One Framingham Group Unites Residents

In the run-up to last November's election, our first as a city, and with highly competitive races for mayor and city council,  emotions were high and tempers occasionally flared. Social media sites like Facebook and the FramGov e-mail list had hundreds of postings of both support and criticism of candidates, particularly in the mayoral race.

When the election was over, many agreed that we needed to do a lot of healing as a community. But one Framingham resident, Samir Parikh, turned that sentiment into action. He created a Facebook group called One Framingham and scheduled an informal get-together at Jack's Abby beer hall on a Friday night in December.

More than fifty people from across the city's political spectrum showed up to chat and have a beer together and One Framingham took off. Parikh has turned it into a monthly event at various drinking and eating establishments around the city, and has attracted everyone from hardcore political junkies to new residents who want to get to know their neighbors better, to Mayor Yvonne Spicer, and many city councilors and school committee members.

The next One Framingham event will be Friday, May 4, at El Mariachi (the former Chicken Bone Saloon), 358 Waverly Street, at 7 p.m.

Kudos to Samir Parikh for taking this one small but important step toward building a more united, friendlier Framingham.