Jack Franscioni (above left) with grandson Colby Bell
SOLEDAD — One of Soledad’s well-known residents, Jack Franscioni celebrated his 95th birthday on Feb. 1 with the Soledad Rotarians.
Franscioni’s name may be familiar because of the school named after him on Orchard Lane or for his involvement with Soledad High School land.
“The hardest fight for and was so disappointing to me was to get that 10-by-40 foot sign out on the highway,” Franscioni said. “It took four years to get it authorized. The ‘It’s Happening in Soledad’ sign.”
Franscioni said there was a lot of work in getting that sign, trips to the county and to Sacramento, and says that now people don’t read the sign. The “It’s Happening in Soledad” sign had been up since 1968 and was taken down in 2016.
