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Franklin Square Civic Association decorates community for fall
The Franklin Square Civic Association updated seasonal banners and placed cornstalks around the community to decorate Franklin Square for autumn.
“I hope it shows there are groups and residents that care about the community and want it to do well,” said Frank Culmone, the treasurer of the civic association.
This project marks the first time the organization’s Spruce Up the Square Committee has decorated the community for the autumnal season. Seasonal banners on the corner of Hempstead Tpke. and Franklin Avenue were updated for fall, and the committee also placed 65 cornstalks around the town.
The group purchased the cornstalks locally from Garden World in Franklin Square to emphasize the need to buy from local small businesses.
“We want to support businesses in the community, because a strong, striving business area is better for the whole community,” Culmone said. “The nicer the town looks, the more people come into town, shop, and spend time here,” said Membership and Recording Secretary MaryAnne Grey.
The association purchased 26 cornstalks, and an anonymous donation allowed for the purchase of an additional 39 cornstalks.
“It was totally amazing and out of the blue,” Culmone said of the anonymous donation. “It was amazing and heartwarming,” McKenna added. “Hopefully, people see this happen more often and decide to help with things in town.”
Community members expressed support around town when they saw members of the committee placing fall decorations, said the civic association’s correspondence secretary, Adrienne McKenna. Residents honked car horns and gave thumbs up to the group’s volunteers as they drove by, McKenna said.
The decorations are to remain in place until after the Thanksgiving holiday. The civic association, which has decorated the community for winter in the past, wanted to expand its efforts to “beautify the town,” Grey noted.
“A little beauty, a little pride,” Grey said of what she hopes the decorations add to the community. “I hope people are proud to spend time in and drive through Franklin Square.”
