Franklin Schoodic Hall
UPDATES
November 18, 2025
A big Thank you to Downeast Graphics & Printing (located on the Washington Junction Road, P.O. Box 1103, Ellsworth, ME 04605) for their very generous donation of professionally printed Thank You cards. The quality is an upgrade over our former cards - they look great!
And we are busy planning our next event: we look forward to seeing everyone on December 13, at the Community Center between 10:00 - 2:00 for hot chocolate, holiday cheer, and gift wrapping! There will be goodies on hand and some fun stuff for the kiddos! See you there!
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October 28, 2025
We wish to express our heartfelt thanks for a $2,500 donation from Lindahl Reed! This moves us closer to our Phase Two objectives: lifting and stabilizing the building, adding a 4’ frost wall, and ultimately restoring this iconic structure.
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September 27, 2025
Our Fall Yard Sale was a huge success and we thank everyone who donated items, time, and energy to our most successful local fundraising event. We received over $3,500 in donations and moved a lot of wonderful gently-used items to their new homes and usefulness and folks enjoyed the offered selection of baked and cooked goods. We keep taking positive, forward steps to lifting Schoodic Hall and working on its foundation.
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July 19, 2025
Happy Birthday Franklin! Friends of Franklin Schoodic Hall joined the celebrations as Franklin, Maine celebrated its 200th Birthday. Many kudos to the organizing committee as the weekend of July 18-20 was full of fun events and goings-on throughout the town. Franklin Schoodic Hall welcomed folks inside as we held another yard sale fundraiser and we entered a float, built in the image of Franklin Schoodic Hall, into the parade on July 19.
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July 9, 2025
Thanks to Bev Altieri who made our fantastic Friends of Franklin Schoodic Hall t-shirts! If you'd like your own, stop by one of our fund-raising events and check them out. Work continues on the Schoodic Hall float for the Bicentennial parade. Suna Dyer has taken the lead on its design and construction - thank you Suna!
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June 12, 2025
Huge kudos to Suna and Debbie who took care of the rest of the construction debris left over from the bathroom demolition. Debbie and Kevin put in a lot of time and effort in the demolition of the bathroom outbuilding as it had been deemed unsafe.
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June 7, 2025
Karen's beautiful window boxes are up and planted with geraniums adding a touch of color and vibrancy to the front of Schoodic Hall. Our recent out-of-town mailer has generated some very generous donations and comment from folks - thank you all who have helped us along to our goal of restoring the building. More plans and work accomplished for our Franklin Bicentennial planning. We're sure our parade float, which will look like Schoodic Hall, will be a hit with the crowd!
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May 7, 2025
During our Board Meeting, President Karen Macomber related her recent conversation with a retired electrician who gave an optimistic picture for our eventual electrical work inside the building. Every donation we receive furthers us to the time when foundation, electrical, and other work can begin. Plans continue to support the town's Bicentennial in July with a float and yard sale fundraiser.
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May 3, 2025
Thanks to everyone who came out to our Spring Yard Sale. We enjoyed meeting folks and heartened by the amount of support shown by the community for saving Schoodic Hall! This turned out to be a great fundraiser for our effort as visitors found new (and vintage) treasures for their enjoyment. Next, we will look forward to our role in the upcoming Franklin Bicentennial - We'll see you soon!
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March 29, 2025
The Friends of Franklin Hall are proud to celebrate our very own Judy Goodwin, who has been named the Town of Franklin's 2025 Citizen of the Year. The award announcement was made at the Franklin Town Meeting on March 29 and Judy received a long standing ovation from the assembled townsfolk. Judy’s generous spirit, sharp wit, and steadfast presence have touched nearly every corner of our community. Whether she’s showing up with a fresh idea, a pie, or a quick-witted joke, Judy brings heart to everything she does. We are honored to count her as a board member!
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March 22, 2025
Our Ice Cream Social was a big success and we enjoyed seeing everyone who showed up for some ice cream, bountiful choice of toppings, and community camaraderie. Over 60 people attended our first event of the year - do you think we should have another ice cream social later in the year? - let us know! Our next board meeting is Tuesday April 1, 6:00 pm , at the Community Center and everyone is welcome.
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February 5, 2025
Planning is underway for our Ice Cream Social scheduled for March 22 as well as for our next Yard Sale. We'd also like to thank everyone who responded to our recent mailing and the donations sent in!
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January 1, 2025
Happy New Year to everyone! We are excited about what's in store for 2025: continued fundraising efforts, Franklin's Bicentennial, and continued work on and around Franklin Schoodic Hall. Thank you to everyone who supports the effort to restore Franklin Schoodic Hall to its important position to the community.
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December 7, 2024
Franklin Schoodic Hall happily announces that we were awarded a grant from the Morton- Kelly Foundation for $10,000! This is our first grant and is so important for the next phase of building renovation focusing on the Hall's foundation. The Morton-Kelly Foundation supports efforts to connect people through the arts, culture, and natural environment and we are so very gratified to have been selected by them as one of their recent grant awardees.
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September 28, 2024
Franklin Schoodic Hall continued its fundraising efforts by having another yard sale at the Hall. Thanks for all the wonderful donations of furniture, outboard motors, outdoors sporting goods, luggage, books, and more! We had a wonderful time meeting and greeting everyone who came out and hope all love the new treasures they left with! Thanks to all the volunteers who put in so much effort to make the day a success!
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June 12, 2024
We did it! Thanks to the generous outpouring of support, Friends of Franklin Schoodic Hall completed the purchase of the old Grange building on Wednesday, June 12. Two members of the board of directors met with the State Grange president at Caisleán in Ellsworth to sign the paperwork and make it official. Your encouragement and support expressed in financial donations, physical work at and around the building, and expert advice on priorities of work has made this day possible. Thank you and stay tuned as we move forward with grant solicitation and preservation of Schoodic Hall.
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May 19, 2024
Friends of Franklin Schoodic Hall held its first meeting inside Schoodic Hall, which is a testament itself to all the work that has gone into our project. The old chairs from the second floor have been, several at a time, placed outside for anyone who would like to use them and they've been going fast. We have received our official acknowledgement back from the IRS - we are a recognized 501(c) (3) organization! Our next meeting will be June 22, 11:00 a.m. at Schoodic Hall.
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April 29, 2024
We are very grateful and excited to announce that we have met our immediate funding goal and are currently working with the State Grange on effecting the purchase of the former Schoodic Grange! Within just seven months, folks have donated time, energy, and money to get us to this point and we are so thankful to all who have been involved. We still need to move forward with fundraising efforts to include pursuing grants, now that Friends of Franklin Schoodic Hall is a State-recognized nonprofit organization. Our next meeting is scheduled for Sunday, May 19 at 10:00 when we do a final cleanup to get everything into the dumpster that needs to go.
March 31, 2024
Hello, Committee members Jean Francis Pauly and Erin DeBarber have designed an awesome poster to put our Franklin Friends of Schoodic Hall effort front and center and show our supporters how close we are to purchasing the former #420 Grange building.
The goal amount has been edited along the way to include legal fees and closing costs. BUT we are so very close! Also, a big thank you to the voters of Franklin for approving our $2,500 in town request yesterday. We plan to be part of the Franklin Fest celebration July 20th with a yard sale, baked goods and possibly more. Make sure you stop by to see what we are up to at FFSH!
February 24, 2024
The Board of Directors of Friends of Franklin Schoodic Hall met on Saturday, February 24 and approved our Mission Statement and By-Laws. Our Maine nonprofit Articles of Incorporation have been sent in to the Secretary of State and we eagerly anticipate their approval. The Board also discussed other rules, organizational policies, and marketing approaches as well as thoughts for upcoming fundraisers: a spring Yard Sale on April 20 and a tie-in event with Franklin Fest on July 20. Exciting times as we march toward official 501c3 nonprofit status and ready our plans for a busy 2024.
February 11, 2024
Great news to share with everyone - our fundraising this past week topped $17,000 which has propelled us like a rocket ship toward our goal! Thanks to our big-hearted benefactors who share in our vision of a rehabilitated Franklin Schoodic Hall. Thank You!
February 3, 2024
Today, the Board of Directors for Friends of Franklin Schoodic Hall formed for the purpose of furthering the goals of acquiring the old Schoodic Grange No. 420 property from the State Grange and begin the building's rehabilitation returning it to a focal point of community events and activities.
January 24, 2024
Taking advantage of temperate weather, folks gathered for another clean up day at Schoodic Hall focusing on the kitchen. Hundreds of plates, cups, and other kitchenware were removed from the cupboards and the kitchen area generally tidied up.
It was with very sad hearts when we learned that Emery DeBeck of Franklin passed away on December 30. He was active in many organizations in town including the Franklin Library, the Franklin Historical Society, and the Friends of Franklin Schoodic Hall. We will miss his advice and counsel and be ever thankful for the time he was part of our group.
December 15, 2023
The dumpster that's been coordinated for has arrived on site and placed next to Schoodic Hall. This will be a boon for removing stuff that's damaged or no longer serviceable. One of the first things to do is to take the cut-up carpet from upstairs and get it into the dumpster.
November 4, 2023
Folks interested in de-cluttering Franklin Schoodic Hall spent part of their Saturday at the Hall bagging old yard sale items and getting them to the Transfer Station. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to lend a hand and to all who donated Transfer Station tickets!