Community Building

The annual Food Truck Festival to benefit Project Graduation is set for 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 22 at Franklin High School, 500 Elizabeth Avenue. The event is sponsored by Franklin High School Project Graduation and the Franklin High School Booster Club. The day will feature games, activities, vendors and food served from a selection of 15 food trucks …

The late Robert Mettler, a former Township Councilman and township historian, will be honored by having a park named after him. Mettler, who died on March 9, 2020, lived in the East Millstone section of Franklin. A suggestion by Councilman Charles Onyejiaka (D-Ward 3) at the May 11 Council meeting resulted in the Council changing the name of East Millstone …

Registration is open for the 2021 Renaissance Cyclists Defeating Cancer United bike tour to raise money for prostate cancer screening. The ride will take place virtually, due to COVID-19 restrictions, on September 18 and 19. Registration prices for the event range from $10 for the 3-mile ride walk, to $25 for the 10-mile ride to $35 for the 30- and …

Members of Assemblyman Danielsen’s staff distributed some of the clothing to representatives from the Zakee Bowser Foundation. (Photo: Assemblyman Joe Danielsen.) More than 1,100 pieces of winter clothing were donated to the annual “Head to Toe” Winter Clothing Drive sponsored by state Assemblyman Joe Danielsen. Danielsen (D-17) delivered the clothing to the Zakee Bowser Foundation, Unity Square, and the Salvation …

Hugh McCann’s photo of the Van Liew-Suydam House won the grand prize in the 2020 “Show Us Somerset County Through Your Camera Lens” contest sponsored by the Somerset County Board of County Commissioners. Three Franklin residents won prizes – including the grand prize – in the 2020 “Show Us Somerset County Through Your Camera Lens” contest sponsored by the Somerset …

Township police held another in their series of live streamed “Tuesday Night Talks” on January 19. Township police brass are shopping for the best deal in body-worn cameras, in anticipation of a state deadline mandating their use that’s just months away. Public Safety Director Quovella Spruill said during the FTPD’s “Tuesday Night Talk” live stream that she has been pricing …

A modified Tour de Franklin bike fundraiser for the Franklin Food Bank is set for April and May. The ride, now in its 32nd year, is usually held on one day in April. But due to concerns about large gatherings during teh pandemic, tour organizers have decided to extend the time riders can complete their routes from April 25 through …

Morgan Hewitt, as pictured in her GoFundMe account. An online fundraising account has been established for a former township resident suffering from leukemia. The campaign is targeted to raise money to help offset the costs faced by the family of 15-year-old Morgan Hewitt, who is suffering from T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Hewitt, the youngest of six siblings, attended grammar school …

SOMERVILLE – The Interfaith Hospitality Network of Somerset County will be known by a new name now that the year has turned: HOME of Somerset County, Inc., according to a press release from the organization. The new name reflects the nonprofit agency’s four core components: housing, outreach, multifaith, and empowerment, according to the release. “We are excited about beginning 2021 …

Mayor Phil Kramer receives the first of two Moderna COVID-19 vaccinations from Hackensack Meridian Health Raritan Bay Medical Center R.N. Catherine Urban. Mayor Phil Kramer is not a big fan of receiving inoculations … until now. The Mayor, himself a physician, said he was eagerly anticipating his chance to begin the vaccination process for COVID-19. So it came to pass …