The transformative power of books helps us connect with those around us. Author Lucy Gilmore discusses her book The Library of Borrowed Hearts, the follow-up to The Lonely Hearts Book Club. We’ll be chatting about these heartwarming novels about some of our favorite things: friendship, books, and how important it is to find the family you were always meant to have. Register here.
We invite you to spend a day visiting local libraries to find out what’s special about each and what they have to offer you and your family. This is an event for all ages – all you need is a love of libraries and a way to get from place to place. The challenge is to visit as many libraries as you can and take a picture of yourself with a designated item in each library – it’s a 21st-century scavenger hunt! Post your pics and tag the libraries #mlncrawl2024. Each library will have handouts and giveaways – show your pictures to a librarian (or if you don’t have a camera, just tell a librarian you’re on the crawl — we’re pretty trusting) and receive a prize. Download your “passport” with all the relevant information.
In 2023, the world learned the tragic news that actor Bruce Willis was suffering from aphasia, a cognitive disorder, that subsequently worsened to become frontotemporal dementia. Join us as we discuss Bruce’s life, work, and future with Sean O’Connell, author of Bruce Willis: Celebrating the Cinematic Legacy of an Unbreakable Hollywood Icon. We will also be discussing the essential question: is “Die Hard” a Christmas movie or not? Register here.
Do you have questions about long-distance travel in an EV (electric vehicle)? Are you worried about indoor air quality but unsure about induction stoves? Is your aging hot water tank inefficient? Do you want to learn more about saving energy with a heat pump dryer? Lincoln Green Energy Coaches are here to help you make a plan! The Lincoln Green Energy Coach program will debut with an event on Saturday, Sept. 14 in Bemis Hall from 1–3 p.m. There will a short introduction about the program with some examples of homes that have reduced their carbon footprint in different ways. Coaches will then be available to discuss different topics from heat pumps to solar PV. Click here to register.
The event is being held in conjunction with the Friends of Modern Architecture tour of three energy-efficient modern homes on the following day. Click here for more information and tickets. The Green Energy Coaching program is sponsored by CFREE, a working group of the Lincoln Green Energy Committee and the Lincoln Climate Action Planning committee.
Friends of Modern Architecture will present a tour of three Modern houses in Lincoln. Homeowners will lead half-hour tours about the sustainable choices they made in building or renovating their houses. A reception with refreshments will follow where you can talk further with the homeowners and experts. Tour space is limited to 75 participants. Tickets are $30 per person. Click here to buy tickets and reserve your place on the tour.
The tour is part 2 of “Future Ready Living: Modern Homes (and Yours) in the Climate Age” that begins with a forum hosted by the new Lincoln Green Energy Coach program on Saturday, Sept. 14 in Bemis Hall from 1–3 p.m.
These gently paced walks are all about the journey, not the destination. They take place on first Tuesdays and mid-month Wednesdays from September 18 through December 11. Click here or more details, dates and locations, and registration.
Join the Walden Woods Project and RESTORE: The North Woods for “Thoreau, Landscape Scale Wildlands and Natural Democracy” with wilderness activist and author Jamie Sayen will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 18 from 6:15–8 p.m. at the Walden Woods Project (44 Baker Farm Rd., Lincoln). Thoreau proposed the establishment of reserves decades before the designation of the first national parks. Click here to learn more and register.
LLCT welcomes Tia Pinney, a senior naturalist at Mass Audubon, to speak about the science of fall foliage via Zoom. Click here to register.
Stop Private Jet Expansion at Hanscom or Anywhere will hold a webinar on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. on “The SPJE Statewide Campaign: What We’ve Achieved Together & What’s Next.” Speakers include Nobel Prize winner Susan Solomon, MIT professor of atmospheric chemistry and author of Solvable: How We Healed the Earth and How We Can Do It Again, and Neil Rasmussen, president of Save Our Heritage, and Alex Chatfield of the St. Anne’s Climate Justice Ministry. Click here to register.
The public comment period on the proposal has been extended to October 4. On the state Environmental Monitor web page, click on “Projects Under Review” and then “Environmental Impact Reports “in the line under that. The last entry on the list is the Hanscom project. Then click on “Comment” in the right-hand “Actions” column.
Author Heather Wolf, author of Birding at the Bridge: In Search of Every Bird on the Brooklyn Waterfront, will discuss via Zoom how to find and identify more birds by picking a “patch,” a place close to home where you can watch birds often. Click for event flier or register here.
“Author Helen Humphreys in Conversation with Jeffrey S. Cramer” happens on Sunday, Oct. 6 from 2:00–3:30 p.m. at Thoreau Farm (341 Virginia Rd., Concord) and online. Inspired by the life, letters, and diaries of Henry David Thoreau, Humphreys’ novel Followed by the Lark shows how strikingly similar the concerns of the early nineteenth century are to our own, and reminds us to listen for news of change. Click here to learn more and register.
Vicki Croke, author of Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War II, will make a presentation with archival photos and video on Thursday, Oct. 24 at the Walden Woods Project at 44 Baker Farm Rd. in Lincoln. Doors will open at 6:15 p.m. for a wine and cheese reception, and the presentation will begin at 7 p.m. This event is generously sponsored by The Commons in Lincoln. Part of the Concord Festival of Authors. Click here to learn more and register.
Click here for more information and registration.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Author Margaret Ann Spence will discuss her newest book, Cold War in a Hot Kitchen: A Memoir of Mid-Century Melbourne on Thursday, Dec. 5 from 7–8 p.m. on Zoom. Register here. Presented by the Lincoln Public Library.