Thanks in part to a $507 grant from the Franklin Cultural Council in January 2020, the Franklin Bellingham Rail Trail Committee finished installing 34 tree signs along 2.5 miles of the SNETT rail trail in Franklin and Bellingham in the second week of October. The signs, identifying various trees and featuring QR codes bicyclists and walkers can scan with their smart phones to learn more about each tree species, begin on the trail at Grove Street in Franklin and lead all the way to Center Street in Bellingham. 

 The rail trail organization thanked a number of people on their website, www.franklinbellinghamrailtrail.org, including: the Franklin & Bellingham Rail Trail Committee volunteers who have applied for a grant (Robert Gilstein, Tony DaSilva), designed the signs and researched the hardware (Darren Marino), managed the tree identification (Rita McCarthy, Darren Marino, Renata Gilarova), worked with the sign manufacturer and coordinated the install (Renata Gilarova) and finally our awesome install crews (Darren Marino, Rita McCarthy, Renata Gilarova and Chris Mascio with his family).

The group also thanked “Doug Williams, Director of the Stony Brook Mass Audubon in Norfolk, MA and Cary Vandenakker, DCR for help with the tree identifications and the NHS Print for manufacturing the signs.”

In addition to the new signs, the group reports that work on the tunnel under Prospect Street is near completion, connecting the Franklin and Bellingham communities. For updated information, visit the Franklin Bellingham Rail Trail website at www.franklinbellinghamrailtrail.org or find them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.