NEWSLETTER
March, 2004
FRANKLIN COMMUNITY COUNCIL, INC.
Believe it or not Franklin’s rebuilding is progressing although it
seems very slow. This is not to say that for the past
ten months we were sitting idle, an unbelievable amount of work
consisted of meetings, phone calls, faxes, and mountains of
paperwork and more meetings and more paperwork. Things are now
starting to fall into place and hopefully soon signs of this rebuilding
will be evident.
1st Anniversary: On Tuesday, May 4, 2004 there will be a memorial
service held from 4:30 -5:30 pm at the old community hall site.
Watch
the local newspaper, TV and the Community Board (at old hall site) for
further
details. Please plan to attend.
Community Park: The Pritchett Foundation has awarded $10,000.00
toward the construction of this park... however more fund raising will
be necessary to complete this project.
New Community Civic Center: The architect is currently
drawing up plans on this project.
Post Office: After negotiating with postal representatives they
agreed to recommend that our post office be reinstated to the Regional
Office in Denver who has the final approval. To date we have not
received their decision.
Sewer Project: On February 27th, Governor Sebellious sent a
letter to Rural Development addressing the issue of the delayed
funding for our sewers. The awarding of funds
will be in April and we
hope for good news at last.
Storm Sirens: At the last Council Meeting we had a
representative with proposals on sirens. The cost for one that
will cover the entire town is over $12,000.00. At this time this
project is number one on our fund raising list.
Streets: Crawford County has plans to repair the streets and
culverts that were damaged during the tornado, they will be starting
soon.
Media Coverage: A lot of effort has been made to keep Franklin in
the news. A local magazine “Her Voice” will have a story
regarding our community’s spirit to rebuild. Reminisce
Extra magazine just released a letter requesting pictures, memories and
etc about Franklin. Franklin also will be included in a special
edition insert the local newspaper will be publishing in
conjunction with the anniversary of the tornado.
Web Site: Continuing to be visited by visitors worldwide...
4,551 visitors ! This number does not include multiple hits by
the
same person, this number represents individual visits. Besides
visitors
from the United States the following countries have read about
us:
Hong Kong, Germany, Thailand, Argentina, England, Costa Rica, Slovenia,
Italy,
Netherlands, Japan, Denmark, Belgium, Canada and Australia.
Continue
checking www.franklinkansas.com because it is continually being
updated
and photos are being added.
Special Events: We are studying plans for events such as
our 100 year celebration. We are trying to determine an exact date and
would appreciate
any information anyone might have. We do know the 1906 Plat Book
of
Crawford County did not show Franklin but that the SNPJ Lodge was
established
October 15, 1908 and the Franklin Post Office shows Richard H.
Simmons
was the 1st appointee October 27, 1908. There also will be a
dedication
event for the community park along with a ground breaking
ceremony
for the community civic center.
Trees/Clean-Up: We have formed a committee of volunteers
(need more) to tackle this “tree-mendous” project. We
currently are in the planning stage with the assistance of state
professional foresters. We are hopeful to begin planting
new trees on *National Arbor Day, April
30th. Between then and now may take a miracle... we need
dedicated passionate
volunteers for this one folks! Remember Florida resurrected
after
St. Andrew’s hurricane because of caring community volunteers and
people
willing to make donations and WE CAN TOO!
Lets work together and just maybe next month’s Newsletter can be full
of good news to report!
More News: March,
2004: Congressman Ryun has again sent letters to USDA-RD on
the sewer project and USPS on the postal proposal. He has asked
for updates and reiterated his desire to see positive action to help
Franklin recover for the tornado.
March, 2004: A $10,000 Pritchett Grant has been awarded
toward construction of a Community Park. The award was given
March 18, 2004 at the Gold Bank, Pittsburg, Kansas. The money
will be a great start to creating a park for the children of Franklin
and the entire community. Justin Stone graciously accepted the
award for all the children of Franklin. He received a resounding
applause after his acceptance speech. We would all like to thank
Justin for accepting the award.
“Remembering the Past - Looking to the Future”. A
1st anniversary remembrance service will be held on May 4, 2004 between
4:30 and 5:30. The service will be held at the location of the
old Community Hall.
A meeting of the Advisory Committe was held with plans discussed for
future projects and the following sub-committees were formed:
Media/Fund Raising, Special Events, Budget,
Correspondence/Record Keeping and Website/History.
A meet of the Planning and Land Use Committee was held. The
following committees were formed: Governmental Affairs
Committee, Highway Welcome Sign Committee, Franklin Clean-up
Committee, Franklin Park Committee.
Many articles about Franklin appeared in the Morning Sun Special
Edition "Tornado Safety" in the March 17, 2004 paper.
A letter appeared in the national magazine "Reminesce Extra" asking for
Franklin memories, photos and stories.
Still awaiting word on the post office approval and the sewer grant.
Governor Sebelius wrote a letter recommending the approval of the
funding and urging the project to move forward.