Hello, my dear Frankies! One of Franklin's biggest and most colourful festivals is coming up in just two weeks, and I am SO excited! Waiuku Diwali was last held in 2024, and wow, what a celebration it was! So much beautiful food, dancing, music, colour and happiness, with people coming from all over Franklin (and much further afield!) to join in the fun. And how lucky are we to have something like this right here in our own backyard?! I feel like this is the kind of magical cultural...
7 days ago • 7 min read
Hello, my dear Frankies! It’s one of my favourite times of year in Franklin...the annual Franklin Arts Trail is back for Labour Weekend! There are always so many wonderful artists, studios and super unexpected treasures to discover. I’m still thinking about all the cool and (wonderfully) weird creations we found at Altered State Gallery last year! So download the trail guide, choose a couple of routes and make a day (or two!) of it. Pack some snacks, grab a friend and head out to meet the...
14 days ago • 5 min read
Hello, my dear Frankies! 💜 So…we’re back! ♥ After last week’s newsletter, I received so many lovely messages and emails from people saying how much dear frankie is loved, appreciated and looked forward to each week. I honestly had no idea just how much it meant to so many of you. Putting the newsletter together can be a big job. Finding all the events, sharing local businesses and telling the stories of the wonderful people in our community takes a lot of time, and when my own work gets busy,...
21 days ago • 4 min read
Hello, my dear Frankies! This week feels kind of like a full circle. The very first edition of Dear Frankie, 66 issues ago (!!), featured Nadja from Bike Pukekohe and all the cool plans she had for building a bike-loving community right here in Pukekohe. And now, for our last weekly issue, we’re circling back again to find out what’s happened over those 66 weeks, how Bike Pukekohe has grown, and all the lovely things they have coming up next ♥ And yep, I did just say our last weekly issue. 😥...
28 days ago • 8 min read
Hello, my dear Frankies! As I write this, I’m also planning our first BBQ of the season! I know the weather has been suuuuuper up and down lately, but when the forecast says two days of sun and NO WIND, I’m going to take my chance 🤭. And that’s also why I’m seriously excited for Waiuku Twilight Eats & Beats this Friday night. We’ve made it through the dark, cold nights. We deserve some live music, some delicious food and drinks, and a chance to just chill out, wander around town and browse...
about 1 month ago • 7 min read
Hello, my dear Frankies! 🌿🎨🧁 Can you believe it’s the school holidays already? There are so many great classes, workshops and activities happening around Franklin over the next week, so make sure you check out our events list. The Cookies & Canvas workshop with Michelle Neale at Your Local Coffee looks especially fun! Actually, Michelle Neale is also running an adults’ workshop at Blue Ox Babe tonight, complete with a complimentary cocktail. It looks seriously good and I’m pretty gutted I...
about 1 month ago • 10 min read
Hello, my dear Frankies! This week we have such a cool story about a bunch of young Franklin locals who have been working ridiculously hard behind the scenes. The dancers from Groovit Dance Studios are only 12–18 years old, but some of them are training six hours a week (and even more as competitions get closer!) getting ready for a pretty huge opportunity: heading over to the Gold Coast to compete. We all love seeing young people find something they’re passionate about, dream big, and then...
about 2 months ago • 8 min read
Hello, my dear Frankies! Spring is properly here! We’ve had some beautiful sunny days this week - and a few pretty awful ones too, but I suppose that’s spring for you. You probably know by now that some of my favourite stories are about locals building lives that really suit them. Changing careers, trying something new, following a cool business idea, and finding a way to make work, family and fun all fit together! So I loved chatting with Amy Melville this week. She’s Head of Property at...
about 2 months ago • 9 min read
Hello, my dear Frankies! 🌼 It’s September! Spring! And all the beautiful things that come with it ♥ Although terrifyingly, we’re also already two-thirds of the way through the year! September also brings International Literacy Day on 8 September, and here’s a statistic that really stopped me in my tracks: around one in four New Zealand adults aged 16–65 have low literacy proficiency. Because think about how much reading and writing sneaks into our everyday lives. Filling in forms. Applying...
2 months ago • 8 min read