The Lincoln Squirrel – News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

News acorns

Free wine/beer-tasting to aid DVR

The Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable invites the public to a free wine and beer tasting to support its annual Shower for Safety at Spirits Liquor Store (4 Digital Way, Suite 3, Maynard) on Friday, April 25 from 6:30–8:30pm. There will also be a brief presentation by a survivor. Please bring a new, unwrapped housewarming gift for clients of Reach Beyond Domestic Violence, and Voices Against Violence. Requested items include linens (twin sheets and pillowcases, blankets, comforters, pillows), towels and face cloths, unscented cleaning products and laundry detergent, laundry baskets, kitchen utensils, flatware, dishes, drinking glasses, and small kitchen appliances. Gift cards for supermarkets, Target, Walmart, CVS, and Walgreen’s are also welcome. To make a cash donation, please visit the Roundtable website and note that the donation is for Shower for Safety.

Plant-based potluck

Have you wanted to eat more sustainably but need inspiration for good recipes? CFREE recently posted a 12-week series on the benefits of a plant-based diet and is celebrating with a potluck to share recipes as a community on Wednesday, May 6 from 6:00–8:00pm in Bemis Hall. Bring your favorite vegan dish to share. Click here to register and learn more details. 

Coming up at the COA

Here are some of the May activities hosted by the Lincoln Council on Aging and Human Services. Most events are open to Lincoln residents of all ages. For a full list — including clinics, exercise classes, regular meetings of interest groups, and online chats with town officials — see the COAHS’s newsletter page. Call 781-259-8811 or email gagnea@lincolntown.org for Zoom links and other information.

Movie: “The Patriot”
Friday, April 24 at 12:30pm, Bemis Hall
Celebrate Patriots Day with this historical drama starring Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger. Free popcorn.

Author talk: “The Harvey Girls”
Friday, May 1 at 12:30pm, Bemis Hall
Local author Juliette Fay talks about The Harvey Girls, a big-hearted historic tale of two very different women in the 1920s who must learn to get along and trust each other. Books will be available for purchase.

Abigail Adams: Liberty & Legacy
Friday, May 8 at 12:30pm, Bemis Hall
Actress and storyteller Sheryl Faye stages an immersive multimedia live performance as Abigail Adams as the fearless political thinker, advocate for women’s rights and strong moral compass during the American Revolution. Sponsored by Friends of Lincoln COA & Friends of the Lincoln Library.

“Live Your Best Life” Health Fair
Friday, May 15 at 12:30pm, Bemis Hall
Get your questions answered and visit resource tables staffed by Lincoln police and fire, the town nurse, care managers, elder law attorneys, home care agencies, independent and assisted living facilities, Minuteman Senior Services, the Boston Center for Memory, Perkins Low Vision, Medical Alert, Carleton Willard at Home, and more.

Hip Hop Square Dance for Seniors
Friday, May 22 at 12:30pm, Bemis Hall
This class is designed for maximum fun while doing a low-impact activity. Grab your cowboy hat and boots and join us for a boot-scooting boogie! Sponsored by a grant from the Lincoln Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass. Cultural Council.

Tour and workshop at deCordova

Get to know the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum’s current exhibition, “Nature Sanctuary,” with a curator-led tour on Sunday, May 10 from 1:00–2:00pm. On Sunday, May 17 from 1:00–3:00pm, join artist and author Madge Evers for a hands-on workshop, “About Printing with the Sun: Botanical Cyanotypes,” to learn the fundamentals of cyanotype as both a creative practice and a way to engage deeply with natural materials and light. More information and registration.

LOMA: The Fretbenders

The Fretbenders (Diane & Bob Kordas) will be the headliners at the next Lincoln Open Mic Acoustic (LOMA) on Monday, May 11 from 7–10 p.m. in Bemis Hall (doors open at 6:30pm, feature performers play from 8:30-9:00pm). LOMA is a monthly open mike night event with mikes and instrumental pickups suitable for individuals or small groups playing acoustic-style. Come and perform (email loma3re@gmail.com to sign up) or just come listen to acoustic music and spoken word. Free admission.

Club Codman is May 16

Codman Community Farms’ annual Club Codman fundraiser is on Saturday, May 16 from 8:00–11:00pm. It’s an adults-only, costume-optional dance party to welcome spring. Costumes from past events have included a dress made from Codman egg cartons, Lincoln’s very own black bear, and the legendary “farm store shoplifter” complete with a jacket stuffed with produce and other merchandise. Buy tickets here.

Used bike drive

Lincoln CFREE, Green Newton, and MetroWest Climate Solutions are co-sponsoring a bike drive on Saturday, May 16 from 9:00am–1:00pm in Wayland Town Center behind Ace Hardware (see map). Donated bikes will be delivered to the Lowell Bike Connector, where they will be fixed up and distributed to kids and adults in need of low-cost, local transportation. Click here to register (registration optional).

Service in June for Tim Barclay

Tim Barclay

Tim Barclay of Lincoln passed away peacefully at home on April 7, 2026. He was raised in Scarsdale, N.Y., and spent his summers in Mantoloking, on Barnegat Bay in New Jersey.

Upon graduation from Princeton in 1951, Tim served three years in the U.S. Navy, including six months in Korea. In 1954, he was the navigator of the winning Navy Academy yawl “Lively” in the Newport to Bermuda sailing race. In 1959, he received his Ed.M. in science education from Harvard University.

In his career, Tim was an enthusiastic science and math educator. He taught math and physical sciences at Darrow School in the Berkshires (1954-58) and at Commonwealth School in Boston (1958-71). In 1971, he became headmaster of Cambridge Friends School, a K-8 school.

As Sputnik spurred science and math curriculum reform in the early 1960s, Tim became an original member of the Elementary Science Study program at MIT, developing curriculum and teacher training. Starting in 1980, he worked at the Technical Education Research Center.

Tim was an active member of the Cambridge Friends Meeting, an avid writer, bird watcher, tennis player, sailor, baroque recorder player, and activist for environmental and social justice. He was a warm and welcoming person who took an active interest in others.

He is predeceased by his first wife and mother of his four children, Ann Arter Barclay; his partner, Antonia Stone; and his second wife, Elizabeth Taylor. He is survived by his four children, William, Mary, David, and Jeanne, his sister Barbara Ritter, and five grandchildren. He will be buried in the Lincoln Cemetery. 

The memorial service will be held on Saturday,  June 20 at noon at the First Parish in Lincoln (14 Bedford Road). He will be buried privately in the Lincoln Cemetery. Tim requested that any gifts be made to organizations fighting climate change.

Arrangements are under the care of Concord Funeral Home, which provided this obituary. To sign his online guest book, click here.

Legal notice: Conservation Commisson public hearing (29 Lincoln)

PUBLIC HEARING — CONSERVATION COMMISSION

The Lincoln Conservation Commission (LCC) will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, April 29, 2026 at 7:05PM in accordance with the MA Wetlands Protection Act and the Town of Lincoln Wetlands Protection Bylaw. This is in response to the duly filed Request for Determination of Applicability by Philip North for construction of a shed within the 100-ft Buffer Zone at 29 Lincoln Road (Parcel 143-4-0). Information on how to log onto the virtual public meeting will be included in the LCC Agenda posted on the town’s website at least 48 hours prior to the hearing. More information can be reviewed here.

Note that legal notices often must be posted twice by law. For previous legal notices and details on how to submit a legal notice to the Lincoln Squirrel, click here.

News acorns

Planning Board, Affordable Housing Trust seek volunteers

The Planning Board is seeking a volunteer to act as an associate member of the board for a three-year term. This is a limited position governed by zoning bylaw section 21.7.1 which provides for one associate member to serve for special permit applications in the case of absence, inability to act, or conflict of interest on the part of any member of the board or in the event of a vacancy. Submit letters of interest to Paula Vaughn-MacKenzie, Director of Planning and Land Use, by May 15.

The Select Board is seeking up to two volunteers to serve on the Affordable Housing Trust until April 2027. The Trust seeks Lincoln residents who have demonstrated interest or engagement in issues concerning housing, affordable housing, property development, local policy, land use or related topics. Send letters of interest to Peggy Elder, administrative assistant in the Select Board’s Office, along with a completed volunteer application by the end of day on Tuesday, April 21. The board will interview and appoint candidates at its April 27, 2026 meeting. For more information, call 781-259-2601.

Earth Day walk to Walden Pond

Multiple groups starting from Concord and Lincoln will converge at the Thoreau cabin site on Sunday, April 26 to celebrate the natural world with music, inspiring words, and sharing of wishes and commitments. Meet at 2:00pm at the First Parish in Concord or St. Anne’s Episcopal Church parking lot in Lincoln (a two-mile walk), arriving by 3:00pm at the cabin site. The program of speakers and music will last one hour and starts at 3:00 p.m.  You can bring a folding chair if desired. We will try to arrange rides back to the starting point from the state park parking area for folks who prefer not walking back to the church. For more information, contact Brad Hubbard-Nelson or Alex Chatfield.

“Unmasking Women in Crisis”

“Unmasking Women in Crisis: Three Keys to Navigating Life’s Inevitable Big Challenges” is the title pf a webinar with Debra Wong sponsored by the Lincoln and Belmont Public Libraries on Wednesday, April 29 from 6:30–7:30pm. Details and registration here.

Order junior prom flowers from FELS

Support the Foundation for Educators at Lincoln-Sudbury by purchasing your Junior Prom Flowers through FELS. Pre-order white, pink or red rose boutonnieres for $20; white, pink, or red corsages for $45; or a combo pack for $60. Pick up on Friday, May 8 at L-S. Details and order form here (limited availability).

Town gets grant to update hazard mitigation plan

Lincoln has received a $30,000 state grant to update its Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP). Communities must have an approved HMP to be eligible for certain types of non-emergency disaster assistance funding through FEMA, as well as additional state and federal funding for critical infrastructure improvements and resiliency projects.

Police log for April 3–15, 2026

April 3

Weston Road (5:37pm) — Lincoln officers assisted Weston police in a search for a missing dog.

Trapelo Road (6:13pm) — Officers assisted a cyclist who had fallen.

Lincoln Road (8:36pm) — Officers responded to the Lincoln Road railroad crossing for a vehicle that had turned onto the tracks and became disabled. The MBTA police responded to the scene as well as representatives from Keolis. The vehicle was removed and normal operations resumed a short time later.

April 4

Commuter rail parking lot (6:56pm) — Lincoln officers assisted MBTA police with removing several passengers at the request of MBTA personnel.

Trapelo Road (4:32pm) — The fire department responded to the intersection of Trapelo Road and Silver Hill Road for the report of a small brush fire. The fire was extinguished. It appeared to be the remnants of the previous day’s permitted fire.

Donelan’s Supermarket (8:14pm) — An officer checked on a group who had gathered outside of Donelan’s Supermarket. The officer advised the caller that the group was waiting for transportation.

April 5

Nothing of note.

April 6

Weston Road (11:21am) — The animal control officer was contacted regarding a large dog on the loose by Weston Road.

Bedford Road (12:50pm) — An officer responded to the library for the report of a minor motor vehicle crash after a fire truck steering mode malfunctioned and struck two parked vehicles. There were no injuries reported.

Old County Road (5:22pm) — Police and fire units responded to a two-vehicle crash that occurred when a vehicle traveling on Old County Road failed to yield at the stop sign, striking a vehicle traveling on Trapelo Road. There were no reported injuries. The operator of the vehicle that failed to yield was cited for the same.

April 7

Lincoln North office building (7:41am) — A caller reported a vehicle parked and occupied. An officer checked on the vehicle and confirmed the occupant was an employee.

South Great Road (8:52am) — An officer helped two motorists exchange information after a minor two-vehicle crash.

Silver Hill Road (8:04pm) — An individual turned in some found property. The owner was notified and arrangements were made to retrieve the items.

April 8

Wells Road (1:05pm) — An individual spoke with an officer regarding an ongoing incident.

Codman Road (2:55pm) — A person spoke to an officer regarding a possible missing/stolen item from their yard.

April 9

Mary’s Way (8:15am) — A caller reported an elderly female walking in close proximity to Route 2. Officers checked the area but were unable to locate anyone.

Wells Road (8:52am) — Officers conducted a well-being check on a person. There was nothing out of the ordinary.

Moccasin Hill (7:17pm) — An officer spoke with a person regarding a possible scam.

April 10

Hanscom Air Force Base (12:38pm) — Lincoln officers responded to Hanscom Air Force Base at the request of Hanscom Security Forces for a person attempting to gain access with an active arrest warrant. Officers took into custody Shawn Ely, 24, from Wareham. He was booked and transported to Concord District Court.

Hanscom Vandenberg Gate (1:42pm) — An officer responded to Hanscom Drive for the report of loud music associated with a protest demonstration. An officer determined the music to be at a reasonable level.

Hanscom Vandenberg Gate (2:23pm) — A second call was made regarding the music that resulted in the same outcome.

April 11

Mount Misery parking lot (10:58am) — A caller reported a loose dog taking shelter under a parked vehicle. Upon arrival, the dog’s owner returned to the parking lot and retrieved the dog.

Silver Hill Road (11:03am) — The animal control officer was notified of an unleashed dog in the area.

Trapelo Road (11:28am) — A motorist reported an abandoned utility trailer occupying a lane of travel. The trailer was towed from the roadway.

Baker Bridge Road (11:36am) — A residential construction company struck a gas line. The fire department and National Grid responded.

South Commons (4:59pm) — An officer spoke with a resident regarding a suspicious item.

Trapelo Road (11:53pm) — A caller reported a loose dog in the area. The animal control officer was notified.

April 12

Trapelo Road (3:12pm) — A caller reported several individuals fishing on the causeway. They were moved along and advised that fishing was prohibited.

April 13

Lincoln Road (7:54pm) — A caller reported about a concern with an outside fire. It was determined that the fire was a small cooking fire.

Old Sudbury Road (7:02pm) — A caller reported a parked/occupied vehicle in their driveway. The vehicle had sustained two flat tires and was awaiting a tow truck.

Trapelo Road (4:15pm) — Police and fire units responded to Trapelo Road near Minebrook Road for a single-vehicle crash. A vehicle had driven off the road and struck a barrier. The operator was not injured but was cited for a marked lanes violation, and the vehicle was towed.

Concord Road (9:44am) — A person spoke with an officer about a device attached to a pole close to their residence.

April 14

Codman Road (7:41am) — An individual turned over a found item.

Cambridge Turnpike westbound (6:33pm) — Lincoln officers assisted the Massachusetts State Police with a motor vehicle crash.

South Great Road (5:44pm) — An officer assisted two motorists with exchanging information after a minor motor vehicle crash.

Beaver Pond Road (6:43pm) — An officer spoke with a person who was soliciting without a permit. They were advised of the appropriate process and cleared from the area.

Sandy Pond Road (4:40pm) — A caller reported seeing two people in waders leaving Flint’s Pond. The information was also forwarded to Lincoln Conservation.

Lincoln Library (11:19am) — Officers helped two people exchange information related to a minor motor vehicle crash.

April 15

North Great Road (5:55pm) — A motorist reported the presence of a deceased raccoon in the roadway. MassDOT was advised of the animal’s location for future retrieval.

Wheeler Road (12:53pm) — An officer spoke with a person regarding a possible larceny.

South Commons (3:02pm) — An officer spoke to a person regarding a possible larceny.

Two different ideas floated for former Stonegate Gardens property

A concept for 144 units of housing at 339 South Great Road proposed by Roy MacDowell.

The now-vacant Weston Nurseries on South Great Road has sparked ideas for different uses for the property from two people… and they happen to be brothers.

Bruce MacDowell owns the nursery property and two houses on either side. He and his wife Lynne Bower-MacDowell ran Stonegate Gardens there for years, but she died in 2023. Bruce tried to keep the business going but eventually turned it over to the Weston Nurseries chain, which decided in January to close the location, citing revenue and business model issues.

Bruce’s brother Roy, head of Baystone Development in Weston, floated an idea to the Planning Board on April 14: a development of 144 two-story rental units occupying the nursery parcel plus one of the adjoining house lots owned by Bruce totaling 6.5 acres. The concept would include creating 144 parking spaces and an underground sewage treatment facility while preserving the stone greenhouse (which Bruce built himself over a period of years) as a common area. Baystone’s previous projects include housing in several towns including Weston (680 South Ave.) as well as larger projects such as Cronin’s Landing and Longview Place in Waltham.

Before submitting any formal proposal, MacDowell said he wanted to “get the pulse” of the board. “If I don’t get the feeling from the board this is something you could support or the community would support, frankly we won’t spend the time” pursuing it, he said. 

He noted that the property is zoned for residential use and is not in the Housing Choice Act zones approved for new multifamily housing in March 2024, so there would have to be a zoning change such as a new overlay district, which would require a simple majority at Town Meeting. He offered to designate 25% of the units as affordable, and he and the board discussed the idea of a swap of parcels between the MacDowell property and the HCA zones in South Lincoln. For the state to approve such a move, “we would have to make our numbers work,” board member Margaret Olson said.

The Planning Board was noncommittal, saying it was really up to the town. Olson suggested that MacDowell reach out to neighbors and residents, perhaps in a Zoom meeting, and if sentiment was favorable, bring it to the State of the Town meeting in the fall.

Meanwhile, also on April 14, Bruce MacDowell submitted a Zoning Board of Appeals application to allow a new business, Bodhi Healing, to operate on the nursery property. Bodhi Healing is a “community-centered, science-backed wellness sanctuary dedicated to somatic healing, frequency-based therapies, and the restoration of whole-person health,” according to the application, which describes in detail how parts of the property would be used.

There would be few if any changes to the exteriors of the structures, the application says. It envisions private treatment rooms in the westernmost building, a cafe and retail shop in the main building, a studio for movement classes and educational programming in the greenhouse building, and in the basement, a holistic frequency and detoxification technology suite, including individual wellness equipment rooms for appointment-based sessions.

In an email to the Lincoln Squirrel on April 14, Roy MacDowell said he and Bruce “are aligned on the overall direction and understand his desire to explore multiple options for the property. We believe the location is excellent for multifamily housing, though we recognize that any such project would require significant permitting and Town Meeting approvals. At the same time, Bruce has been considering an alternative that would allow more of the existing site to remain as is.

“The Bodhi Wellness [sic] proposal that Bruce is exploring would likely require a special permit or a variance and, from what we understand, would also need to raise substantial capital to become a reality,” MacDowell continued. “With the site currently vacant, it made sense to Bruce to conduct initial due diligence on a couple of alternatives, both of which may or may not ultimately prove feasible. At this time, our intention is to continue pursuing our multifamily project on a more passive basis while we see whether the Bodhi project can move forward and secure the necessary funding and permits.”

It’s unclear where Bodhi Healing is currently located, and business owner Alison Zook could not be reached for comment on April 16. According to her LinkedIn page, she founded the company two years ago after a career in account management and sales for Becton Dickinson, a medical technology company, and GlaxoSmith Kline. She changed direction due to personal crises and a “spontaneous spiritual awakening,” her website bio page says.

News updates

  • The DPW and Eversource are removing the following item from the upcoming tree hearing on April 22: “The cutting and removal of undergrowth trees has been requested by Eversource Energy. With abutter approval, all trees 10 inches or less in diameter that are growing into the wires will be cut to the stump.” Procedures for more clearly identifying trees in this group will be the subject of future hearings, according to the DPW, which did not immediately respond to emails from the Lincoln Squirrel on April 16 seeking more information. 

Neighbors appeal decision to allow vet clinic on Minuteman land

(Editor’s note: this story was updated on April 16 to include the ZBA hearing date.)

Mill Street neighborhood residents have appealed a decision that allowed a veterinary clinic to open on the Minuteman High School property based on its planned educational use.

Ally Specialty Veterinary Center, now located on Bear Hill Road in Waltham, is leasing an unoccupied home at 16 Mill Street from Minuteman. The plan is to have the schools’ veterinary science students do clinical observation and training in the for-profit clinic. The Dover Amendment exempts religious and educational uses from some zoning requirements, including educational uses in a residential zone such as the one occupied by the high school and the intended clinic building.

Planning Board members asked pointed questions about how the property will be used at hearings on March 24 and April 14. Ally owner Michelle Custead assured them that her lawyers had OK’d the use and that Minuteman was eager to use her clinic to help educate its students rather than busing them to other locations off campus. Building Inspector M. Jon Metivier approved the use on March 18 with the proviso that the “educational component is maintained.”

But on April 10, Mill Street residents including Bob Domnitz, a former Planning Board member, appealed Metivier’s decision to the Zoning Board of Appeals. They cited the court case Regis College v. Town of Weston saying that projects allowed under the Dover Amendment must the project must have a “bona fide goal” that is “educationally significant” and must also show that the educational goal is “the primary or dominant purpose” of the proposed use.

“To our knowledge, there is no documented agreement or contract between Ally and Minuteman that describes the parameters of their educational relationship,” the appeal says.

“Our onsite partnership with Ally Veterinary Specialty Center is not supplemental; it is foundational,” Minuteman Superintendent Heather Driscoll wrote in an April 6 letter to Metivier, outlining the clinical skills that students would need for future including certified veterinary assistants (CVAs).

“What makes this model uniquely effective is the daily integration of learning and application. Students are not limited to occasional clinical exposure; they are immersed in it every day,” Driscoll wrote. “Without consistent, onsite clinical access, students encounter significant gaps in both required CVA hours and demonstrated proficiency.”

The ZBA will hold a public hearing on the matter on Thursday, May 7 at 7:00pm.

Even if the ZBA decides that the business is permitted under the Dover Amendment, Ally should still have to abide by the town zoning bylaw’s parking regulations and submit plans showing how they will do so, the appeal argues.

The Dover Amendment was also at the core of a battle in Lincoln over whether a McLean Hospital facility should be allowed in a residential zone on Bypass Road. The hospital planned to house boys aged 15–21 in a large former private home to give them classroom training in dialectical behavior therapy, teaching them social and emotional skills including mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and behavioral flexibility.

The use was originally permitted but then overturned by the ZBA. McLean sued the town, lost in land court but eventually prevailed in the Supreme Judicial Court in 2019, but the hospital never went ahead with its plans. In 2021, it found another location for the intended services and put its two Bypass Road properties on the market.

News acorns

Joanne Monaghan, Anne-Marie Seltzer, and Toby Schlein collected food drive items at The Commons.

Food drive by residents at The Commons

The residents of The Commons in Lincoln recently wrapped up a nearly month‑long food drive, collecting 667 food items for the St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) food pantry in Lincoln. The effort was led by resident Anne‑Marie Seltzer, assisted by fellow residents Marilyn Jacobs, Judy Mayer, Joanne Monaghan, Toby Schlein, and Don Seltzer. While this was her first experience chairing an on‑campus food drive, Seltzer has volunteered for the USO at Logan Airport and served as vice president of the Arlington Historical Society, producing several antique shows to raise funds.

“We were blown away by the generosity of the residents at The Commons. This was an amazing, four week-long food drive that provided so much high-quality food for our food pantry families,” said SVdP board member Ursula Nowak.

Artist reception on Thursday

There will be an artist’s reception on Thursday, April 16 at 3:00pm in the Bemis Hall map room with Sarah Cannon Holden, whose “Planet or Plastic” photographic exhibit of her designs made of everyday plastics is on display through April. “It is intended to remind us of the overuse of plastics and the need to reduce, repurpose, and recycle,” she said.

“The Eyes of the Lord 3” by Kwame Akoto

“The Art of Almighty God”

The Clark Gallery will exhibit “The Art of ‘Almighty God‘” (a.k.a. Kwame Akoto of Ghana) from April 16 – May 30. Akoto is one of the most celebrated contemporary artists in West Africa, and his work has been included in at least 30 exhibitions of contemporary African art outside of Ghana.

Coming up at the library for kids

Mr. Vinny’s Shadow Puppets
Thursday, April 23, 12:30-1:15pm, Tarbell Room
Interactive, shadowy storytelling recommended for children ages 3+. No registration required.

Professor Bugman’s Arthropod Petting Zoo
Thursday, April 23, 4:00-5:00 pm, Tarbell Room
Get up close and personal with some of the biggest, creepiest, and friendliest insects you’ve ever seen. Program is designed for children in grades 2-4. Register here.

Children’s clothing drive

Resident Sarah Liepert is collecting clothing donations on behalf of two organizations for their upcoming free clothing events: Kids’ Closet in Wayland and Bessie’s Closet in Acton. Kids’ Closet is a monthly, free event held on the second Saturday of every month at CUMC Wayland. They accept children’s clothing for the current season only, size infant through children’s size 6. They are also accepting donations of women’s spring/summer clothing for distribution at their free clothing event on Saturday, May 9. Bessie’s Closet is a free clothing event held twice a year at the Discovery Museum.

Drop off bagged donations at Liepert’s garage door (108 Trapelo Road) any time through the end of April, or at the Discovery Museum (177 Main St., Acton) or the Community United Methodist Church, 80 Main St., Wayland (M-F 8:30–12:30).

Lincoln’s Jack Fultz reflects on Boston Marathon win in 1976

Jack Fultz. (Photo courtesy Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Media Relations)

Jack Fultz of Lincoln will be Grand Marshal of next Monday’s Boston Marathon — the race he won 50 years ago in some of the most challenging conditions in the event’s history.

The start of the 1976 Boston Marathon saw temperatures in the 90s. Many participants were unable to finish, and timing was stopped after 3:30 when only about 40% of the field had finished, according to the New York Times. Spectators sprayed runners with garden hoses to prevent heatstroke, so that year’s event became known as the “Run for the Hoses” (a nod to “Run for the Roses,” a.k.a. the Kentucky Derby). Asked in this 2020 Boston Buddies Run Club video abut the race and how he managed to beat the heat, he quipped, “I’m still trying to figure that out.”

Fultz’s chances were helped by the fact that several elite marathon runners did not enter the Boston race that year because they were preparing for the upcoming Olympic trials. He ran fast enough in Boston to qualify for the trials but didn’t make the Olympic team, which eventually consisted of Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, and Don Karong. Fultz also qualified for the trails in 1972 and 1980, though he opted not to run in the 1980 trials due to the U.S. boycott of the Moscow games.

A year after his Boston victory, Fultz finished ninth in the 1977 marathon with a time of 2:20:40 and fourth in 1978, just two seconds behind the third-place winner, with a personal best time of 2:11:17. He also won the 1981 Newport Marathon in a course-record 2:17:09. In 1990, he became the training advisor for the new Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge (DFMC) team (a post he has held ever since). This year, the 500-runner team hopes to raise $8.75 million for the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Fultz went into more detail about his running career in this Q&A with the Lincoln Squirrel, which has been edited for length.

Squirrel: What spurred your lifelong interest in running?

Fultz: From as far back as I can remember, playing hide and seek and other neighborhood games as a young kid, I always enjoyed running. When I started playing organized sports in junior high school, I enjoyed them all equally, except for getting beaten up on the football field, but I found more success on the track. By senior year, I was cultivating dreams of getting an athletic scholarship to college for my running.

Despite my moderate successes throughout northwestern Pennsylvania high school track, no colleges came knocking to my door to offer me that scholarship. Consequently, I was a walk-on at the University of Arizona. I literally walked into the track coach’s office in my Chuck Taylor high-top Converse basketball shoes and said I wanted to try out for the track team. Because my track times were pretty much a dime-a-dozen at any Division 1 college or university, the coach offered me nothing more than permission to train with the distance runners. But the runners on the team were very supportive, so I just kept showing up.

Having started college mid-year, when I returned to Tucson for my second semester of freshman year, freshman athletes had been deemed eligible for varsity participation in the minor sports like cross country. By the end of the season, I was seventh man on the team and was awarded a varsity letter jacket. I could not have been prouder of that accomplishment which provided more reinforcement for me to continue pursuing competitive running.

I lettered again in cross country my sophomore year but despite enjoying my time in Tucson, I transferred back east. This was 1969 during the Vietnam War and being out of classes for three months during that transfer process, I was drafted into the U.S. Army. I was able to enlist in the Coast Guard for a four-year commitment which took me to the Washington, D.C., area. There I continued to pursue competitive running at local road races and eventually met runners from Georgetown University. At 24, I was discharged from the Coast Guard when Georgetown offered me the full scholarship I had coveted for so many years.

Squirrel: Fifty years later, what sticks most in your memory about the 1976 race?

Fultz: Earlier in the year, I had no intention of running Boston year. 1976 was an Olympic year so my goal early in that year was to run a qualifying marathon time to be eligible to race in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. The top three finishers in that race make the Olympic team but the Boston Marathon was only six weeks before the trials marathon and that’s not enough time to fully recover between two all-out marathon efforts.

My two previous qualifying attempts in January and March didn’t work out, primarily due to circumstances and unfavorable weather conditions, but I was confident I could run a Trials-qualifying “A-standard” time. So Boston was my final opportunity to qualify for the Olympic Trials race.

The “A” standard for the Olympic Trials Marathon was 2:20. By running that time or faster, the U.S. Olympic Committee would pay a runner’s expenses to the marathon trials in Eugene, Ore. I also felt that if I could not meet and exceed that time by a significant margin, I would not have even a remote chance of making the Olympic team. But there was also a “B” standard of 2:23 which would grant me access into the Olympic Trials race but I would receive no funding.

My track times at Georgetown indicated to me that I was capable of a 2:15 marathon or quicker in ideal weather conditions. When it turned out to be exceedingly hot, peaking at 96 degrees at the noontime start on Marathon Monday, I had still convinced myself that the heat would affect all of us top runners somewhat equally and that hopefully it would not slow us down by any more than four or five minutes. That would still put me under the 2:20 “A” standard.

Because my primary goal was to run the trials qualifying time, my finishing place at Boston that year was of secondary importance to me. As such, I viewed my opponents as potential allies: the faster they ran, the faster I was likely to run, and I needed to run fast. That mindset played a significant role by keeping me very relaxed throughout the entire race.

Only when I moved into fourth place just past the 16-mile mark did I realize I might now win the race outright. That realization did alter my mindset from a focus on my finish time to my finish place, which I wrestled with a bit once I took the lead near the 18-mile mark. [Editor’s note: he won with a time of 2:20:19.]

Squirrel: Have you always worked in athletics-related jobs?

Fultz: My entire working career since graduating from Georgetown in 1976 with a business degree has been related one way or another to my running career. As my best competitive days began to wind down in the early to mid-1980s, I enrolled in the Graduate School of Education at Boston University to study sports psychology. Upon graduation, I was hired to teach sports psychology at Tufts University, which I did for the next 27 years. About that same time, I worked full-time at New Balance as the Director of Running Promotions.

My attempts to get New Balance to eliminate smoking in the workplace shortly before I departed were successful. During that process, I befriended the Boston chapter of the American Lung Association, then quit working at New Balance to bike across the United States with 200 other riders from across the country as a fundraiser for the ALA.

In 1988, during my early years at Tufts, I was hired by the Boston Athletic Association as Elite Athlete Liaison, a position I held for eight years. Two years later, our Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team began, and after a few years, Dana-Farber hired me to continue at training advisor to our rapidly expanding team.

Squirrel: How did you come to live in Lincoln?

Fultz: I moved to the Boston area in January of 1979 at the behest of Bill Rodgers with intentions of working for his fledgling running shoe company and his “BR” line of running apparel. I never did work for his company, though our friendship is closer now than ever.

I replied to a newspaper ad for a fourth housemate here in Lincoln. As I drove through the backroads of Weston and Lincoln in search for that house on Old Sudbury Road behind Drumlin Farm, I was enthralled with what appeared to be to be a road runner’s dream playground. As appealing as the back roads in this area are for a runner, the bucolic wooded trails I soon discovered added more to my love of Lincoln. Other than a year in Weston and two in West Concord, I’ve lived in Lincoln and I intend to never leave.

Squirrel: When did you run your last marathon? Do you miss running?

Fultz: My last marathon was Boston, 2000. My ailing hip caused me to drop out at 17 miles, and that ended my racing career. And I damaged my knee when rehabbing my hip, so I’m relegated to the bike for vigorous aerobic exercise, but I still walk/shuffle, and I’m a regular at Beede in Concord since HealthPoint/BSC Waltham closed during Covid. But yes, I do miss running for the simplicity and purity of motion it offers.

A can of the Start Line Marathoner IPA. (Click to enlarge; photo courtesy Jack Fultz)

Squirrel: What gives you the most satisfaction or pleasure these days?

Fultz: Helping others realize their own running dreams and aspiration. I borrow this from the former HBO series “Arli$$” — “my job is to make their dreams come true” 🙂 But I also love to travel and to read good books and magazines. I’m a current affairs junkie, I still exercise regularly to stay healthy and fit but [also] to maintain a vigorous appetite because I very much enjoy good food, good wine, and a good IPA. In face, Start Line Brewing Company currently honored me with their annual Boston Marathon vintage IPA.