Come enjoy a First Parish take on the popular TED Talks as interested adults gather and listen as volunteers give a series of three-minute presentations about something they are passionate about. Do you have a passion for a hobby, your occupation, or perhaps a story you can tell the assembled guests? Or do you know something we should know? The idea is that all guests will leave having learned something new and gotten to know you better. When you arrive, there will be a numbered signup and you can add your name in the order you are ready to present.
Lincoln Academy with Walter McClennen: Preserving History Through Family Letters
Walter McClennen is a local author who writes to preserve history through compiling family letters in a book format. His most recent book is Remembering Clem: A Good American in Iran, Thirty Years of Christian Service, 1948-1978. This fascinating story of one humble American doing Presbyterian mission work in Iran in the post-World War II era helps us to better understand past and present Iranian-American relations. McClennen will detail the importance of Clement Scott, Jr., and of preserving old family letters. He will detail how to approach organizing collections of old family letters and publishing them in an interesting and informative book format. The goal is to preserve little known but important chapters of our national history. The COA provides beverages and dessert. The lectures last about an hour, including a question and answer period. Participants are welcome to stay after the program to continue their discussion. All ages welcome.
Over the past five years, the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable has participated in the White Ribbon Day Campaign by engaging local communities in events designed to raise awareness and highlight the role of men and boys in ending gender-based violence. This year a group of male Roundtable members has worked together to promote discussions and create presentations to provide tools to help create more peaceful, healthy communities free of gender-based violence. The events began in February with a series of small group discussions on “What It Means to Be a Man” and how to raise boys to be healthy and respectful men.
The discussions will continue on Tuesday, March 10 at 3 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room at the Wayland Public Safety Building (38 Cochituate Rd., Wayland) with a program featuring the screening of the White Ribbon Campaign video “Boys Don’t Cry.” Following the screening, there will be a discussion of the issues raised by the video led by Stephen Thompson and Jason Verhoosky, members of the Roundtable planning group. The program will also feature the raising of the White Ribbon Day Flag and a recitation of the pledge to end violence against women. The program will conclude by asking for commitments to action.
To continue this discussion, participants are also invited to the Roundtable’s first ever half-day summit entitled “Tough Guys and Gentle Men: Healthy Men in the Age of #MeToo” in Lincoln on Saturday, March 14 from 9:30 a.m.–2 p.m. at St. Anne’s-in-the Fields Church. Registration for the summit is required. Details can be found at www.domesticviolenceroundtable.org.
The Lincoln Public Library will host a three-part series on “Opera For Everyone: A Salute to Three Great Opera Singers” with Erika Reitshamer on Sundays, March 1, 8 and 22 at 2 p.m. in the Tarbell Room. Each session will look at a different artist: Jessye Norman on March 1, Fritz Wunderlich on March 8, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky on March 22. Click here for more information. Reitshamer was active in the formation of the Boston Lyric Opera Company, has led opera tours to Europe, and served as vice president of the Boston Wagner Society for many years.
Erika Christakis, author of The Importance of Being Little: What Young Children Really Need From Grownups, presents “The Essential Connection: Supporting Healthy Emotions in Children” on Tuesday, March 17 at 7 p.m. at the Lincoln Nursery School at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. Technology and the demands of 21st-century life can make it especially hard to see how children really think and feel. Christakis will share highlights from the science of early learning and explain how to improve the emotional “cueing system” between adult and child, with special attention to children’s need for autonomy, competence, and connection. Attendees are invited to read articles in The Atlantic and the The Washington Post before the event.
The Lincoln Public Library will host a three-part series on “Opera For Everyone: A Salute to Three Great Opera Singers” with Erika Reitshamer on Sundays, March 1, 8 and 22 at 2 p.m. in the Tarbell Room. Each session will look at a different artist: Jessye Norman on March 1, Fritz Wunderlich on March 8, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky on March 22. Click here for more information. Reitshamer was active in the formation of the Boston Lyric Opera Company, has led opera tours to Europe, and served as vice president of the Boston Wagner Society for many years.
Lincoln Academy with Craig Donaldson: Massachusetts and the 1917 Halifax Explosion
On December 6, 1917 the Norwegian vessel S.S. Imo and French cargo shop S.S. Mont-Blanc, which was full of high explosives, collided close to Halifax Harbor. The resulting explosion destroyed much of the city of Halifax, killing 2,000 people and injuring 9,000 others. Boston, which had a centuries-long relationship with Halifax, immediately sent people and supplies to help. Learn the story of Boston’s Herculean rescue efforts and the holiday gift given by Halifax in gratitude that we still enjoy today. The COA provides beverages and dessert. The lectures last about an hour, including a question and answer period. Participants are welcome to stay after the program to continue their discussion. All ages welcome.
The art of storytelling
Everyone has a story, or more, to tell. All are invited to join a four-session free class to learn the art of storytelling by sharing a portion of your life with those in the class, and possibly a larger audience. The class will be held on Wednesday mornings, March 25, April 1, April 15, and April 22 from 10–11:30 and taught by experienced storyteller Sal Lopes. You do not need to come to all sessions. You will have support in preparing your story for telling and then enjoy sharing it and hearing the stories of others. Call the COA to sign up.
This year, in honor of the 20th anniversary of FELS (the Foundation for Educators at Lincoln-Sudbury), the topic of the annual event will be “Warrior Letters: How L-S Influenced My Life.”
Lincoln Academy with Mark Hopkins: Amazonia’s Rainforest—Assessing Its Health and Future
Today’s Amazon rainforest, one of the most pristine, wildlife-rich places left on earth, is facing environmental challenges like never before. In this talk, Mark Hopkins discusses why rainforests are of such importance to the planet’s health, and reveals how deforestation and other human-induced threats are challenging their very existence. His discussion covers both the damage that environmental exploitation has caused, and the significant successes that teamwork between scientists and local people is achieving to sustain the health of the Peruvian rainforest and its many rare species. The COA provides beverages and dessert. The lectures last about an hour, including a question and answer period. Participants are welcome to stay after the program to continue their discussion. All ages welcome.
For caregivers: technology to help elders be safer at home
Every day, new technology comes out that can assist elders to be safer in their homes, whether it monitors well being and sends information to caregivers or others, provides virtual assistants, or offers support for those with hearing or visual impairments. Learn more about what is available, as well as their advantages and possible challenges, when Margaret McLaughlin comes to Bemis Hall on Wednesday, April 1 at 7 p.m. to reprise her November talk during an evening to accommodate working caregivers. McLaughlin is Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California and is currently Distinguished Visiting Research Scholar in the College of Communication at Boston University.
Join The Walden Woods Project and RESTORE: The North Woods for a virtual lecture by Dahr Jamail on Wednesday, April 22 at 1:30 p.m. Jamail will discuss his award-winning book The End of Ice: Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption, in which he journeys to locations experiencing the most dramatic impacts of climate disruption, climbing and diving alongside leading experts and front-line scientists. The End of Ice was named one of the 10 Best Science Books of 2019 by Smithsonian and is a finalist for the 2020 Pen/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award for exemplifying literary excellence.
The free virtual event will take place via Zoom. Directions for logging on will be sent to those who register online.
Registration and fee required; click here for details.
Registration required; click here for details.
Registration and fee required; click here for details.
In “Making Decisions When It Matters Most: Conversations About Health Care Proxy, Five Wishes, and More” on Wednesday, May 13 at 10 a.m. Mary Crowe and Joan Sullivan of Care Dimensions will discuss the importance of advance care planning and making one’s health care wishes known through the use of Five Wishes and other planning tools. Click here to register and attend.
Registration and fee required; click here for details.
Registration and fee required; click here for details.
Registration and fee required; click here for details.
Registration and fee required; click here for details.