FRAMINGHAM, MA - Hometown band "Common Ground" played to a huge audience last night at the Framingham Centre Common.

Drawing a diverse mix the crowd included families with small children, teens, "twenty-somethings", baby-boomers, empty nesters, retirees and seniors --- all peacefully co-existing for a few hours to enjoy the open-air "Concert on the Common".

Covering tunes from Pink Floyd, Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, The Allman Brothers, Traffic and other classic rock favorites, the Common Ground band was a hit with everyone!

Socks collected at concert will be donated to ''Operation Stand Down'' which provides assistance to homeless U.S. veterans.

While the music played, people could browse the tables and tents setup by cultural and civic groups along the east side of the Centre Common

This week, Framingham Board of Health Nurse Kitty Mahoney and Peter Harvel, Director of Framingham Veterans Services organized a drop-off for concert goers to donate new white socks which in-turn will be donated to the Veterans of America - Massachusetts organization's Operation Stand Down -- a grassroots effort to help homeless veterans "combat" life on the streets.

At another table the  Framingham VFW, (Post 929), ran a 50/50 fund-raising raffle.

One of the popular displays is the exhibit and information tent setup by the  Framingham Artists Guild which features different member artist's work each week.

(Note: you can click on the photo below to enlarge them and view all as a slide show)

Framingham Artist & Illustrator Kevin McGovern displays some of his work in the Framingham Artists Guild tent.	Bill Robinson, Former Vice President of the Framingham Artist Guild takes a break from his painting to talk to framingham.com
McGovern has illustrated three children's books including ''The Alphabet Witch'' written by award winning author Irene Smalls.	While Robinson has painted over 250 American lighthouses, he also enjoys painting rural scenes such as this stand of birch trees.
Portrait work by Kevin McGovern. The Framingham artist also has painted portraits of the Captains of the BC Eagles Hockey Team for the past 17 years. Each year his work is presented to the player's family at the end of each season. Murals done by McGovern also adorn the walls of Boston College.	Robinson, who resides in Hopkinton and is retired after running an advertising agency for 33 years, is a member of six different artist's guilds. Many of his works have nautical themes such as this Tall Ship done in ink and acrylic. During the concert he worked on painting of a rowboat in a harbor scene.

Members of the Framingham Public Library Foundation, Inc. setup a table and a display showing architect drawings and fund-raising info for a proposed new McAuliffe Library in Nobscot.

Pastor Debbie Clark and friends from Edwards Church in Saxonville were welcoming members of the community to visit the church which also hosts many non-religious events such as an "Earth Care Potluck Supper", (on Saturday July 16th, 2011), when the group will serve foods prepared from organic vegetables grown at Stearn's Farm and discuss the film "Coal Country" which was recently screened by the Framingham Sierra Club at the Framingham Library.

Susan Smith, Ginnie Hatch, and Pastor Debbie Clark of Edwards Church in Saxonville

Members of Framingham Public Library Foundation, Inc. promote building a new library in Nobscot

The FPAC-TV mobile studio, Executive Director Bill McColgan and crew were on hand with multiple cameras to record the entire concert, (which will air at a later date on Framingham Public Access television).

Bill McColgan handles the video while Mark Hunt monitors audio in the FPAC-TV Mobile Studio

Cameraman atop the FPAC-TV Mobile Studio runs one of the three camera used to tape the concert.

On the north-east corner of the common Mark Curtis and crew served up food and drinks at the Eagle's All American Grill concession stand. And of course no concert would be the same without "Concert Cookies" from Plymouth Church.

Common Ground

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The Framingham "Concerts on the Green" are made possible by the generous donations of ADESA, Bernardi Auto Group, BOSE Employees, Computer Care Associates, Heritage at Framingham, Framingham Police Athletic League ("PAL"), Framingham Cooperative Bank, Metrowest Medical Center, Kathy Foran of Realty Executives Boston-West , VFW Post 929, FPAC-TV and other individual and corporate sponsors.

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