20 cash.
2.  Meet at least 3 new people.
3.  Have a blast! … and I always add a 4th rule, which is, “Talk about Ca$h Mob Franklin!”

Finally, we take a group picture, and head towards the biz with our $20 cash in hand (hooting and hollering, of course).

Source: Venture Local Franklin (click the link to see the entire article)

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Franklin Merchants Meet With Town Regarding 'Communication Problems' with Main Street Program

Last night, merchants filled the Franklin Town Hall to discuss with Franklin Aldermen their concerns over a lack of communication with the Main Street Program, a perceived bias against them when they organized events, versus when the town organized events and other grievances. The video above was of the entire meeting.

One of my personal observations is that a couple of the Aldermen and perhaps the Main Street Staff do not like the new group, Venture Local Franklin or the Streets of Franklin organizations that have arisen to fill needs that have not been met by the Main Street Program. To me, there seems to be some animosity that is of a personal nature.

Commentary

Since I have personally been involved in the Venture Local group and Street Fest, I'll give my perspective. I personally saw attempts by the town to hurt the effort by Main Street Merchants to hold a mutually beneficial Street Fest by changing the rules they had to play by...among them was suddenly not allowing merchants to put up tents in the parking spaces in front of their businesses as they had during the previous three Street Fests, not allowing them to string a banner across Main Street in the days prior to the last event, and some attempted intimidation by someone in the town administration sending police officers to deliver news of the changes to merchants involved in the planning and promotion of the event.

I think it came through very clearly in the video who some of the people responsible for getting us to this situation. It was my original intent not to take my camera to the meeting and record it because I was concerned that merchants might be afraid to speak up with it there. Several of the merchants and a couple of the Aldermen spoke to me in the days and hours before the meeting and convinced me to record it.

I am glad that they helped me change my mind.

I think that this is part of a problem the town has had for a number of years now, with certain people having the idea that it is either their way or the highway. It has previously blown up over the way the Picking on the Square has been handled and last year's dust up over the Nikwasi Indian Mound.

In my personal opinion, nothing will change until certain Aldermen are no longer on the Town Board. You can watch the above video and judge for yourself in that regard.

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Monster Mash Block Party in Franklin on Friday

Venture Local Franklin is promoting another event to assist businesses in the Downtown area this Friday night with a Halloween-themed block party that will culminate with a movie (Ghostbusters) being shown in the Town Hall parking lot (bring a blanket or lawn chair to sit in the grass and watch it) after it gets dark.

Even though this grassroots group of local business owners and entrepreneurs have faced growing opposition from some people in the town bureaucracy, it is continuing to grow and get better each time.

From the event page on Facebook:

WE'RE HAVING A MONSTER MASH BLOCK PARTY!

AND.... A COSTUME CRAWLl!

What's a Costume Crawl? You can go in each store to register to win a prize. There will be a WINNER at each participating merchant! So..you could win more than once! All ages are invited to enter and costumes are optional (but encouraged).

So come on out and make use of that costume you want to wear. Show off your creative side! Just come to have fun!

Shop. Dine. Entertainment. Music.Movie
Instead of a 'Festival'.. think of StreetFest as a BLOCK PARTY!

Come to downtown Franklin NC for a celebration of locally owned businesses on Main Street! We want to encourage you to come prepared to smile, laugh with friends and spend some $$ with our local merchants!!!

What can you expect?

- Shops will be open much later than usual
- Street music from local bands and musicians
- Fresh made foods
- Street Entertainment

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Franklin StreetFest August 2012

Here are some photos and a short video from the StreetFest that occurred on Main Street in Franklin this past Friday night to give you a taste of how the grass roots event organized by Venture Local Franklin [web][facebook] went...







StreetFest

Motorcycles at StreetFest

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StreetFest 2012: July 13th Edition

Venture Local Franklin and local merchants are hosting a StreetFest (one of three planned for the season) this Friday night on Main Street in Franklin, NC. The event will feature shopping, music by two bands (The Unawarewulves and The Arrogant Americans), dining indoors and outdoors on Main Street followed by a showing of the movie Ghostbusters on a 26 foot screen outdoors at Town Hall. Bring a lawn chair and/or a blanket for the movie, which begins shortly after sundown.

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The June 28, 2012 Hangout of Venture Local Franklin

I had a nice time hanging out with local entrepreneurs at Livingston's Bar and Grill last night in Franklin, NC.

See more photos on my G+ page and find out more about this group on their website or Facebook page.


The next hangout will be on August 23rd from 5.30pm to 7pm at the Frogtown Market located at 61 South Patton Avenue in Frogtown.


Among the local events being promoted by the group are:


June 30th...The WNC Photowalk that is being led by Bonnie Pickartz and me.


July 1st......The Where's Waldo! initiative happening at Books Unlimited and 19 other businesses in downtown Franklin that begins on July 1st.


July 4th......Independence Day Activities in Franklin, NC


Downtown: Parade, watermelon, kids games and more. 9am to 1pm.


Lion's Club Annual BBQ: At the fairgrounds from 11am to 7pm. Get chicken, sides, dessert and drink for a $10 donation to their scholarship fund.


Fireworks and Fun at the Rec Park: Sponsored by the Franklin Chamber of Commerce. This is a July 4th tradition in Franklin.


July 13th......StreetFest 2012 kicks off on Friday the 13th with music, shopping, fun and an outdoor movie on a 26 foot screen. Bring a blanket or lawn chair to enjoy this event! Ghostbusters is the movie that will be shown.


July 21st.......The Franklin Folk Festival: An annual event that celebrates the heritage of our local people!


July 28th.......Cash Mob: The very first cash mob will take place starting at noon at Rosebud Cottage. Bring $20 to spend and meet at the clock tower at 11:45am so we can all go in together and give a boost to a local business!

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