The Lincoln Squirrel

News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

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Family movie in the CCF barn

Codman Community Farms will show “Chicken Run,” its first “Farm Flick” in the barn, on Thursday, July 15 at 7 p.m. Children under 5 are free; all others are $10 (popcorn and lemonade included). Buy tickets on the CCF website or at the Farm Store (on the check-out terminal under EVENTS on the top banner). 

Five from Lincoln graduate from Minuteman

The following Lincoln residents recently graduated from Minuteman Vocational Technical High School in Lincoln:

  • Marco Bangall (plumbing). Bangall is working as a plumber apprentice with Zepco Plumbing and Heating of Waltham.
  • William Harris (advanced manufacturing).Harris received the President’s Education Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement and will attend New England Institute of Technology to study criminal justice.
  • Aidan Nunez O’Doherty (advanced manufacturing). Nunez O’Doherty received three scholarships from Minuteman and will attend UMass–Lowell to study mechanical engineering
  • Molly P. Raghavan (carpentry). Raghavan received the Digital Federal Credit Union Award and the Jed Dowd Memorial Award.
  • Vivianvi Romero (early education and teaching). Romero will attend Keiser University to study criminal justice.

Lincoln college student interning at ORI

Adibah Shaikh

Adibah Shaikh, a Lincoln resident and biology major at UMass–Lowell, is interning this summer for Ocean River Institute, a nonprofit providing expertise, services, resources, and information to support environmental organizations. She is serving as a team captain for the Natural Lawn Care for Healthy Soils Challenge, which aims to urge people to restore the ecological functioning of grass lawns by not spreading fertilizer or harsh chemicals. She will also disseminate information advocating for the passage of the Ocean Based Climate Solutions Act as well as the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act.

“Climate change and the environment in general have always been important to me,” said Shaikh in a statement. “The moment that really kicked off my environmental work was when I wrote a paper on plastic for my college writing course. I learned how harmful plastics are from the production to the aftermath of the disposal. As I became more informed, I wanted to make my household more involved. We already recycle and compost but I wanted to take it a step further and try to slowly aim for zero waste. I’m excited to intern for Ocean River Institute and work to restore the health of our environment.”

Donelan’s employee qualifies for world-class ski event

Erica Cyr at her post at the checkout at Donelan’s.

By Maureen Belt

Erica Cyr was seven years old when her parents outfitted her in skis and started her on downhill runs at Blue Hills Ski Area. She showed such promise that her father signed her up for a ski camp at Wachusett Mountain, a 90-minute ride each way from their Dorchester home.

The long car rides paid off as Cyr, now 39 and well-known in Lincoln for her friendy demeanor as a cashier at Donelan’s, recently qualified as a women’s alpine skier at the 2022 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Kazan, Russia.

“I’m very excited,” she said.

The games are scheduled to begin in February 2022 but, like just about everything else, are contingent on the state of the pandemic. The delegates will meet July 7 to decide if the games will be held. Cyr is hopeful for a green light not just for herself but the other athletes as well. “Everyone on my ski team has worked really hard,” she said.

If the games are on, Cyr, who now lives in Concord, will spend two weeks in Russia with her mother Betty Pettit, her father Jim Cyr, and her stepfather, all avid skiers. Heidi, her beloved goldendoodle, will mind the fort while she’s away.

Cyr’s earned her place on the Olympic roster earlier this month with two medal wins at Snowmass Ski Area in Aspen: the giant slalom and the super G. She also took first in the Vertical Challenge at Nashoba Valley Ski Area in February. And despite not yet knowing if she will be traveling abroad, she remains devoted to her training. Alpine ski racing is a demanding sport that requires physical and mental discipline, and she meets these requirements through workouts on and off the slopes.

Erica Cyr at the NASTAR National Championships at Aspen Snowmass in Colorado on April 5.

When snow is on the ground, Cyr dons her atomic Redster skis and trains locally at Nashoba, Wachusett Mountain, and Gunstock. She spends a few weeks every February and April in Aspen with coaches Joanie Valentine and Becky Wilson, and she gets her cardio exercise at home on her elliptical and stationery bike, where she also lifts weights. 

Mental stamina comes naturally. “I never get scared,” she said.

Focus, not fear, gets her through races at the local and national levels. “What goes through my head when I’m racing is that I want to try and get a medal, and if I don’t, that’s OK,” she said. “I can’t win all the medals all the time, so it will give someone else a chance.”

Before her recent silver-medal slalom performance, contestants and their coaches were allowed to inspect the course. Cyr and Valentine noted an abundance of hairpin turns, meaning Cyr would have to cut dangerously close to the gates without knocking any over or skipping any. There was no room for error, so she didn’t allow herself to make any.

“I really took my time and concentrated,” she said of the challenge. Armed with this winning mindset, Cyr swished past each gate straight to the podium.

Even if she weren’t a dedicated grocery employee, Cyr knows the importance of nutrition for elite athletes. “I eat lots of protein,” she said. Fish is the main go-to, and she supplements with shakes. 

As fearless off the slopes as on, Cyr is especially honored to be considered a frontline essential worker during the Covid-19 pandemic. “I find it very rewarding,” she said.

Cyr began at Donelan’s as a cashier five years ago. “The customers there are very nice,,” she said, adding she finds it flattering that they check in with her manager if she’s out for an extended period of time.

“They’ll ask, ‘Where’s Erica? Is she OK?’ And he’ll say, ‘She’s OK. Everything is fine, she’s just in Colorado at a ski race right now.’” Cyr is a longtime member of NASTAR (a grassroots program whose handicap system that lets recreational ski racers to compete and compare scores), so there’s a good chance she’s racing for a medal when not ringing in groceries. 

Cyr works at Donelan’s year-round and adds another part-time job in the summer. Until last year, she worked as an assistant counselor at Drumlin Farm. The pandemic nixed the 2020 season, and just like the possibility of going to the Olympics, she has to wait and see if there will be campers to counsel this year. When she is training in Colorado, she helps Wilson and Valentine coach the racing team of seven- and eight-year-old boys.

When not skiing, working the register, or spoiling Heidi, Cyr enjoys everything from choral singing to spending a Saturday night with friends at Kimball Farm. July 7, the day the delegates decide if the Special Olympics are on, is heavy on her mind, as is where to put any new medals. 

“Well,” she admitted, “I guess those are good problems to have.”  

Read the latest Lincoln Chipmunk – and help if you can

The  latest issue of the Lincoln Chipmunk has hit the stands (in the cloud, anyway), so be sure to check out the writing and visual artwork of your fellow Lincolnites:

chipmunk.lincolnsquirrel.com

(Remember, the link to the Chipmunk is always on the top righthand area of every page on the Lincoln Squirrel website.)

If you’d like to have your own work appear in the next issue, the deadline is January 22, 2021 — click here for details.

And now, here’s how you can help. Creating the Lincoln Chipmunk turned out to be a more time-consuming and expensive task than expected, so we’re launching a 30-day fundraising campaign to try to recoup some of the $8,000 cost. As an incentive, you can get some Lincoln Squirrel or Lincoln Chipmunk merchandise as a thank-you for donating at various levels. Click on the image below for details about the campaign and swag.

Even if you don’t donate, have a look at our new store for all your Squirrel/Chipmunk merchandise needs, including clothing, drinkware, stickers, coasters, and of course face masks. Just what you need for that hard-to-shop-for person in your life!

A huge thank-you to everyone who’s supported the Squirrel in various ways over the last eight years, and to those who waited patiently for the successor to the Lincoln Review finally make its debut. And thanks in advance to anyone who’s able to donate to the Lincoln Chipmunk. Happy holidays!

Alice Waugh
Editor, The Lincoln Squirrel and The Lincoln Chipmunk
lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com
617-710-5542 (mobile)

 

GearTicks fill a gap for kids with monthly STEMtastic Challenges

By Olivia Crisafi, Prerna Karmacharya, Amelia Pillar, and Victor Han

When the GearTicks, Lincoln’s high school robotics team, realized that the Covid-19 pandemic would make it impossible for First LEGO League (FLL) robotics teams to meet, they brainstormed alternative STEM activities to offer the town’s youth.

For the past 11 years, the GearTicks have mentored FLL robotics teams in Lincoln, Sudbury, and surrounding towns, making FLL and FLL Explore (a program for kids age 6-10) one of the most popular programs run by the town Parks and Recreation Department. Participating in programs such as FLL and FLL Explore provide students with the opportunity to learn about STEM hands-on through building LEGO robots to complete annual challenges.

Recognizing the lack of STEM activities for the town’s youth during the pandemic, the GearTicks brainstormed about how to best address this need. They developed a series of challenges for students that would expose them to STEM concepts with fun, educational activities for families to do together while also teaching them about the engineering design process. The result: teaming up with the Lincoln Public Library to offer STEMtastic Challenges.

Each month the GearTicks will release a new STEMtastic Challenges on their website. For each theme, the Lincoln Public Library will create a resources list, including books and websites that can be used for inspiration, instruction, and enrichment.

Lucy’s winning plan and build-out of Big Ben using marshmallows and toothpicks.

November’s theme was Marshmallow Architecture. Participants drew inspiration from books and their imagination to build marshmallow structures, which included everything from flying airplanes to earthquake-resistant buildings.

The GearTicks were impressed with the ingenuity and hard work of all the participants and are pleased to announce that the winner of November’s challenge is ten-year-old Lucy, who created a marshmallow-and-toothpick Big Ben. The high school students thought Lucy’s detailed drawing was great, and that she might enjoy learning to use some of the CAD tools they use to design robots.

The STEMtastic challenge for the month of December is Marble Runs. It’s a great opportunity for students of all ages to use materials they have around the house — anything from toilet paper rolls to disposable water bottles — and extra time from school breaks to participate in something fun and educational. It’s open to all ages, and participants are welcome to work together with family and friends over the holidays.

Submissions should be sent to stemsubmissions@gearticks.com by December 31. More challenge details can be found on the GearTicks’ December STEMtastic Challenge web page. To access the library’s resources, click here and scroll down to the blue GearTicks logo.

Submit your creative work for Chipmunk #2

The Lincoln Chipmunk, Lincoln’s online art/literary/history journal and the successor to the Lincoln Review, is accepting submissions for the next issue. The deadline is Monday, September 21 at 5 p.m. with publication tentatively scheduled for October 1, 2020.

The Chipmunk accepts original work (stories, poems, essays, photos, artwork, etc.) by Lincoln residents and their immediate family members, town employees, or others with a direct connection to the town. It’s free for Lincoln Squirrel subscribers, but like the Squirrel, it allows nonsubscribers to access three articles per month for free. Have a look at the last issue and get more information here:

 
You can address questions and send your submissions via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com or call editor Alice Waugh at 617-710-5542. I look forward to sharing your work!

Alice Waugh
Editor, The Lincoln Squirrel and The Lincoln Chipmunk
lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com
617-710-5542 (mobile)

Lincoln institutions attracting more than their share of web traffic

The Facebook page for a library in Lincoln, Mich.

The Lincoln Public Library has been fielding a lot of emails since the building closed in March due to the pandemic. But some of those hopeful patrons might want to brush up on their geography

As noted in the police log published on July 28, some of those who’ve recently stopped by the Lincoln, Mass., police department for directions have been dismayed to learn that they are not close to the Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I., or that the officer on the phone can’t help them with the rabbits infesting their yard — in Lincoln, Neb. Turns out the Lincoln Public Library has the same problem.

“At the library this summer, we’ve fielded questions from Lincoln, Michigan and Lincolnshire, England, both insisting that we are their home libraries,” said head librarian Barbara Myles. “The Lincoln, Michigan person was complaining in an e-mail that our website says our book drop is unlocked, but she kept going to the library and finding it locked and could not return her books,” and she was quite peeved. The book drop here in town has been unlocked since the library closed on March 14, “so we couldn’t understand why she was having trouble. Finally, we asked her if she was from Lincoln, Mass., and the mystery was solved,” she said.

Myles speculated that the mixups have become more frequent because people are looking for online library services during the pandemic. They might do a Google search for a phrase like “Lincoln library” without specifying the state, and then shoot an email to the library that tops the list of their search results.

“I can understand a search for our library popping up to the top of the list in Massachusetts, but why would that happen in Michigan?” Myles wondered. Perhaps it says something for the library’s diligent SEO efforts.

As a footnote, the town’s library and police are not the only local entities involved in search engine mixups. In the early days of this very publication, if you Googled “Lincoln Squirrel,” you’d get referred to a clip from an episode in season three of “The Simpsons.” To really boost readership, maybe we should rename this site “The Lincoln Project.”

Candlelight gathering for Black Lives Matter draws hundreds

A candlelight gathering organized on the fly by a Lincoln high school student drew hundreds of Lincolnites to Pierce Park on Friday evening for reflection and solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. It was one of hundreds of protests and vigils that have spontaneously taken place all over the country since the death of George Floyd at the hands of white Minneapolis police officers on May 25.

“It was an amazing experience, pulled together between Wednesday evening and Thursday noon when we were fortunate to meet with the town’s leadership and welcome their help,” said Diane Auger, whose daughter Emilie had the idea for the gathering. “We are so grateful to be living in Lincoln and hoping to effect change in this time, and we believe based on the tremendous turnout, so many others feel that as well.”

“Take your power, hold your ground, and speak out,” Emilie Auger exhorted the crowd.

Quoting author Toni Morrison, Selectman Jennifer Glass noted that “the function of freedom is to free someone else… We will not do nothing.”

Emilie’s sister Erika Auger also spoke, asking the audience to “be a better ally” by signing petitions, donating, supporting black-owned businesses and contacting legislators.

“It’s not the role of people of color to teach us about injustice and history,” she said. “Understand and recognize your white privilege, and normalize changing your mind when you get new information. Start the dialogue with your children, parents, grandparents and coworkers, and never stop educating yourself.”

The First Parish Church bell tolled at the start and end of an eight-minute period of silence as the mask-wearing crowd, many of them holding candles or lights, stood quietly or knelt. The only sound came from birds chirping and frogs rumbling in the twilight.

Click on images to see larger versions and captions:

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”139″ gal_title=”Candlelight gathering – June 2020″]

Photographer and fellow Lincolnites click to help the needy

Corey Nimmer

If you want to help a worthy cause and get a nice photo of your family, you have about five minutes to say “cheese.”

As the pandemic worsened, Lincoln photographer Corey Nimmer, like many others, lost much of his business as the lockdown made it impossible for him to go to people’s homes and take portraits. He also felt helpless until he remembered that “in challenging times, the best thing is always to turn my attention to other people and see what I can do to help.” Thus was born Lincoln’s version of the Front Steps Project.

Like the project from which it sprang, the effort involves a quick five-minute visit to families who sign up. From about 20 feet away, Nimmer takes a family portrait outdoors on the front steps or somewhere else near the home. He then sends the family a digital photo. In return, they make a donation ($50 is suggested but any amount is accepted) to the St. Vincent de Paul Society (SVdP), which operates a food pantry for residents of Lincoln and Weston and also offers financial assistance.

Nimmer had seen the plea on LincolnTalk for food and monetary donations to the food pantry, which has experienced a sharp increase in the number of families who need help during the pandemic — it’s now serving 250 clients, up from 198 in February, even as supplies from the Greater Boston Food Bank have declined. He reached out to SVdP’s Ursula Nowak and Sarah Bishop, who were thrilled to have another source of help.

“Corey has been an absolute pleasure to work with, bringing so much joy to so many families and so much assistance to so many of our neighbors in need. It’s because of people like him that we at SVdP can do the work we do,” Nowak said.

He hopes to keep the project going until he’s photographed 100 families. As of May 26 (his single biggest day, bringing in $1,125 from just six households), his work has raised a total of $5,200.

Nimmer, who also goes by Corey Flint (he married into the venerable Flint family and lives on the Lexington Road homestead), grew up in Hyde Park and moved to Lincoln three years ago. “I’d never even had a garden before that, but I’ve really fallen in love with farming and growing food,” he said. His Front Steps web page has details on how to schedule a photo session and a gallery of project portraits as well as links to his photography business and other projects. “I’m not really thinking too much about any future business at this point,” he said. “On a personal level, this has been really helpful in terms of feeling useful, and it’s just been great to get out and meet a lot of people in the community I might not have otherwise.”

Pierce House manager gets ready for her first First Day

Victoria Otis

By Alice Waugh

For the new Pierce House manager, January 1 will be her first First Day, and she’s planning a good time for all.

The New Year’s Day event offers food, drink and entertainment for Lincolnites of all ages from 1–5 p.m. “It’s going to be so much fun,” said Victoria Otis, the enthusiastic Pierce House manager. First Day is a Lincoln tradition that was threatened with cancellation due to a lack of funds in 2018, but residents stepped up and made it happen. 

This year’s event will feature music from the Lincoln Trad Jazz Sextet, and a balloon artist and “candy bar” for kids. Food and beverages are being donated by William Ference Catering, BG Events, Two Chefs Are Better Than One, Fireside Catering, and Gordon’s Liquors. Other donations include funds from the Parks and Recreation Department and a police detail from the Lincoln Police Department.

After graduating from Johnson and Wales College in 2017, Otis was event manager at the Stevens Estate in North Andover, another town-owned historic property now rented out for gatherings. She started at the Pierce House last summer and has already raised the historic house’s profile the new-fashioned way: online. Getting listed on TheKnot.com and WeddingWire quickly paid for itself with more wedding bookings, and she’s also boosted the number of followers on the Pierce House social media sites, including Instagram.

Otis (who also manages the Pierce House property with oversight from the Pierce House Committee) is bubbling with other ideas, including new plantings and garden arrangements, an ice machine, fundraising, and a wall or some other measure to appease neighbors who are unhappy with the sound levels during events.

During the slow winter months, she keeps busy meeting vendors, networking with the National Association for Catering and Events, and working with new part-time assistant Jennifer Curtin (who also works for the Conservation Commission).

Weddings are the Pierce House’s bread and butter, and running this kind of event is becoming second nature to Otis. “All my friends are getting married, so I kind of look at what they’re doing and it makes it a lot easier for me,” she said.

Otis still needs First Day volunteers, especially for setup and cleanup. Those interested may contact her at 781-259- 9757 or Victoria@piercehouse.com.

The call of Lincoln’s reference librarians: “Can I help you find something?”

Reference librarian Laura Paryl and her colleagues are the library’s “in-house detectives” for finding resources.

By Lucy Maulsby

The Lincoln Public Library may be small, but its reference librarians are always busy. In addition to answering routine questions (over 100 a week) about the library’s holdings, directing patrons to “a good book,” and assisting with research on a variety of topics, they’re also teaching people how to access and effectively use the expansive electronic library of books, journals, and other media — all of which are transforming the ways in which we engage with news, entertainment, and information.

“My work has always involved helping people find what they’re looking for, helping them use the tools available, and solving problems,” reference librarian Kate Tranquada said. But those tools and problems have changed a great deal. When she first started working as a librarian in Waltham, “the card catalog filled the lobby and we had a few computers in use at the library — for staff use only. We were just getting everything barcoded — lots of data entry. Checkout still involved punching cards and pockets in books. Music and books on cassette had not quite replaced the vinyl record collection.”

The library offers both the old and the new, subscribing to a rich array of electronic resources even as it continues to build a robust print collection. These resources include subscriptions to national and local newspapers such as the New York Times and Boston Globe as well as the millions of news, magazine, and journal articles available through General One File.

Digital books, audiobooks, and movies can be accessed through the library catalogue as well as through Hoopla (movies, music, audiobooks, e-books, comics, and TV shows), Overdrive (e-books, magazines, audiobooks, and videos), and Kanopy (documentaries, classics, and independent films).

Helping patrons learn about and use these resources is central to the library staff’s work. “Although the market for print books is expanding, publishers are no longer printing many reference books. These resources are now available only in digital formats,” reference librarian Laura Paryl noted. She and the other reference librarians help patrons understand what is and isn’t available online (from social services to movies) and how to access that information. They’re also experts at helping patrons evaluate the quality of information available through online platforms.

In order to provide technological assistance, reference librarians answer questions via email, phone, and, as always, in person (on the first floor to the left of the entrance in the reference room).

“The library has always been a place for the public to get their hands on the latest dominant technology. We work with people who can use help getting up to speed on current tools,” Tranquada said. “We also provide equipment for experts whose computers and printers are temporarily on the blink, or for people away from home. Next to meeting so many people, my favorite part of the job has been learning how to use all the new gadgets and programs as they become available.”

To better help resolve technical issues and set up accounts through which patrons access digital books, Tranquada holds 30-minute drop-in help sessions on Thursdays from 3–5 p.m. She helps people install apps and download materials onto their personal devices including iPhones, iPads, Android devices, and Kindles. In addition, she makes regular visits to The Commons and can sometimes be found at Bemis Hall during their computer drop-in sessions on Thursdays at 1:30 p.m.

The library’s core collection now includes a wide range of digital subscriptions that allow patrons to research diverse topics. Subscriptions to Britannica Digital Learning and World Book open doors to learners of all ages on an expansive range of topics.

“The online versions are much easier to use — no need to consult multiple heavy volumes just to find the magazine article you need,” Tranquada said. “Sometimes it’s been hard for old-timers like me to part with the gorgeous volumes that were once as valuable as gold to us. The challenge is letting people know we still offer many of the same expensive reference tools. But now they’re more invisibly digital: there are no bookcases full of volumes reminding people what the library offers.”

Since space is not as much of a concern as it once was, the reference material at the library has expanded to include new kinds of resources. For patrons interested in family history and heritage, online databases such as Heritage Quest — which includes federal censuses, books, and bank records — offer access to extraordinary collections. In addition, digital copies of some local public records and archives are available through the Lincoln Archives. For information about accessing these, patrons can email Lincoln’s archivist, Lisa Welter, at archives@lincolntown.org.

The library also subscribes to indexes that offer practical information about and ratings of goods, services and investments such as Consumer Reports, Consumer’s Checkbook, Morningstar, and Value Line.

The secret to finding all the digital riches available is through the library website: www.lincolnpl.org. Under the Services tab, select Research Tools to see resources listed by subject. If you have a question — any question — you can bring it to a reference librarian. And if the librarians can’t find the answer, they’ll refer you to someone who can.

Lucy Maulsby is the Lincoln School Committee’s appointee to the Library Board of Trustees.