The 12th annual Scarecrow Classic 5K to benefit the LLCT takes place on Sunday, Oct. 20 starting at 9:30 a.m. Participants enjoy a course through Lincoln’s roads and trails, with colorful scarecrows along the route and cider donuts at the finish line. Register by Monday, Oct. 7 to guarantee a Scarecrow Classic Tech Shirt on race day. Pre-registration closes the Friday before the race and limited same-day registrations are available. Learn more and register at scarecrowclassic5k.com. The LLCT is also looking for sponsors and volunteers. Email llct@lincolnconservation.org if you can help.
Lincoln’s Doo family invites everyone to their sixth annual Brain Games for a cornhole tournament, live music, a magic show, photo booth, local beers, raffles, and more on Sunday, Oct. 20 from noon–5 p.m. in Pierce Park. Visit doofamilyfun.com for more information on how to participate and donate to Boston Children’s Hospital research on moyamoya disease, which affects Kalea Doo.
TEDx Walden Pond is hosting its second annual TEDx talk in Lincoln on Wednesday, Oct. 23 from 5–9 p.m. In the spirit of Henry David Thoreau’s quote, “It takes two to speak the truth: one to talk, and one to listen,” the 2024 theme focuses on both speaking and listening in our search for compelling truths. There will be 10 speakers, including Alida Zweidler-Mckay of Lincoln and Dr. Eden-Renee Hayes of Wayland. The program will also feature dance (a work by local choreographer Rachel Linsky) and a humorous musical performance of “Anti-Suffragist Reasons” by members of the Concord Women’s Chorus. Click here for tickets, location, and more information and to purchase.
On Thursday and Friday, Oct. 24 and 25 from 6:30–9 p.m., prowl the farm with curious creatures of the night on candlelit paths, visit with nocturnal wildlife in our creepy-crawly mansion, spot your favorite pumpkin in our jack-o-lantern display, and step into a story on our Nursery Rhyme Trail. Visit our spooky snack shack for witches’ brew and take a haunted hayride through Boyce field. Tickets are $18–$21. Click to purchase for October 24 or October 25.
Fall measures such as composting, “leaving the leaves,” and sheet mulching nurture inset life and soil while avoiding use of fossil fuels for leaf-blowing. Join Lincoln Common Ground (part of Mothers Out Front Lincoln) and the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust on Thursday, Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m. for a Zoom discussion on “Leaving the Leaves and More: A Community Q&A about Eco-gardening Practices.” Click here to register for the Zoom link.
On Thursday and Friday, Oct. 24 and 25 from 6:30–9 p.m., prowl the farm with curious creatures of the night on candlelit paths, visit with nocturnal wildlife in our creepy-crawly mansion, spot your favorite pumpkin in our jack-o-lantern display, and step into a story on our Nursery Rhyme Trail. Visit our spooky snack shack for witches’ brew and take a haunted hayride through Boyce field. Tickets are $18–$21. Click to purchase for October 24 or October 25.
For grades 6 and up. Click here for more information and registration.
Join us for a reading of “The Nutcracker” geared to young children, accompanied by dancers from the Commonwealth Ballet Company acting out some of the parts, on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 10:30 a.m. in the Lincoln Public Library’s Tarbell Room. Children get to meet the dancers after the reading. For all ages; no registration required.
For over 10,000 years, the Indigenous people knew what is now Concord and Lincoln as Musketaquid (“the land between the grassy rivers.” On Saturday, Nov. 2 at 4 p.m. in the Codman Community Farms education pavilion, Joe Palumbo of Concord will explore the history of the first people and what happened when cultures collided after European fur traders and then English colonists arrived. All ages welcome; free but registration is appreciated for planning.
Instead of throwing them in the trash, have fun and help the environment by bringing your jack-o’-lanterns and decorative gourds to the regional Great Pumpkin Smash at Codman Community Farms (CCF) on Sunday, Nov. 3 from 10 a.m.–2 p.m. When pumpkins end up in landfills, they break down and produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Smashing pumpkins and feed to the Codman Farm pigs while enjoying live music, CCF sandwiches, and ice cream from a local vendor. Get tips on how to get started with composting in your home or with a curbside collection program. Prepare your pumpkins for composting by removing any stickers, candles, and other decorations and please leave painted pumpkins at home. Suggested donation of $1 per pumpkin to benefit the farm. Organized by CCF, the Lincoln and Concord chapters of Mothers Out Front, the Weston Community Children’s Association, and LincFam.
Come to a vocal and piano concert featuring the LCOA&HS Doo Wop Team with Peter Stewart and friends on Thursday, Nov. 7 from 3–4:30 p.m. in Bemis Hall. Free entry, but donation welcome — all proceeds will go to the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry in Lincoln. Free root beer floats.
State climate legislation assumes that forest carbon sequestration (sometimes called “negative emissions”) can be counted to offset up to 15% of the emissions reduction goal. Is this a good idea? Is it even possible? How can we influence forests’ ability to sequester and store carbon? Join Dr. Jonathan Thompson, a senior ecologist and research director at the Harvard Forest, on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. for “Forests for Our Future: The Role of Massachusetts Forests in Combating Climate Change” at the First Parish in Lincoln (4 Bedford Rd.) and on Zoom. Register here. Sponsored by MetroWest Climate Solutions and CFREE, a working group of the Lincoln Green Energy Committee.
On Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 1 p.m. at Codman Community Farms, Lincoln Public Librarian Debbie will share some of her favorite books and songs that celebrate the fall season, friendship, and being thankful. Best for ages 5 and under but all are welcome. Click here to sign up.
Come see the Lincoln Middle School performance of “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane”based on Kate DiCamillo’s novel of the same name. Edward Tulane is an expensive and vain toy rabbit. He is loved by a little girl named Abilene, but he is too self-centered to care. He is accidentally thrown overboard on a sea voyage, and so begins his years-long miraculous journey, during which Edward learns about love. Suitable for ages 8+.
Tickets will be sold at the door 30 minutes before showtime: $10 for adults, $5 for students/seniors/Lincoln Public Schools employees (cash or check only). The production budget is entirely funded by ticket proceeds.
Come see the Lincoln Middle School performance of “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane”based on Kate DiCamillo’s novel of the same name. Edward Tulane is an expensive and vain toy rabbit. He is loved by a little girl named Abilene, but he is too self-centered to care. He is accidentally thrown overboard on a sea voyage, and so begins his years-long miraculous journey, during which Edward learns about love. Suitable for ages 8+.
Tickets will be sold at the door 30 minutes before showtime: $10 for adults, $5 for students/seniors/Lincoln Public Schools employees (cash or check only). The production budget is entirely funded by ticket proceeds.
Zoom in with CFREE on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. to hear building engineer Ross Trethewey for “This Old House” and “Ask This Old House” talk about “Electrifying the Home: Where and When It Makes Sense to Do So.” Click here to register for the Zoom session or go to www.lincolngreenenergy.org.
There are 300 solar installations on homes and businesses in Lincoln? If you have questions about installing solar on your home we would be happy to share our expertise. Lincolngreencoach@gmail.org. CFREE (Carbon Free Residential – Everything Electric) is a 13-person subcommittee of the Lincoln Green Energy Committee. Email cfreeworking@gmail.com with questions or suggestions, or if you’d like to join us in our work.
Join the Walden Woods Project for a virtual presentation on “Each Town Should Have a Park: 100 New National Parks for America” with Michael Kellett on Wednesday, Dec. 4 from 7–8 p.m. The New National Parks campaign has proposed 100 new national parks to help relieve pressure on existing parks, help fight climate change, and avoid biodiversity loss. Kellett is executive director of RESTORE: The North Woods and has 40 years of experience in the land conservation movement, including developing the proposal for a 3.2 million-acre Maine Woods National Park, which led to President Obama’s 2016 designation of Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. Click here to register for the Zoom event.