Award-winning author Nate Schweber brings to life the story of two remarkable environmental warriors and former Lincoln residents Avis and Bernard DeVoto in the next Bemis Free Lecture on Thursday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. in Bemis Hall. The DeVotos’ decades-long battle to protect public lands and save our national park system is chronicled in Schweber’s latest book, This America of Ours: Bernard and Avis DeVoto and the Forgotten Fight to Save the Wild. Lecture immediately followed by book sales and signing with the author. Hosted by the Bemis Free Lecture Series with Friends of Minute Man National Park, Lincoln Historical Society, Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, and Walden Woods Project.
Limited seating; click here for reservations. The event will also be available via livestream and will remain available on the Bemis Free Lecture Series website.
The service at the First Parish in Lincoln on “Rally Sunday” on Sunday, Sept. 17 at 10 a.m. will include a blessing of the backpacks for our children and joyful music from the choir. With a bit of history during the service, and cake afterwards on the lawn, we’ll also be celebrating the 275th anniversary of the church.
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.
On Friday, Sept. 22 from 1–3 p.m., meet at the famous “twisted tree” in front of Lincoln Public Library for a special Quiet Walks and Poetry for Seekers collaboration. We’ll walk for a mile or two in the neighborhood, stopping four or five times beneath particular trees. Beneath the shade of each tree, we will hear a poem that in some way honors or features that tree species. In between each poem, we will walk in silence. At the end, we will gather in a circle and reflect on what we saw and heard. If the weather looks questionable, email Rev. Nate Klug (nate@fplincoln.org) for the latest updates.
The 11th annual Scarecrow Classic 5K kicks off on Sunday, Oct. 15 at 9:30 a.m. at Lincoln Station. This community road and trail run, which supports LLCT’s conservation mission, wind through scenic fields and forests, ending the morning with a cider donut. This year, LLCT is hosting magician Cedric Purcell to entertain guests before the awards ceremony. LLCT strongly encourages pre-registration by October 1 to guarantee participants get their desired shirt size. Click here for more information and registration. Same-day registration opens at 8:00 a.m. on race day.
Celebrate the freedom to read with a conversation between young people and their caregivers at two discussion groups during Banned Books Week at the Lincoln Public Library. On Monday, Sept. 25 at 6 p.m., children’s librarian Debbie Leopold will facilitate a talk for kids age 4+ about Answers in the Pages by David Levithan. Email dleopold@minlib.net to register.
Lincoln author Ray Shepard (A Long Time Coming) will host a session with middle schoolers and caregivers on Wednesday, Sept. 27 at 6 p.m. to talk about Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi. Email sfeather@minlib.net to register.
Reading Circle participants will read “The Wellfleet Oysterman” from Thoreau’s Cape Cod and come together for discussion with Walden Woods Project Curator of Collections and resident Thoreau Scholar Jeffrey S. Cramer. “The Wellfleet Oysterman” as well as discussion questions will be provided upon registration. “The Wellfleet Oysterman” (as well as the full Cape Cod text) is available to read on this Walden Woods web page.
The Reading Circle is an event in association with the Thoreau’s Cape Cod Readathon, a first-of-its-kind event sponsored by the Barnstable Land Trust, the Walden Woods Project, the town of Concord, and other partners in Concord and on Cape Cod. The Readathon will be held October 7 and 8 at Fuller Farm in Marstons Mills as well as live-streamed. Find out more here.
The fifth annual Brain Games cornhole tournament and family fun day on Sunday, Oct. 15 from noon–5 p.m. in Pierce Park. Live music, local beer, magician Ed Popielarczyk, raffle prizes, and the Clover food truck! There is no cost to attend the event. Food and beverages are available for purchase — everything else is simply whatever you would like to donate. Please spread the word, and invite your friends and family.
Brain Games is the Doo family’s annual fundraiser benefiting moyamoya research at Boston Children’s Hospital in honor of the care received by their daughter, who was diagnosed with the rare brain disease moyamoya in June 2019 and has had three surgeries since. Their goal this year is to raise $100,000 to continue funding her surgeon’s research, where 100% of the event’s proceeds go.
Join us for a reading, presentation, and Q&A with Lincoln’s Lawrence Buell about his forthcoming book Henry David Thoreau: Thinking Disobediently, the first concise account of Thoreau’s life, thought, and impact in more than half a century. Buell is the Powell M. Cabot Professor of American Literature Emeritus at Harvard University and has written and lectured worldwide on Transcendentalism, American studies, and the environmental humanities. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for a wine and cheese reception. The book will be available for purchase at the event (address provided upon registration).
The First Parish in Lincoln’s Racial Justice Advocates invite residents to “Food for Thought” on Wednesday, Nov. 8. They will serve a simple supper at 5:30 p.m. in the parish house followed by a presentation and discussion on “Challenges and Hopes for Racial Equity in Maternal Health Care: What’s Happening in Boston.” The speaker will be Mariane McPherson, co-chair of the Neighborhood Birth Center board and is a Senior Director at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Roxbury. Reservations appreciated for dinner and required for childcare. Suggested donation: $10. Click here to RSVP.
Do you need holiday gift book suggestions for the young readers in your life? Join the children’s librarians as they review their favorite new books of the year as well as some perennial favorites. The event is open to all adults. Email dleopold@minlib.net for the Zoom invite.
The Lincoln School PTO will host the first annual Lincoln Holiday Green Market, a community yard sale just in time for the holidays, on Sunday, Dec. 3 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., in the Reed Gym. Socialize with neighbors and come find unique gifts at this multi-table indoor market. Discover new-to-you toys, home goods, and gadgets at a great price while normalizing second-hand giving and saving items from landfills.
Join Friends of the Lincoln Library for free hot apple cider, cookies, and the gently used cookbook sale. All proceeds will go towards supporting programs and services at the library. Part of Winter Carnival 2024.
Care Dimensions, the region’s largest provider of hospice care, will hold online training classes for those interested in becoming volunteers for the nonprofit organization. You can make a difference in a patient’s life by:
- Engaging in a shared interest or hobby
- Helping with letter-writing or life review
- Visiting with your approved dog
- Reading to the patient
- Listening and by providing a supportive, comforting presence
Volunteers visit patients in their homes, in facilities, and at the hospice houses in Lincoln and Danvers. If patient visits aren’t the right fit for you, you can volunteer in other ways such as providing administrative office support or making check-in phone calls to current patients or bereaved family members.
Training will be held via Zoom on Mondays and Wednesdays, March 4–27 from 9–11 a.m. (register by February 24). For more information or to register, please go to www.CareDimensions.org/Volunteers or email VolunteerInfo@CareDimensions.org.
On Thursday, March 7 from 7–8 p.m. on Zoom, author and adventurer Alison O’Leary discusses a variety of adventurous weekend trips in New Hampshire, Vermont, and the Berkshires with doses of humor, history, and peeks inside historic inns from her book Inns and Adventures. Sponsored by the Lincoln Public Library. Click here to register.
Come learn how to salsa dance, or try out new moves, at Havana Club in Cambridge. Ticket sales benefit Farrington Nature Linc and include entry and an instructor-led lesson before everyone is free to dance the night away. Click here to purchase.
The Lincoln Land Conservation Trust invites residents to help out on Stewardship Work Days starting on Friday, March 15 at 1 p.m. Join volunteers and staff from LLCT and LCD to pull non-native plants from conservation land. Tools and snacks will be provided. Click here to sign up.
The Youth Programs Committee at the First Parish in Lincoln is hosting an interfaith candlelight vigil on Wednesday, March 20 from 6–7 p.m. at the white church for all children lost in both the Palestinian and Israeli communities. Children can bring a bird they’ve made for a specific child (see Birds of Gaza for ideas) or for children more broadly. Craft kits with various art supplies to create birds are still available outside the side door of the Stone Church. Birds can be fashioned out of any medium you choose (clay, paper, your own materials, etc.). A short prayer will be offered at the vigil that is appropriate for all ages.