The Lincoln Land Conservation Trust will host a virtual program on backyard biodiversity, climate change, and solutions to a looming ecological crisis on Thursday, Dec. 8 from 7–8:30 p.m. Headlines about global insect declines, the impending extinction of one million species worldwide, and three billion fewer birds in North America are a bleak reality check about how ineffective our current landscape designs have been at protecting the plants and animals that sustain us. The night’s focus will be on how to create backyard biodiversity in Lincoln, connect habitats throughout town, and increase resilience against climate change. A Zoom link will be sent to all participants who register here.
Tallamy is a Professor of Agriculture in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware. His award-winning books include Bringing Nature Home, Nature’s Best Hope, and The Nature of Oaks.
Join us as the St. Julia Parish Choir members lead us in song, celebrating Christ’s Nativity. Refershments will be served following the concert.
There will be Christmas Eve Masses at St. Joseph Church in Lincoln on Saturday, Dec. 24 at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., and a Christmas Day Mass at 8 p.m.. For more information on services at both churches, visit stjulia.org.
Jodi Gorman, registered dietitian/nutritionist and owner of Happy Jars, will lead a cooking class for children aged 10 and up to teach basic cooking skills and simple, nutritious soup recipes at the Lincoln Public Library on Wednesday, Jan. 11. Sign up for one of two sessions: 2–3 p.m. or 3:30–4:30 p.m. Space is limited; register by emailing sfeather@minlib.net. Please indicate which session you’d like to attend and whether you have any dietary restrictions.
Join us for a book talk on Who’s Raising the Kids? with author Susan Linn hosted by Lincoln Nursery School at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum on Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 7 p.m. in the museum’s Dewey Gallery. Linn, an expert on the impact of big tech and big business on children, provides a deep dive into the roots and consequences of the monumental shift toward a digitized, commercialized childhood, focusing on kids’ values, relationships, and learning. Linn is a psychologist, a research associate at Boston Children’s Hospital, and a lecturer at Harvard Medical School. Read the New York Times review of her book. Click here to register for the talk.
All residents, especially parents and grandparents who are watching children during school vacation week, are invited to an intergenerational event on maple tree taping. Learn about how indigenous peoples in our area collected and boiled sap, sample some of Will and Abigail’s syrup, and then go outside to tap the sugar maples next to Bemis Hal with Nancy Bergen from Matlock Farm. Dress for outdoor weather. Sponsored by the Council on Aging and Human Services.
The incomparable Ms. G.
Gov. Maura Healey will join the crowd when Ms. G, the official groundhog of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, makes her annual prediction at the Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary in Lincoln for Groundhog Day on Thursday, Feb. 2. Families and children attend the popular event each year, eager to watch Ms. G emerge from hibernation and explore her special enclosure, which includes groundhog treats like fresh veggies.
Beginning at 9:30 a.m., attendees can learn how animals, including Drumlin Farm’s sheep, keep themselves warm and healthy in cold weather. Ms. G will make her appearance at 10 a.m., with Mass Audubon President David J. O’Neill and State Sen. Michael Barrett, a leading voice for climate change and renewable energy on Beacon Hill, welcoming the governor and attendees. Participants will then be encouraged to enjoy other event-related programs from making groundhog crafts to meeting live animal ambassadors and learning how they adapt to winter as the climate changes.
“The impacts of climate change and loss of biodiversity in New England are already clear,” O’Neill said. “They can only strengthen our resolve to find policy- and nature-based solutions to the major environmental challenges of our times.”
Free with admission. To learn more, visit massaudubon.org/groundhogday.
On Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m., join Emily Levine of Longfellow House–Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site for “Freedom’s Cause: Historical Black Communities and George Washington’s Cambridge Camp,” a discussion of how free and enslaved Black members of Washington’s war camp interacted with one another, members of the local community, and the general himself. For example, Washington corresponded with poet Phillis Wheatley; he segregated the Continental Army, then reversed the decision. The family of Tony and Cuba Vassall, formerly enslaved by the first owner of the Cambridge house (which Lincoln’s Pierce House was designed to emulate), lived in freedom next to people enslaved by the Washingtons.
This event is hosted by the Wellesley Free Library. Click here to register.
Social media, pandemic effects, school pressures. These and other issues affecting the mental health of teens and children — and how to cope with them — are addressed as part of a series, “Are the Kids Okay?” sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Sudbury.
This forum, “Spotlight on: Youth Mental Health,” is part of a continuing effort to highlight children’s issues and resources. The forum will air Thursday, Feb. 9, at 8 p.m. on SudburyTV cable channel 8 (Comcast) and channel 31 (Verizon) and be available on the video-on-demand service on SudburyTV’s website, www.sudburytv.org. No cable subscription is needed for the on-demand service accessed through any computer.
Five panelists approached the youth mental health issue from different vantage points.
Dr. Jamie Micco, co-director of the Concord Center and a licensed clinical psychologist, outlined some causes of the current mental health crisis for youth, including the impact of social media and the pandemic.
Sarah Greeley, wellness teacher at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, and Maia Proujansky-Bell, a parent representative of Sudbury Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC), discussed the role of the schools in identifying mental health problems and supporting students.
Sudbury Police Chief Scott Nix and Taylor Hayden, a clinician with Advocates who works with the Sudbury police, explained their joint response program for mental health calls, including how many of the calls in Sudbury involve teens and children.
The panelists also discussed how parents can identify problems and how to talk to children about stress and difficult topics. They outlined how and where to find help, what resources are available, and how to navigate the system.
The forum was moderated by Julie Dereshinsky of the League and was developed by the League’s education and healthcare committees.
Everyone is invited to watch “What is Important to Us: A Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month Panel” with the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable on Monday, Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m. In this program, teen panelists will highlight what’s important to them and what they want adults and peers to know about relationships, media consumption, trust, and boundaries. The panelists will share their own perspective on how adults can support the teens in their lives. Registration is required; click here to register and get the Zoom link. For more information, visit www.domesticviolenceroundtable.org or email infordvrt@gmail.com.
The Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Antiracism (IDEA) Committee will hold a public forum on Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. in the Lincoln School Learning Commons. Learn about the group’s work to date, plans for the coming year, and community engagement opportunities. This is a hybrid meeting, so you may join us in person or online over Zoom (passcode: 638410).
The Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable and REACH Beyond Domestic Violence will present “Watching Dad: What We Learn from Our Fathers about Being Parents and Partners” on Monday, March 20 at 7 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room at the Goodnow Library (21 Concord Rd., Sudbury). David Adams, co-founder and co-director of abuser education program Emerge, will be the featured speaker.
The event is inspired by the White Ribbon Campaign, the world’s largest movement of men and boys working to end violence against women and girls, and promote gender equity, healthy relationships and a new vision of masculinity. The local men’s group has been meeting monthly since 2019. Click here to register. While the event is free of charge, donations are always appreciated. Click here to donate. For more information, email whiteribbon.dvrt@gmail.com.
The “On Belonging in Outdoor Spaces” series returns with three upcoming events:
- Lincoln School teacher and social justice activist Claudia Fox Tree — Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m.
- Leah Penniman, co-founder of Soul Fire Farm and author of Black Earth Wisdom — Wednesday, March 8 at 7 p.m.
- José G. González, founder of Latino Outdoors and co-founder of the Outdoorist Oath — Wednesday, March 29 at 7 p.m.
The free speaker series, which launched in 2021, seeks to feature individuals whose work is advancing efforts to strengthen belonging and connection between communities of color and the outdoors. Click here for more information and to register. This year’s series is sponsored by the Ogden Codman Trust, Freedom’s Way, and the Lincoln Cultural Council. The host organizations are Farrington Nature Linc, Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, Mass Audubon, Walden Woods Project, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, and the Food Project.
The First Parish in Lincoln is opening up its “reflection” sessions on the school-sponsored 21-Day Challenge on Anti Racism, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (AIDE) to anyone in Lincoln who would like to attend. On Monday, March 6 at 7 p.m. on Zoom with Becca Fasciano (one of the Lincoln School teachers who designed the program) and Ken Hurd will lead a discussion on topics including microaggressions, institutional racism, wealth and education disparities, and our inequitable justice system. Click here for reading materials on these topics, and click here for the Zoom link (passcode: 366258).
The “On Belonging in Outdoor Spaces” series returns with three upcoming events:
- Lincoln School teacher and social justice activist Claudia Fox Tree — Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m.
- Leah Penniman, co-founder of Soul Fire Farm and author of Black Earth Wisdom — Wednesday, March 8 at 7 p.m.
- José G. González, founder of Latino Outdoors and co-founder of the Outdoorist Oath — Wednesday, March 29 at 7 p.m.
The free speaker series, which launched in 2021, seeks to feature individuals whose work is advancing efforts to strengthen belonging and connection between communities of color and the outdoors. Click here for more information and to register. This year’s series is sponsored by the Ogden Codman Trust, Freedom’s Way, and the Lincoln Cultural Council. The host organizations are Farrington Nature Linc, Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, Mass Audubon, Walden Woods Project, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, and the Food Project.
Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School’s Eighth-Grade Parent/Guardian Night, will be held at Lincoln-Sudbury on Thursday, March 9 from 7–8:30 p.m. This evening is for parents and guardians only. The evening begins in the L-S Auditorium with an overview of the ninth-grade curriculum and the scheduling process, followed by an opportunity to visit faculty members of the various departments to ask questions about course selection and curriculum.
A virtual program on “An America Divided” with New Yorker staff writer Emma Green will take place on Tuesday, March 13 from 7:30–9 p.m. Green will explore ways that Americans are divided — politically, religiously, economically, and even by community and family. What has caused these ruptures and what are some ways for us to come back together? Click here to register.
The Friends of Modern Architecture/Lincoln invite you to a presentation, panel discussion, and reception celebrating the revitalization of the Lincoln School on Thursday, March 16 from 6:30–8 p.m. in the school’s Learning Commons. Lincoln Modern architects Lawrence B. Anderson and Henry B. Hoover, who designed the original school buildings beginning in the 1940s, saw the power of Modernism to reimagine how architecture could assist the school community to think and learn in new and inclusive ways. With the generous support of the town, the School Building Committee and the project architects have again reimagined the transformative power of architecture. The project team has realized an ambitious, first-in-the-state net-zero renovation that centers on teachers and students while preserving Anderson’s and Hoover’s original design intent of creating close connections to nature and using natural light to create calm energy throughout the building.
Adults are invited to the First Parish in Lincoln to share three-minute stories on Sunday, March 19 from 4–5:30 p.m. in the Stearns Room (rear of white church). Past stories have touched on adventures, passions, hobbies, unknown siblings and more. Telling a story in three minutes is a challenge but it makes for a fun event with about 12-15 speakers. We will have a fire going and if you’d like to bring a beverage to share, we will provide nibbles. We welcome you even if you just want to listen. Please email tuckerwsmith@gmail.com to sign up to tell your story or if you have any questions.
The three finalists for Lincoln-Sudbury regional high School superintendent/principal will meet the community at forums at 7:30 p.m. in the L-S auditorium on the following days:
- Tuesday, March 28 — Andrew Stephens
- Wednesday, March 29 — Allyson Mizoguchi
- Thursday, March 30 — Jamie Chisum
Click on a date to see the agenda for that forum. Biographies of the candidates are available here. During the day, the candidates will visit the L-S campus and meet with faculty and staff, administrators and students, and on Friday, March 31, with the L-S School committee.