The discussion on Monday, May 1 from 7:30–9 p.m. with FPL co-minister Rev. Kit Novotny will be geared towards parents of toddlers and school-aged kids. The topic is “When Kids Ask Tough Questions,” sharing stories about the big questions that kids grapple with from a young age such as “Why do we die, and what happens when we die? What’s the future of our planet? Why is there injustice and racism? Where do babies come from? Is God real?” We’ll reflect on our role as parents in confronting big emotions and navigating our own uncertainties, values, and discomfort.
On Tuesday, May 2 at 7 p.m. at the First Parish Church in Weston (349 Boston Post Rd., Weston) join MetroWest Climate Solutions and special guest Rev. Mariama White-Hammond for “City and Suburbs: Addressing Climate Change and Equity Together,” a discussion on the intersection of climate change and questions of equity. A lifelong resident, pastor, and activist in Boston, Rev. Mariama will explore the question of how residents of the suburbs can most effectively take action to promote greater climate equity. If you prefer to join us online, click here to register.
Rev. White-Hammond was appointed as the City of Boston’s Chief of Environment, Energy, and Open Space in April 2021. She has supported the amendment of the Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO) to set carbon targets for existing large buildings and convened a city-led green jobs program. This event is supported by the First Parish in Lincoln, the First Parish in Wayland’s Lydia Maria Child Fund, and the First Parish Church in Weston.
Join Lincoln Conservation Ranger Will Leona to visit different trails in Lincoln on the first Saturday of each month (March 4, April 1, and May 6) from 9:30–11 a.m. Walks are generally two miles long and are appropriate for all ages. Click here for registration, which is required to keep group size under 15 people and to ensure we can contact you in case of cancellation due to weather.
Learn how to promote biodiversity in your yard by using materials you have on hand. When you remove an invasive shrub, replace it with a native shrub that will thrive. Cardboard and mulch one small patch of invasives and encourage rowdy, less loved native plant “party crashers” into your designed native plant gardens to knit together a layered team of plants that keep invasives at bay. Click here for information and registration.
The First Parish in Lincoln offers an adventuresome and enlightening supper and discussion of Sidetrack, an innovative 1971 experiment in educational integration for Lincoln and Roxbury seventh- and eighth-graders with participants Peter Thomson (Lincoln) and Tracy Steele (Roxbury) on Wednesday, May 10 from 6-8 p.m. in the stone church. Questions they will consider: What was their experience as Roxbury and Lincoln middle schoolers in the program? How did it affect their lives and help shape the adults they have become? What can we learn today from this experiment in educational integration? To learn more about Sidetrack, see “The radical, forgotten experiment in educational integration that changed my life” (Boston Sunday Globe, January 22, 2023 — click here for a PDF if you aren’t a Globe subscriber). Childcare provided. Requested donation for the meal prepared by FPL cooks is $10 for adults $5 per child ($25 per family maximum).
The event on Monday, May 22 from 7:30–9 p.m. with FPL co-minister Rev. Nate Klug will focus on “Launching Kids and Letting Go” for parents of older kids, teens, and young adults. We’ll dwell together on that tender (sometimes abrupt, sometimes extended) threshold of launching teens and adult children to college and/or next life chapters, and the various challenges and joys that go along with this monumental shift. All are welcome, including parents of current high school seniors, as well as parents of young adults continuing to navigate the push-pull of connection and independence.
Hanscom Air Force Base is looking to fill more than 400 civilian positions in a variety of career fields during an Air Force civilian service hiring event on Tuesday, May 23 from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Boston Marriott Burlington (1 Burlington Mall Rd., Burlington). The event is open to anyone interested in working for the federal government, including college students and recent graduates, active-duty military personnel transitioning out of service, military spouses, and veterans. Officials will be on hand to discuss positions ranging from entry level to executive in engineering, program management, computer sciences, contracting, logistics, financial management, intelligence, security, human resources, skilled trades, childcare, and many others. Register here to send in your resume and receive updates on the event. For more information, contact Patty Welsh (patricia.welsh@us.af.mil, 781-225-1687) or Mark Wyatt (Mark.Wyatt.1@us.af.mil, 781-225-1685).
On Thursday, May 31, the Lincoln GearTicks will host a STEM Open House from 7-8 p.m. at Hartwell Pod A where you can see some of the robots that students built this year and learn more about joining one of the many teams.
Robotics programs are organized through FIRST and the Lincoln Recreation Department. FLL Explore introduces kids in grades 1-3 to STEM through Lego building and programming activities and runs for six weeks starting in January. In FLL Challenge, students in grades 4-8 build and program Lego robots for specific tasks on a playing field for lasting 12 weeks starting in early September. FTC caters to those in grades 7-12 with a commitment of 9+ hours/week designing robots using 3D-printed and laser-cut materials and programming in Java. Questions? Email hello@gearticks.com.
St. Anne’s Episcopal Church will show the next in its Climate Justice Film Night series, “Current Revolution,” on Friday, June 2 in Flint Hall starting with a vegetarian soup supper at 6:30 p.m. The 37-minute documentary about the challenges of converting the electricity grid from fossils fuels to renewables will start around 7:10 p.m. Climate activist Nathan Phillips, a professor at Boston University, will respond to the film and discuss his work on the issue with ISO New England, followed in turn by a discussion about opportunities for activism here in New England.
The GRALTA Foundation presents “What Can Progressives Do to Change America’s Middle East Policy?” with Philip Weiss, founder and senior editor of Mondoweiss, on Saturday, June 10 at 1:30 p.m. in Bemis Hall. Weiss is co-editor of “The Goldstone Report: The Legacy of the Landmark Investigation of the Gaza Conflict,” a 2011 retrospective on the official report prepared for the U.N. on Israel’s 2009 incursion into Gaza. Mondoweiss is a source of news and analysis for progressives interested in the struggle for human rights equality for all people— Jews and non-Jews—living in Israel and the territories it has annexed and/or occupies. For more information, contact Steve Low at 781-259-1300 or steve.low@gordianconcepts.com.
Join climate change activist Bill McKibben of Third Act, Neil Rasmussen of Save Our Heritage, and others who are fighting to prevent a major private jet expansion at Hanscom Field (or anywhere) for an informational virtual webinar on the climate impacts of the proposed expansion on Wednesday, June 21 at 5 p.m. Rasmussen will present recent research on the impacts of the proposed development on state and municipal climate goals. McKibben will address why he calls the Hanscom proposal a “zombie project from the fossil fuel era.”
Click here to register. Sponsored by the Coalition to Stop Private Jet Expansion at Hanscom or Anywhere. For more information, email Sabine von Mering at vonmering@brandeis.edu or info@StopPrivateJetExpansion.org.
CFREE (Carbon Free Residential, Everything Electric), a working group of the Green Energy Committee, is sponsoring an electric vehicle display with various models and at least one dealer on Tuesday, July 4 after the parade at the Pierce House Boy Scout barbecue. If you have an EV you’d would like to show off, please email Colette Sizer at cfreeworking@gmail.com.
The Great Meadows Public Health Collaborative (GMPHC) invites parents and caregivers to “Just Talk About It: Anxiety, Leaving High School, and Adolescent Mental Health,” a virtual program about youth mental health focusing on anxiety and young adults, on Wednesday, July 12 at 6:30 p.m. (click here for the Zoom link). Join clinician Sara Eldridge for a dynamic presentation providing a framework to understand and navigate your young adult’s emotional health, the signs and symptoms of the most prevalent mental health concerns, and how to be an effective support as they transition out of high school. A student will also share her experience with anxiety.
The GMPHC was established through two state grants and includes Bedford, Carlisle, Concord, Lincoln, Sudbury, Wayland, and Weston. Its goal is to pool resources, increase staff capacity and expertise, attract additional funding, and deliver better health protections, programs, and outcomes. For more information, contact Regional Public Health Nurse Katie Rines at krines@wayland.ma.us.
State Representative Carmine Gentile (D-Sudbury), whose district includes Lincoln’s Precinct 1, will hold in-person office hours on Friday, July 21 and virtual office hours on Thursday, July 27. In-person meetings will take place at the Sudbury Senior Center (40 Fairbank Road, Sudbury) from 10-11:00 a.m. Virtual meetings will take place via Microsoft Teams video call from 11 am.–12:30 p.m. RSVP is required to attend virtually, and is strongly encouraged to attend in person. Sign up for a 20-minute time slot by emailing Rep. Gentile’s legislative aide, Ravi Simon, at ravi.simon@mahouse.gov.
State Representative Carmine Gentile (D-Sudbury), whose district includes Lincoln’s Precinct 1, will hold in-person office hours on Friday, July 21 and virtual office hours on Thursday, July 27. In-person meetings will take place at the Sudbury Senior Center (40 Fairbank Road, Sudbury) from 10-11:00 a.m. Virtual meetings will take place via Microsoft Teams video call from 11 am.–12:30 p.m. RSVP is required to attend virtually, and is strongly encouraged to attend in person. Sign up for a 20-minute time slot by emailing Rep. Gentile’s legislative aide, Ravi Simon, at ravi.simon@mahouse.gov.
Mothers Out Front invite everyone to participate in a statewide climate action call to learn about the high environmental cost and low societal benefit of expanding private jet travel on Tuesday, Aug. 22 at from 12-12:45 p.m. The issue is front and center because the state is considering a proposal to enlarge hangar space at Hanscom Field. Register here for this informational meeting. Sponsored by MOF chapters in Acton, Bedford, Concord, East Boston, Lincoln, and Winthrop — members of the Coalition to Stop Private Jet Expansion at Hanscom or Anywhere.
Join a free public workshop on Monday, Sept. 18 from 7-8:15 p.m. at the Lincoln Public Library on “How & Why to Talk to Young Kids About Race” offered by Story Starters. Designed for caregivers and educators, this workshop will explain the research about how racial bias develops in children from a young age, and provide evidence-based strategies adults can use to disrupt that bias and develop children’s antiracist values. Click here to register.
Veteran environmental writer Douglas Chadwick will present ideas from his most recent book Four Fifths A Grizzly: A New Perspective on Nature that Just Might Save Us All. He will present examples of successful recoveries of species and habitats, with the thought that “we really can save a whole lot in a hurry.” Doug will be introduced by Kim Davitt from the Vital Ground Foundation, a land trust working to protect and connect wildlife habitat in the West. Click here to register. Donations to the Vital Ground Foundation gladly accepted.