Are you planning to reduce your home energy costs or buy an electric car this year? Larry Chretien, Director of the Green Energy Consumers Alliance, will review 2024 state and federal incentives offered through the Inflation Reduction Act in a Zoom talk on Tuesday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. Presented by Lincoln CFREE, a working group of the Lincoln Green Energy Committee. Click here to register.
Ed Begley Jr. will talk about his book, To the Temple of Tranquility… And Step On It! on Wednesday, Jan. 17 from 7–8 p.m. in a free online event sponsored by the Walden Woods Project. An audience Q&A will follow the conversation. Begley, a star of “St. Elsewhere” and many films, is equally well known for his environmental activism. He is also the author of Ed Begley Jr.’s Guide to Sustainable Living: Learning to Conserve Resources and Manage an Eco-Conscious Life and Living Like Ed: A Guide to the Eco-Friendly Life. Click here to learn more and register.
Join us on a guided hike around the trails of Mt. Misery as we look for tracks and other signs of life to understand how our local wildlife survives New England winters. We look for the presence of a variety of animals, including beaver activity, to learn how they spend stretches of winter under the ice. This family-friendly hike will be guided by the Lincoln Conservation Department. Click here to register. Part of Winter Carnival 2024.
Help our farmer take care of the animals! In this hands-on activity, you’ll get to meet and feed the animals their dinner, help keep the barns clean, and make sure everyone is tucked in for the night. Adult & child members: $14. Adult & child nonmembers: $17. Click here to register. Part of Winter Carnival 2024.
1:15–1:45 p.m. OR 2–2:45 p.m.
Winter is cold in New England, but not everywhere. Learn how animals survive freezing temperatures, floods, and other winter challenges in different parts of the world. Who is active and outside? Who is sleeping or hiding? Joys of Nature will share information on how local animals and others around the world survive their winter seasons. Attendees will also meet live reptiles! We are offering two half-hour sessions for families with children ages 4+. For more information, email dleopold@minlib.net. Part of Winter Carnival 2024.
Speed dating is the fun and efficient way to meet new people. Bedford, Concord, Carlisle, Lincoln, and Sudbury are teaming up for this event. You’ll meet up to 12 local single seniors (aged 65+) through a series of six minute “pre-dates.” We facilitate the whole thing so there’s no awkwardness, no pressure, no embarrassment… just great fun! After the event, we’ll contact you to let you know if you’ve made a match (more than two-thirds of speed daters match at least one person). Space is limited; sign up by calling 781-259-8811.
Join Lincoln Conservation Director Michele Grzenda for a Zoom presentation on the Conservation Commission’s six-part mission on Thursday, Feb. 22 from 7–8 p.m. This talk will focus on how ConCom, along with Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, protects land, manages open space, and educates residents. Michele will share some tips on how residents can help protect the open spaces and wildlife habitat in their backyard. RSVP here. Sponsored by the Lincoln Public Library.
Lincoln resident and member of the Screen Actors Guild Sally Kindleberger explains what it’s like to be a movie extra on set. Afterwards, watch “The Holdovers” (2023), in which Sally was an extra. It’s a comedy/drama starring Paul Giamatti, DaVine Joy Randolph and Dominic Sessa, directed by Alexander Payne.
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.
Are you wondering how to keep the lights on when the sun’s not shining? Jay Turner, an environmental studies professor at Wellesley College, will draw on his recent book Charged: A History of Batteries and Lessons for a Clean Energy Future and his experiences retrofitting his home in Natick to be net energy positive to discuss the big picture and fine details of electrification on Wednesday, March 6 at 7 p.m. Click here to register and receive a Zoom link. This series is hosted by CFREE, a working group of Lincoln’s Green Energy Committee.
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.
Samaritans will provide information on suicide risk factors, warning signs, and questions to ask someone who may be at risk. This two-hour suicide prevention training focuses on older adults, but the information is relevant for all ages. Space is limited; call 781-259-811 to sign up. Sponsored by the Council on Aging & Human Services.
Explore the world of natural color with an introduction to dyeing fabric with plants. You’ll create your own set of four dyed cotton napkins using plants, including some foraged at Nature Linc over the summer. Different surface techniques will be explored, including creating resists on fabric with natural materials. Adults only. Pre-registration required.
The “On Belonging in Outdoor Spaces” free speaker series continues via Zoom on Wednesday, March 13 at 7 p.m. with Erika Rumbley, co-founder and director of the New Garden Society and Director of Horticulture at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. She will speak about her work training incarcerated students in the art and science of plants. On Wednesday, March 27at 7 p.m., Doug Sutherland, a summer camp professional, will share his experiences as a Black person in rural New Hampshire, where “belonging” is an assumption for some and unattainable for others.
Click here to register for either talk. The series is hosted by Farrington Nature Linc, Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, the Walden Woods Project, Mass Audubon, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, and Codman Community Farms. Spring 2024 Sponsorship is generously provided by the Ogden Codman Trust and Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area.
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.
The Lincoln Land Conservation Trust will host a movie night to welcome spring and continue our focus on both pollination systems and the importance of dark skies for wildlife by screening “Bat Man of Mexico,” a 50-minute PBS episode about the lesser long-nosed bat, a crucial pollinator of agave plants, on Thursday, March 21 at 7 p.m. in the LLCT office (145 Lincoln Rd, Suite 102A).
According to NASA, turf grass lawn covers more of the U.S. than any other irrigated crop. Lawns are resource-heavy, requiring mowing, irrigation, fertilizer, and pesticides to thrive in New England. Learn why you should “kill your lawn” and how to replace it with beautiful and environmentally friendly gardens. Transitioning your yard to incorporate native plants in the lawn or gardens helps to mitigate floods, heat waves, sea level rise, and the mass extinction of species.
This free session will be presented by Mark Richardson, Director of Horticulture for New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill. and is sponsored by MetroWest Climate Solutions (a growing partnership between First Parish in Wayland, First Parish Church in Weston, First Parish in Lincoln, the Congregational Church in Weston, Energize Wayland, Sustainable Weston Action Group, and other communities and individuals). To register, visit metrowestclimatesolutions.org.