| Newton MA News and Politics BlogToday is the Franklin School Picnic, a twice-annual affair in which parents and their children gather on the ball field for dinner. Kids run off and play games, parents schmooze and enjoy the warmth. In all it’s a good experience.

This is my 8th year of the tradition. More often than not parents show up carrying pizza boxes because, let’s face it, we have enough going on than to have to make a dinner AND get to the field on time. Some bring really great homemade food. But alas, I’m part of the lazy bunch that opt for the cardboard box from heaven.

So not all that long ago the PTO started selling pizza to parents. More accurately, they picked up the pizza for us, we paid them, they made a bit of cash and everyone was happy. I was going to get the pizza anyway, this just saved me the aggravation of having to order it and pick it up.

But that idea is now apparently dead. From what I understand the board of health was called and put an end to the illicit pizza sales. According to what I’m hearing, the board of health required hand washing stations and a method for keeping the pizza at given temperature. The school would also need periodic inspections (though, not sure how you inspect a folding table on a field). Basically, things that killed any chance at a profit.

So the end result is that the PTO lost a fund-raising opportunity and I need to pick up a pizza for tonight.