The Lincoln Squirrel – News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

arts

News acorns

Public forums scheduled on Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan

The Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee is hosting four virtual public forums to review the Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan draft and collect feedback to improve the plan. There will also be a short presentation about the master plan at the State of the Town meeting in November.

The master plan, which was drafted by BPAC in consultation with the Planning Department, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, and other town committees and departments, aims to make Lincoln to be more safe, green and accessible for residents and visitors traveling by foot and bike.

The public forums each focus on one region of Lincoln, but the BPAC will review the overall plan at each forum and are happy to discuss any region of town at any meeting if participants desire.

  • Thursday, Oct. 13 at 7:30 p.m. — North Lincoln (Route 2 and north). Zoom link.
  • Thursday, Oct. 20 at 7:30 p.m. — South Lincoln (Route117 and south). Zoom link.
  • Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 7:30 p.m. — East Lincoln (east of Lincoln Road/Bedford Road, south of Route 2 and north of Route117.) Zoom link.
  • Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m. — West Lincoln (west of Lincoln Road/Bedford Road, south of Route 2 and north of Route117.) Zoom link.

More information:

Watering restrictions still in effect

With the continued Stage 3 drought, the state requires maintaining water use restrictions. To comply, the Lincoln Water Commission voted unanimously to extend water use restrictions in Lincoln beyond the traditional stop date of September 30. When drought restrictions are ended, a posting will be made on the town website and via other means. Don’t hesitate to contact the Lincoln Water Department if you have any questions (781-259-2669 or lafalamd@lincolntown.org).

During Stage 2 and above, Water Department staff monitors all sprinkler use in town and will stop to remind residents of the restriction policy. A first offence will result in a $100 fine, and subsequent violations will result in a $200 fine. For more information, see this Restrictions, Conservation & Water Use page and the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs’ drought page.

Film screening: “After Life”

The Lincoln Library Film Society will screen “After Life” (1998) directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda on Thursday, Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. If you could choose only one memory to hold on to for eternity, what would it be? In Japanese with English subtitles. Free and open to all.

Walk to benefit SVdP food pantry

Join a walk to benefit the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Lincoln and Weston, which operates the food pantry for the two towns, on Saturday, Oct. 22 at St. Julia Church (374 Boston Post Rd., Weston) along Weston’s rail trail (approximately 2.2 miles). Check-in/same-day registration begins at 9 a.m. and the walk at 9:30 a.m., with an ice cream social at 10:30 a.m. Pre-register by October 15 to receive an SVdP gift. Suggested donation: $10 per person/ or $25 per family. Click here to register and/or donate. For more information, email svdplincolnweston@gmail.com.

“Opera for Everyone” series returns

The Friends of the Lincoln Library present their annual “Opera for Everyone” series on three Sundays from 2–3:30 p.m. at the library. Opera lecturer Erika Reitshamer returns to enlighten, inspire and entertain while passing along her vast knowledge of opera and opera lore to Boston’s educational institutions. Her last offering for Lincoln Library was a lecture on “It Takes Two to Duet,” just in time for Valentine’s Day on February 12, 2022.

  • October 23 —Donizetti’s “The Elixir of Love”
  • October 30 —  Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville”
  • November 6 — Rossini’s “The Italian Girl in Algiers”

Click here for plot details.

Family Halloween activities at deCordova

The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum offers moonlit sculpture-building activities with deCordova faculty, self-guided mysteries to solve with friends and family, and a sweet treat or two along the way on Friday, Oct. 21 and Friday, Oct. 28 at 5:30 p.m. Cost is $35 per family ($28 for member families); click here to select date and buy tickets. For more information, call 781-259-3647.

Pumpkin Palooza for kids at library

The Lincoln Public Library will host Pumpkin Palooza on Saturday, Oct. 29 from 10:30 a.m.–noon. Wear your costume and join us on the library lawn for Halloween fun: pumpkin painting, activities, crafts, and more. Drop-in; best for ages 6 and under.

Purple lights highlight domestic violence awareness

Why are those buildings purple? Purple, it is said, is the color of courage, survival, honor, and hope. It is also the color recognizing Domestic Violence Awareness Month each October. For the past several years, the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable, in collaboration with the Lauren Dunne-Astley Memorial Fund and First Parish in Wayland, has chosen to light the towns of Sudbury and Wayland in purple. They have lit numerous faith and public buildings in Sudbury and Wayland and have posted banners and signs in all three communities. The Roundtable invites local businesses and homeowners to join in by adding their own purple lights. Inexpensive 4.5 watt Feit purple LED Electric bulbs are available at Ace Hardware in Wayland and Aubuchon Hardware in Sudbury.

News acorns

Apply for Cultural Council grants

The Lincoln Cultural Council is accepting proposals for programs that serve Lincoln residents. Register here for a Massachusetts Cultural Council webinar for new applicants on Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 6 p.m. The application deadline is October 17.  Click here to learn more about local grant priorities and how to apply. Questions? Email Meg Ramsey with any questions at meg.ramsey@verizon.net.

Library hosts banned-book discussions

To recognize Banned Books Week, there will discussions about banned books at the Lincoln Public Library:

  • Readers in grades 4-6 and their families: Monday, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. Email dleopold@minlib.net to register.
  • Readers in grades 7+ and their families: Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. Email sfeather@minlib.net to register.

Kids’ dance classes for LincFam members

LincFam (the Lincoln Family Association) invites new members to join the group and participate in a series of free classes for children ages 1-5 led by Lincoln resident Margie Topf, founder and artistic director of the Topf Center for Dance Education. Classes take place on four Saturday mornings: September 17 and 24, and October 8 and 15. To learn more, see this LincFam web page or email info@lincfam.org.

Cronin lecture at deCordova

The Paul J. Cronin Memorial Lecture at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum will take place at the museum on Wednesday, Oct. 19 from 6:30–8 p.m. The event is a conversation among leading museum figures Candice Hopkins, executive director of the Forge Project; Julie Decker, director/CEO of the Anchorage Museum; and Jane Winchell, director of the Art & Nature Center and leader of the Museum Climate & Environment Initiative at the Peabody Essex Museum. The panel will share ideas with one another about the relationship of art and arts organization to climate change discourse. Panelists will reveal ways in which their organizations are forging connections between cultural, artistic, and natural resources. Moderated by Jessica May, artistic director at the deCordova and managing director of art and  exhibitions for The Trustees. Click here for more information and to register.

Submit your work to the Lincoln Chipmunk

Calling all creative writers and artists! The deadline for submitting materials for the next issue of the Lincoln Chipmunk is Friday, September 9. Click here for details on how to submit, and call editor Alice Waugh if you have any questions. We look forward to helping you share your creative work.

News acorns

Lincoln co-ed summer softball returns

A scene from a Lincoln Co-Ed Softball League game.

Sign up to play softball with the Lincoln Co-Ed Softball League, a “mildly competitive” league dedicated to recreation, sportsmanship, gender equality, and community for players of all skill levels. Registration is $50. Each team will play one or two games per week (games are on Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays). Click here for more information and photos of the 2016 season and Lincoln baseball teams from the past, and click here to register.

Farrington Nature Linc fundraiser gala

Farrington Nature Linc invites everyone to their adults-only outdoor summer fundraiser with dinner, drinks, live music, and an auction of outdoor adventures on Saturday, June 25 at 6:30 p.m. All funds raised from this event will go toward FNL’s summer youth programs. Purchase individual tickets ($100), tables of four ($350), or tables of 10 ($900). Individual ticket-holders may be seated with others to make a table of four. Click here for details and to buy tickets.

Six summer performances at deCordova

The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum has announced its 2022 Summer Performance Series that invites viewers to explore ideas of kinship, connection, and ancestry through the performing arts. These themes are also explored by exhibiting visual artists in The New England Triennial and Melvin Edwards: Brighter Days. Each event offers different experiences of cultures, traditions, and familial connections. Some events are in the Dewey Family Hall while others are on Linda’s Lawn. Concerts are on Thursdays at 6 p.m. on June 23; July 7, 14, and 28;  August 18; and September 8. Click here for more information and to to buy tickets ($28 or $35 for adults, $12 or $15 for children.

News acorns

Trail use forum on May 18

There will be a Lincoln trail-use public forum held on Zoom on Wednesday, May 18 from 7–8:30 p.m. sponsored by the Lincoln Conservation Commission and the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust. The two organizations have completed a comprehensive review of the multiple uses of Lincoln’s trails and how best to manage them for the protection of open space and overall public benefit. Over the last year, they’ve sought public comments and feedback regarding ways people use and enjoy our open spaces and trails.

At the forum, the Conservation Commission will review the process we used to evaluate changes in allowed trail uses, present draft trail use regulations, and discuss proposed changes to our trail biking map and dog walking rules. Additional comments will be sought during and after this meeting. Afterwards, the commission will post the draft trail-use regulations on the Conservation Department website. Submit any comments to the Conservation Department (conservation@lincolntown.org or 781-259-2612) by Tuesday, May 25. Click here for the May 18 Zoom link.

The new phone books are here!

The long-awaited 2022 Lincoln directory produced by the Friends of the Lincoln Library will be delivered to all households in Lincoln this week. If you do not want a printed phone book, please bring your copy to either the main post office or the library.

News acorns

Winter clothing drive

The First Parish in Lincoln is collecting winter clothing through Tuesday, Dec. 7 to benefit Solutions at Work, which serves people facing poverty an homelessness in Cambridge and Dorchester. Items needed include pants, sweatshirts, sweatpants, shirts, sweaters, jackets, parkas, overcoats, underwear, thermal underwear, socks, sneakers, boots, hats, mittens, scarves, etc. — all sizes, infant to adult. Larger adult sizes are especially welcome. Drop off bagged items on the Parish House right portico (stone church). Donations will be delivered to Cambridge on December 8. Questions? Contact Mary at 978-505-7132 or mgaylord@fas.harvard.edu.

Concerts this week and next

The L-S Choral Concert on Thursday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. will  feature the high school’s a cappella groups, the L-S Chambers Singers, and Treble and Concert Choirs, as well as a performance by the Ephraim Curtis Middle School Select Chorus. There will be piano, guitar, drums, strings and wind accompaniment and songs in English, Hebrew, Zulu, German, and Italian. This concert is free and open to the public. Masks are required for audience members and performers. Families may also watch the concert at home via the Sudbury Cable TV website or on Comcast Channel 9 or Verizon Channel 32.

The Instrumental Winter Concert will take place on Thursday, Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m. with performances by the orchestra, concert and symphonic bands. To learn more about the LSRHS Music Program, visit L-S Friends of Music at www.lsfom.org.

Session on racial justice and municipal governance

On Tuesday, Dec. 7 from 9–11 a.m., the regional group MAGIC the (Minuteman Advisory Group on Interlocal Coordination) will host the second part of a two-part series on racial justice and municipal governance. This event is open to the public. Register in advance for this meeting using this link. The workshop for MAGIC communities with Dr. Raul Fernandez focuses on examining municipal policies related to housing, transportation, governance, and finance through a racial justice lens. Participants will learn how racial justice intersects with these issues and will develop a firm understanding of their responsibility as municipal leaders to center communities of color in their policymaking.

“On Belonging in Outdoor Spaces” session is Dec. 8

“Navigating White Supremacy Culture in the Outdoors and Institutions” will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. via Zoom when Mardi Fuller will take us on a journey through her life of adventures as a Black outdoorswoman who has grown in her liberation-focused identity. She’ll discuss barriers marginalized people face in accessing the outdoors and how exclusion, a form of oppression, is detrimental to all people. Her writing and accomplishments have appeared in Outside magazine, the BBC, Melanin Basecamp, and NRDC.org.

This event is the next in the fall “On Belonging in Outdoor Spaces” speaker series sponsored by the Walden Woods Project, Mass Audubon, the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Farrington Nature Linc, the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, and The Food Project. Learn more and register at www.onbelongingoutdoors.org.

Futsal games organized by Lincoln Youth Soccer

Futsal indoor five-a-side soccer was developed to be played on a basketball-sized court. The special feature of the game is the unique properties of the ball, which has a low rebound. The game develops close individual ball skills as the court is small and players are forced into limited space and option scenarios.

Games for kids in grades K-8 will be held inside the gym and will run for nine weeks. Sessions will consist primarily of games with a brief warm-up and development session at the beginning led by the coaches. Sessions will be mixed boys/girls in four age groups and are open to players of any skill level from beginner up. There is no registration fee for skills, however space is limited and you must register at lincolnsoccer.com. Masks must be worn inside. Sessions take place on nine Sundays from December 12 through March 6, 2022. Grades K-1 and grades 2-3 will play from 4–5 p.m., and grades 4-5 and grades 6-8 will play from 5–6 p.m.

Wreath-making for kids

Come learn how to make a festive holiday wreath using felt and a coat hanger at the Lincoln Public Library on Wednesday, Dec. 15 at 3 p.m. All materials will be provided, but space is limited so please register by emailing sfeather@minlib.net. Best for ages 10 and up.

“Greening the Holidays”

Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, the amount of trash produced in the U.S. increases by an estimated 25%, according to the EPA. That’s about one million extra tons of garbage each week. Join MetroWest Climate Solutions on Wednesday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. for a Zoom event on “Greening the Holidays.” Lauren Fernandez, Zero Waste Policy Analyst at the Conservation Law Foundation, and Janice Paré, Environmental Analyst at the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection, will discuss ways to trim the trimmings while preserving the festive spirit of the holiday season. David O’Leary, Magic 106.7 Morning Magic host and voiceover talent, will serve as emcee. To register, visit tinyurl.com/greeningholidays.

MCS is a local partnership of organizations and congregations including First Parish in Lincoln, First Parish in Wayland, First Parish Church in Weston,  the Congregational Church of Weston, Sustainable Weston Action Group (SWAG) and a growing list of communities and individuals.

News acorns

$10 at Donelan’s helps provide a family meal

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, Donelan’s is running a promotion to give food to the Lincoln Food Pantry. At the checkout counter you can donate $10 that will provide the Lincoln Food Pantry with boxes of the following items to feed our many families: Peanut butter, grape jelly, instant mashed potatoes, green beans, turkey stuffing and gravy, and toasted oats cereal. The promotions runs through Saturday, Nov. 27. Thanks to Donelan’s and everyone who supports the food pantry!

Author talk with David Baldacci

David Baldacci

The Lincoln Public Library presents best-selling author David Baldacci via Zoom on Thursday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. He will be discussing his latest novel Mercy, the fourth installment in the Atlee Pine thriller series. Baldacci’s books are published in over 45 languages and in more than 80 countries, with 150 million copies sold worldwide and have been adapted for film and television. He is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America.

This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Lincoln Public Library in collaboration with the Tewksbury Public Library, public libraries across Massachusetts, and Wellesley Books. Free and open to all, but registration is required; click here to register.

Holiday open house at Bemis

On Friday, Dec. 10 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., the Council on Aging & Human Services will host an open house for everyone at Bemis Hall featuring Ken Hurd playing the Bemis piano, cookies and refreshments, and surprise crafts. Also on hand will be Town Administrator Tim Higgins, Select Board Member Jennifer Glass, Town Nurse Trish McGean, and the COA&HS staff.