All are invited to celebrate the holiday season with conversation on Friday, Dec. 9 from 11 a.m.–1 p.m. at Bemis Hall. There will be piano music by Ken Hurd, a free light lunch and desserts, and two special guests: Town Administrator Tim Higgins and Select Board member Jennifer Glass. Bring your phone and capture the moment in our special photo booth. Sponsored by the Friends of the Lincoln Council on Aging & Human Services.
Click here for Esther Braun’s obituary.
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.
Civil War historian and Lincoln resident Megan Kate Nelson will give a talk about her new book, Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America (Scribner, 2022) at the Concord Museum on Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. at the Concord Museum. It tells the vivid story of how, 150 years ago, Yellowstone became the world’s first national park amid the nationwide turmoil and racial violence of the Reconstruction era. A narrative of adventure and exploration, the creation of Yellowstone is also a story of Indigenous resistance and the struggles of Black southerners during a turning point in the nation’s history. Nelson was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2020 for The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West (read this Lincoln Squirrel profile of her). Click here to register.
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 Friends of Modern Architecture/Lincoln Film Series presents “The Oyler House: Richard Neutra’s Desert Retreat,” a first-run feature film release directed by Michael Dorsey, on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. in the Lincoln Public Library as part of the 2023 Lincoln Winter Carnival. There will be a reception after the screening.
The Oyler house was designed for Richard Oyler in 1959 by Neutra in Lone Pine, Calif. The design resonates with Lincoln’s Modern architecture, where careful attention to specific site qualities has enabled architects to celebrate and enrich the experience of living with the land in modest homes. The film highlights a place that remains a valuable example of how Modern principles and sensibilities continue to resonate and enrich our lives today.
The Council on Aging & Human Services presents “The Truth About Women and Heart Disease” with moving testimony by Margaret Perras, spokesperson for the American Heart Association, on Friday, Feb. 3 at 1 p.m. in Bemis Hall. Heart disease strikes even the most fit — learn how to watch for the signs. Attendees are invited to wear red and help raise awareness for the #1 killer of women: cardiovascular disease. Questions? Call 781-259-8811 or visit WearRedDay.org.
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.
The Friends of Minute Man National Park will host their winter lecture, “Minutemen Revisited: Rethinking Concord’s Role in the Revolution: A Conversation with Robert Gross and Friends,” on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. via Zoom. Gross will discuss his revised and expanded edition of The Minutemen and Their World in conversation with Joel Bohy, J.L. Bell, and Jim Hollister. Free; click here to register. The lecture is co-sponsored by the Friends of Minute Man and Minute Man National Historical Park and is also supported in part by a grant from the Concord Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
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.
Codman Estate researcher and lead guide Camille Arbogast will present “A Tale of Two Chauffeurs: True Crime in the Age of Early Motoring” on Wednesday, March 22 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. One morning in June 1914 the Codman family awoke at their country estate in Lincoln to discover their prized new Peerless motorcar — as well as their chauffeur — were missing. This mystery, full of colorful characters and misadventures at the edge of the law, winds its way from the Lincoln station to Rutland, Vt., with detours across New England. Click here to register.
When we think about Abraham Lincoln’s origins, we don’t usually think of Massachusetts, but he had a compelling connection to the state. Lincoln addressed a Whig convention in Worcester where he so impressed party leaders that he was invited to dinner the next evening at Gov. Levi Lincoln’s home. Justice Dennis J. Curran (ret.), a Massachusetts trial judge for 15 years, will explore how one seminal event spurred Lincoln’s emotional and political growth, and how Lincoln’s family heritage provided a backdrop for what was to come. Click here to register.
Are you thinking about what to do over school vacation with the grandkids? Bring them to this intergenerational book intro, meet Lincoln resident Ruth Mendelson (author of The Water Tree Way), and enjoy ice cream sundae cups on Friday, April 21 at Bemis Hall. There will also be a short video of Jane Goodall, who volunteered to write the preface for the book. RSVP to reserve a free signed copy of the book by calling 781-259-8811 (limited to the first 20 callers; limit one book per household). Sponsored by the Council on Aging & Human Services and the Friends of the Lincoln Library.
Historic New England is hosting two consecutive events at the Codman Estate and Codman Community Farms on Sunday, April 23 starting at 1:30 p.m. During “Sort Apples, Make Butter – Country Life!” Family Food Fun, adults on a special outdoor/indoor tour will learn what was grown and preserved on the estate and visit with Codman lead guide Camille Arbogast, who will discuss how the Codmans’ approach to food connects to present culinary attitudes. Meanwhile, kids age 6 and up will have fun in the kitchen with Codman site manager Wendy Hubbard, shaking, making, and stamping butter while eating apples. They can take home their work along with some tasty shortbread cookies from the Codman family’s recipes. Admission is $5 for kids and $10 for adults. Advance registration required; click here to register.
At about 2:30 p.m., the “Sow Seeds. Make Broth – It’s Spring on the Farm!” tour will highlight Codman Community Farms’ innovative and sustainable farming approach, highlighting its no-till market garden and historic barnyard, livestock, egg-washing process, and commercial kitchen. Participants will take home a seasonal farm treat. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children.
Learn more about Operation Desert Storm from U.S. Army veteran Robert Lewis on Friday, May 12 at 3 p.m. in Bemis Hall. He’ll examine how deception played a key role and show actual leaflets used during one of the shortest and least costly of America’s military victories. Sponsored by the Lincoln Council on Aging & Human Services.
The Lincoln Public Library will host a “Tea in Time” event on Friday, May 19 at 1 p.m. with Rita Parisi in the role of Mrs. Michael Gordon, a woman from 1908 who will regale you with humorous, eye-opening stories about shopping in Boston and the latest trends in fashion, entertainment, opinions, transportation, and more. Hats, gloves, Victorian garb, and audience participation encouraged. Tea and light refreshments. Call 781-259-8811 to sign up for this free event. Sponsored by the Friends of Lincoln Library and the Friends of Lincoln Council on Aging & Human Services.
Look into the fascinating lives, vision, and grand accomplishments of Julian deCordova and Elizabeth “Lizzie” Dana deCordova, whose dream of a “castle on a hill” became their home and later a museum and sculpture park. On Sunday, May 21 from 10–11:30 a.m., we’ll tour the building outside and inside to discover unusual architectural features, changes over the years, hear some fun and interesting stories, and discuss some of the sculptures that are important to deCordova’s history. The cost is $12 for members and $20 for nonmembers (free for children). Click here to learn more and register.
Codman Community Farms will celebrate its 50th birthday at “An Evening in the Field” on Thursday, June 8 from 6–9:30 p.m. The adults-only event starts with cocktails and passed hors d’oeuvres followed by a multi-course plated dinner at a long communal table nestled in the fields surrounded by fruit trees and gardens. Tom Fosnot and Ruth-Anne Adams of The Hyve, will serve a menu almost exclusively made of Codman-grown ingredients: vegetables and herbs from the gardens, eggs from their chickens, and protein from their pastured animals. Click here to order tickets.