Community Building

Sierra Leonians gathered at Naaman Williams Park April 28 to celebrate the 57th anniversary of their nation’s independence. The day was marked with music, food and the ceremonial raising of the Sierre Leonian flag on one of the park’s flag poles.

More than 900 pounds of food and $600 in donations was gathered April 28 for the Franklin Food Bank at the two township Stop and Shop supermarkets. The donations were made as part of the chain’s second annual “Feeding Our Families” food drive.

Submitted by Somerset County Public Information Office. Youth Leadership Somerset, a leadership development program for Somerset County youth entering grades 9-12, is accepting applications for the 2018-2019 program year, which runs September through May. Classes are held one Saturday per month for approximately four to six hours. The application deadline is Monday, May 16.

Games, crafts and a dancing session with “Mr. and Mrs. Bunny’ highlighted the 2018 “Bunny Jamboree” held March 25 at the township Senior/Community center. The chance of rain pushed the event indoors, although the Easter Egg Hunt was still held outside.

Editor’s Note: East Millstone residents Martha and Peter March, Roboin Scudder and Patti Sofran attended the March 4 Our Lives in Washington, D.C. on March 24. Following are their impressions. Patti Sofran: What sets this apart from the 2017 amazing Women’s March, which we also attended, was listening to the powerful and determined voices of teenagers who are very determined …

Joey Danielsen decided to spend part of his 10th birthday by continuing a tradition his father started before he was born. He shaved his head for cancer research.

“Making” was the theme March 10 as the township library hosted Franklin’s contribution to the statewide Makers Day event. Makers Day is a “statewide event that celebrates and promotes maker culture, as well as the values associated with making, tinkering and STEM-based learning,” according to the event’s schedule.

BRIDGEWATER – A former township teacher and two township residents were among those honored March 3 at the Somerset County Democratic Committee’s Black Caucus’s 3rd annual Scholarship Luncheon. Niya Darby, a 2017 Franklin High School graduate and current freshman at North Carolina A&T, was one of two $500 scholarship winners.

The township community is invited to attend a Community Safety Symposium set for 7 p.m. March 21 at Franklin Middle School, 415 Francis St. Coordinating the symposium, which will be held in the school’s cafeteria, are Board of Education president Nancy LaCorte and township Mayor Philip Kramer. Also participating will be representatives of the township Police Department, Township Council members …

Members of the Somerset County Democratic Black Caucus were encouraged Feb. 10 to “stomp like an elephant” to “change the world.” That was the exhortation given by Akil Kokayi Khalfani, the keynote speaker in the caucus’s Black History Month celebration at the Senior/Community Center on DeMott Lane.