Click here and begin your tour of Franklin. Call from home or your cell phone to learn about the Battle of Franklin and what took place at our Historic Parks. To call from any cell phone, smartphone or landline dial 615 216-1597 to start your tour! For a full list of stops, visit the City of Franklin. Click here to download a brochure.
Come support High Hopes for a fun evening as we enjoy artists in their element! Singers and songwriters belong on the stage, and that’s just where you will find them on February 27, at Green’s Grocery. Always a lively and entertaining event, Strings & Stories puts you up close and personal with singer-songwriters at a down-home venue in Leipers Fork. Notting Hill Music presents: Leslie Satcher, Will Robinson , Brad Crisler with David P. Allen, and William Kellett.
Wine and Beer will be provided Del Rio Wine & Spirits. Dinner will be provided by Red Pony. To learn more, click here.
Come watch the biggest game on the biggest screen in Downtown Franklin! Join the Franklin Theatre for a fun filled evening of football, games, snacks, and more. Admission is free and seating is reserved.
Game time is 5:30 PM, and they will open our doors ar 4:30 PM. Free parking is available on the street as well as in the parking garages located on 4th Avenue and 2nd Avenue. There will be games in the lobby, and the Puckett’s Trolley will be in front of the theatre serving traditional party foods such as ribs, hotdogs, wings, nachos & sliders. The concession stand will also be open serving popcorn, sodas, candy, pizza, beer and wine. Other than food purchased at the Puckett’s Trolley. Please do not bring any other outside food or drink into the theatre.
From the City of Franklin: It’s easy to do! No sorting or separation is required. Just place your clean recyclables into blue transparent plastic bags and set them out for collection on your scheduled collection days.
Blue Bags are available at many local retailers in your trashbag aisle. Including Publix, Kroger, Lowes, Home Depot, Harpeth True Value, Handy Hardware, Sams, Costco and Walmart.
The Recycling Division does NOT collect glass, Styrofoam or other household waste. These items must NOT be placed in your blue bag. Glass is accepted for recycling at Williamson County Recycling Centers located throughout the County.
Laura Chavarria, the director of Williamson County Animal Center (WCAC), has achieved the highest level professional designation for animal welfare professionals, having earned the Certified Animal Welfare Administrator (CAWA) credential. She is one of only 100 shelter professionals to have this distinction.
Candidates must meet strict eligibility requirements in leadership, management and animal welfare experience and successfully pass a rigorous exam, developed to meet the highest competency standards. According to the Society of Animal Welfare Administrators (SAWA) which oversees the CAWA program, “the designation provides independent, third-party validation of the knowledge and skills necessary for competent practice as an animal welfare or animal control executive.”
An Ohio native, Chavarria is a graduate of the Ohio State University, where she was a biology and animal science major. She became director at WCAC in June 2013, and currently oversees all facility and field operations, as well as a staff of 20, including a full-time on-site veterinarian and three animal control officers She previously served as a quality assurance officer for East Tennessee Clinical Research, and as an animal care specialist, animal control officer and office manager for Lee County Domestic Animal Services in Ft. Myers, Fla.
Williamson County Animal Center is located at 106 Claude Yates Dr., next to Franklin High School, (615) 790-5590. Adoptable animals can be viewed at www.adoptwcac.org or at the center from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, or 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.
My Friend’s House is having a Krewe Party at The Corner Pub on Thursday, February 11, from 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm. Tickets are $20 at the door, and all of the proceeds go to My Friend’s House. On Saturday, February 13, there will be a special Mardi Gras Ball to benefit My Friend’s House. Click here to read about the ball.
My Friend’s House Family and Children Services, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation chartered in 1982 to provide therapeutic services to children. My Friend’s House is a group home for boys operated by Williamson County Youth, Inc. which began its operation in 1988. For the next ten years My Friend’s House served the Williamson County community as an emergency shelter for youth. Initially, the facility served seven children on a regular basis, but because of space limitations was forced to turn away many others in need. In 1992, the agency purchased a larger facility and was able to double the number of children it served. On October 1, 1998, My Friend’s House became a residential group home. As a result of a class action suit against the State of Tennessee, all residential group homes licensed by the State of Tennessee, limited residents to eight.
My Friend’s House is a comprehensive treatment program. The agency operates under the evidence-based behavioral modification. Within the level system, the youth are able to earn daily points that advance them towards their goals. Education and exposure to opportunities are the major components of the program. Throughout the years, My Friend’s House has developed and nurtured partnerships within the community, such as United Way of Williamson County, Boys and Girls Club, Boy Scouts of America, YMCA, Williamson County Schools, STARS Program, Williamson County Juvenile Court, local businesses, churches, civic clubs, and individual contributors. These partnerships provide the opportunities that foster the youth’s self-esteem and confidence. My Friend’s House is an advocate for the children and encourages them to achieve their highest potential, improve behaviors and make good choices.
The ultimate goal and purpose of My Friend’s House is to reunite youth with their families. When reunification is not an option, My Friend’s House works collaboratively with the Department of Children’s Services to make every effort to find the best possible solution for the youth’s future, to including transitional living, foster home or relative placement.
Mardi Gras is a time-honored tradition in New Orleans, but people all over the nation celebrate it by indulging in king cakes. King cakes have a rich history when it comes to celebrating Mardi Gras. Twelve days after Christmas, there’s a celebration in New Orleans to remember the wise men who brought gifts to baby Jesus. This special time is called the Feast of the Epiphany or Little Christmas on the Twelfth Night. During this time, people come together to have a huge feast, exchange gifts and bake a king cake in honor of the three kings.
Traditionally, the cake is made from a ring of braided cinnamon dough and decorated with purple, green and gold sugar toppings, which are considered to be Mardi Gras colors. A tiny baby made of plastic, porcelain or gold is inserted in it after it’s baked. The most exciting part is to see who gets the slice of cake with the baby in it because it’s believed that this person is rewarded with good luck. They’re also asked to either host the next king cake party or bring a cake to the party.
Merridee’s Breadbasket in downtown Franklin is famous for their king cakes. They love to join in on the fun of Mardi Gras by baking them from scratch every year. It’s unusual for a bakery outside Louisiana to put so much time and effort into offering a cake that’s such a huge part of the Mardi Grastradition, but so many customers request them each year, so they decided to offer them. “To our surprise, we sold 70 of them and knew we’d made the right move,” says Patti, Jobe, the manager at Merridee’s. They were even told by Louisiana natives that they were the best king cakes they’d ever tasted. Plus, they are beautifully decorated with colorful Mardi Gras beads, easily making their presentation the best these customers had ever seen. “You may find some bakeries offer them with fruit and cream cheese, but we don’t. Ours do have a small bit of cream cheese to add moisture and extra flavoring, but I’d say the best part is how beautiful and fun they are,” says Patti. Production Manager Amy Rupard and her two assistants deserve all the credit for baking and decorating these delicious works of art. This year, Mardi Gras falls on Tuesday, February 9.
Start a new tradition this year by hosting your very own Mardi Gras party. Invite your family and friends and decorate your home with purple, green and gold beads. Don’t forget the king cake; it’ll add some fun and excitement to your celebration. You can preorder your cake from Merridee’s by calling (615)790-3755.
Please join The Franklin Tree Commission and the City of Franklin Parks Department for tons of fun in the trees with opportunities in tree climbing, kids’ activities, food, information and free tree saplings at Pinkerton Park in Franklin, TN from 10am-2pm on Saturday, April 16.
Master tree climbing instructor Tim Kovar, from Tree Climbing Planet will guide individuals into the crown of a tree for a public tree climb with several stations, all certified equipment will be provided during this annual family friendly event. Participants will ascend into the tree using the same rope-and-saddle method that canopy researchers use. “Getting up into a tree – being surrounded by the branches – is just a great way to explore nature,” said Tim Kovar. “Not only is it just plain fun, it connects us with the natural world in a way that not many people are exposed to.”
The tree climb is free and open to the public. Participants must be at least six years old and be wearing closed-toe shoes. For more information please email parksinfo@franklintn.gov
From the WCAR:
Sales volume of homes in Williamson County broke all preceding December records with 500 single-family residential and condominium closings. This represents a 25.6% increase over December 2014 at 398 closings, according to data from the Williamson County Association of REALTORS® (WCAR).
There were 1,266 closings in the 4th quarter, up 8.4% from the 1,168 closings in the 4th quarter of last year. Total closings for 2015 totaled 5,551, an increase of 11.7% over the 4968 closings in 2014.
Over 35,000 residential and condominium transactions closed in the 9-county Middle Tennessee area during 2015. Approximately 16.8% of those closings occurred in Williamson County. The total dollar volume of residential transactions for 2015 was over $7.9 billion, with $2.2 billion of that business being done in Williamson County. That represents 27.8% of the sales volume for the region.
“The real estate market in Williamson County throughout 2015 was very active all year long. The significantly higher number of closings in December suggests there may have been a logjam of closings that didn’t happen in November due to new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau compliance guidelines that went into effect in October,” said David Logan, 2016 WCAR President. “That might also explain why closings were down slightly in November.”
“Interestingly”, said Logan, “while gold, oil and the stock market showed a lackluster finish in December, residential real estate still proved to be a wise option for local investors.”
“Ending the year with an 11.7% increase is certainly good news for the real estate market and local economy,” Logan said. “Available inventory continues to be one of the key concerns for home sales. Properties that are priced correctly and in market-ready condition are continuing to be very attractive to buyers. The fact that Middle Tennessee in general and Williamson County in particular, are so popular nationally means that the real estate market is likely to sustain its momentum.”