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

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Lincoln teen and her horse excel in team sport

By Maureen Belt

Leah Drew and Jazzy.

Dressage is the perfect fusion of artistry, aesthetics, and athleticism between horse and rider that dates back to ancient Greece. The goal is for horse and rider to move in harmony while performing complex, rhythmic walking, cantering, and trotting routines within a 20-by-60-meter arena. A panel of judges rates different aspects of each performance from 0 to 10, with 10 being ideal and seldom achieved. 

The rider gives “aids,” or cues to their horse, communicating the next move. Aids are delivered through subtle movements of limbs, hands, feet, seating positions, balance, breathing, and with the exception of competitions, voice. The secret is for the rider to conceal the aids from everyone except the horse, a skill that takes time to perfect. Essentially, dressage is a meticulously choreographed discipline that requires years of commitment. 

It’s this level of commitment that earned Lincoln teen Leah Drew and her Hanoverian gelding Jazz Beat the top spot this summer at the North American Youth Championships, a continent-wide team event. Leah and Jazzy (as she affectionately calls her equine partner) represented Region 8, which included all competitors from New England and New York. 

Weeks later, Leah, 16, and Jazzy, 12, placed a respectable tenth in the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s Dressage National Junior Championships for 14- to 18-year-olds. In addition to racking up ribbons, Leah cold-calls sponsors and manages fundraising and social media accounts for both the New England Dressage Association and her region of the U.S. Dressage Federations.

Leah took her first lesson at age 5, though she’s been on horseback since before she was able to walk. Riding is a passion she inherited from her grandmother, Roberta Berry, who owned the Berryfield Farm horse farm on Weston Road. It was at Berryfield Farm in 2019 that Leah first rode Jazzy.

“She loved horses,” Leah said of Roberta. “Neither of my parents are that big into horses, but I am.” Roberta Berry passed away last December and Berryfield Farm was sold this summer. About 18 months ago, Leah and Jazzy began training four days a week with Hope Cooper and Jane Karol at Bear Spot Farm in Concord, where Jazzy lives. 

Three of those four days begin with Jazzy being walked on a loose rein in an arena. As he warms up, he progresses to faster gaits. The team practices new moves required for upcoming competitions before he and Leah tune up their established moves. On the fourth day, which is usually a weekend, Leah and Jazzy walk in the great outdoors, stretching and strengthening muscles with uphill climbs and rides through fields. Getting Jazzy outside the arena is important, Leah said, because it keeps his mind fresh and entertained. 

To get ready for podium appearances, Leah’s day begins with strength training in the predawn hours four to six days a week. Like all elite athletes, she values the importance of being in shape. “I really noticed it’s helped me a lot,” she said of her weight-lifting regime. “I’m stronger and healthier. I eat well and I drink a lot of water. Before I began working out, I wasn’t strong. I could not sit deep in the saddle, and my legs would be flopping around so my aids weren’t effective.” 

The connection between Jazzy and Leah was not immediate. “Sometimes it takes a long time for the rider and horse to connect,” she said. “Jazzy and I have been riding together on and off for three years. It took a while and now our partnership is very solid. I know all the things he’s trying to tell me. But there are some people and horses that match really well only a month before competition.” 

Leah says her strength training and her increasing experience and confidence have helped solidify the partnership with Jazzy. Their first ride together, she said, was difficult and she doubted they would reach full potential. A week before their first show, they began riding seriously and it paid off. Leah and Jazzy had two good rides, and their scores continue to improve. 

The word “dressage” (pronounced “dress-AZH”) comes from the French and means “training.” Literally, dressage means the art of riding and training a horse in a manner that develops obedience, flexibility and balance while maintaining a calm and attentive disposition. The U.S. Equestrian Federation serves as the national governing body and the Fédération Equestre Internationale in Switzerland is the world headquarters. 

Leah’s favorite part of dressage is the subtlety of the aids between her and the horses she rides. Each horse has an interesting and unique personality and challenges. For example, Jazzy is an exceptionally tall and a long horse. For context, most horses stand between 15 and 17 hands, or around five feet eight inches from ground to shoulder. Jazzy is 18 hands (six feet) and weighs 1,800 to 1,900 pounds — and he’s also a high-energy horse. 

“It makes compacted movements more difficult,” Leah said, because Jazzy needs to compact his body and pay very close attention to her aids. On the flip side, Jazzy’s size gives them an edge in the big movements required in competitions. 

Leah credits her teammates, who are among her closest friends, and her trainer Hope’s sense of humor with helping to settle any nerves that rise before competitions. She also sticks to a routine of having a light breakfast, then listening to high-energy rock and roll. Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” is a favorite. She then goes over her routine on foot in the barn before focusing on Jazzy, helping him relax. Then Leah simply trusts. She trusts that she and Jazzy have put in all the work they need and that they will perform their best. 

Competing is one thing but getting to and from a competition is another, since dressage competitions are held all over the country. Wellington, Fla., is a frequent destination for Leah and Jazzy. The horse leaves first in a trailer with other show horses driven by Mark Choper, owner of Fairway Horse Transport. Leah packs his gear ahead of time and is usually in class at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School when Jazzy begins his journey. After school, Leah hops in the family car and they drive to the show.

Leah said she feels fortunate to be surrounded by such a supportive family — her father Jonathan, mother Rachel, and younger brother Aaron, as well as grandparents and uncles. If everyone can’t make the trip — which is often the case — Leah can always count on at least one parent being at her side. Rachel, despite not being too much into horses, calls herself the “human groom.”

“She makes sure everyone has food and water, and that we have a good place to go for dinner,” Leah said.

Leah plans to continue dressage through college and has an eye on international and Olympic competitions. Meanwhile, she maintains a strong GPA at L-S, where she’s a junior. Top grades are part of the deal she made with her parents when they agreed to back her serious commitment to dressage. 

While competing in New England, Leah treats show days as absences, but when she’s in Florida, she works with a tutoring company. “Before I leave, my teachers give me information on what the class will be learning while I’m gone, and it’s up to me and Palm Beach International Academy to stay on top of the workload,” she said. 

Besides being a champion in dressage, Leah is a champion for it. “I would recommend that anyone who wants to and can, to go into dressage. It’s a really, really beautiful sport and you meet some of the coolest people through it,” she said.

Her ambition has already given her at least one valuable life skill. “I have more patience,” she said. “It’s really hard work, but I’ve learned that if I keep at something, that it will come eventually. And dressage has definitely made me super mature because it’s a lot of work, and it’s a lot of responsibility to take care of a horse.”

Last weekend, Leah and Jazzy performed at Mt. Holyoke College at the New England Dressage Association’s symposium featuring British dressage rider and five-time Olympian Carl Hester. Leah, who was the youngest performer at this event, was selected as a demo rider from a pool of more than 100 applicants (all other participants are adult professional riders). The pair will also compete for the first time at the Young Rider level at a future Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Florida.

First Parish in Lincoln gets a dynamic duo

Nate Klug and Kit Novotny, co-ministers at the First Parish in Lincoln.

The First Parish in Lincoln began enjoying a two-for-one deal when Rev. Nate Klug and Rev. Kit Novotny — high school sweethearts who grew up in Wellesley — started their dual ministry in August.

Though both have an affinity for the arts, they came to their religious careers by slightly different routes. Novotny calls herself a “cradle Congregationalist” — her parents were lapsed Catholics who later joined a United Church of Christ (UCC) in Wellesley Hills. “The church was our community with a lot of my best friends growing up,” she said. “My parents were super involved and I was a pretty spiritually interested kid.”

Klug, meanwhile,  grew up without any religious tradition. “It was quite a surprise to me,” he said. “I kind of stumbled on faith on college.” After a friend’s father was killed, “I was just asking a lot of big questions… I got this germ of faith which was quite weird for my family.”

Both Klug and Novotny went to the University of Chicago, After graduating with a degree in English, Klug was interning for a literary magazine in Chicago when his editor invited him to a church service. “I was blown away by the sermon,” he said. “Eventually I was at a moment where a spiritual commitment was something I was ready for.”

Novotny, who majored in theater and anthropology, was involved in theater and improv in Chicago and was an intern at the famous Second City comedy club in that city for a year after she graduated. She also worked at comedy club in Iowa during her first ministerial job after grad school. “There’s definitely sermon fodder in standup,” she said with a laugh.

After they graduated from Yale Divinity School and were ordained in the UCC in 2013, they applied for a few jobs as a couple but eventually wound up serving as ministers in separate churches in the San Francisco area. A couple of years ago, they began looking for jobs back east so that they and their preschool-age daughters could be closer to their families (“we have four very enthusiastic grandparents in the Boston area,” Novotny said).

Because of the pandemic, Klug could continue his other work in California even after they moved to Massachusetts about a year ago and began looking for church posts locally. A poet and essayist as well as a minister (his latest book is Hosts and Guests: Poems), Klug teaches remotely in the MFA program at Dominican University in San Rafael, Calif., and in the creative writing at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. Novotny is also a writer and a certified yoga instructor with training in trauma-sensitive yoga.

As seminary students, both had mentors who’d worked as co-pastors, so when they learned about the FPL opening, they approached it as a team. “We kind of introduced the idea to the search committee here,” Klug said. “They were really rigorous and diligent about finding out what it would be like. It was a real process of discernment on both sides [in asking] does the church want to take a leap of faith on both of us and vice versa?” They found that FPL is “a really creative place, a community church with a big spiritual tent — it seemed like a place that might be open to this kind of creative ministry model.”

As for the division of labor, the couple will split most things 50-50 and trade off preaching. “You can come to it a little more fresh when you don’t have to do it every week,” Novotny said. “The community will get a little more diversity of voice since we have slightly different styles.”

Both will do pastoral care visits and adult education. “This congregation is very interested in learning and are voracious readers,” Klug said.

They also have a few ideas for new approaches and events to engage the community. Klug will lead a group called “Poetry for Seekers” while Novotny will lead “Coffee and Compassion,” where she and participants can reflect on what requires compassion in the world and learn about tools for connection and emotional resilience. The pair is also co-authoring a blog, and they’ll take turns hosting “Theology on Tap” discussions at the Tack Room each month, with the first one scheduled for September 23. The events are open to all, including those who aren’t church members or who don’t live in Lincoln.

“Our first priority is building relationships and connections,” Novotny said. “Religion has a lot of baggage, some of it well deserved, that might keep people from walking through the door. There was a loneliness epidemic happening even pre-Covid, and religious institutions have been declining in popularity. I think there’s a longing where people aren’t all getting those needs met, so hopefully the church can keep reinventing itself” to foster those connections.

Lincoln 12-year-old revels in being a circus performer

By Maureen Belt

Athena Montori goes airborne after her fellow troupers jumped on the other end of a teeterboard.

Summer camp usually involves traditional activities like kayaking, swim lessons and songs by the campfire. But Lincoln resident Athena Montori has had somewhat different experiences — she’s been spending her summers learning juggling, the fine art of clowning, and how to soar through the air as if she were being shot out of a cannon.

Athena attended camp at Circus Smirkus, a nonprofit arts and education organization based in Greensboro, Vt., that’s been teaching circus skills to kids since 1987. Some of them, including Athena, were so inspired that they chose to take their newfound skills to the next level — they joined the circus.

“Ever since Circus Smirkus camp, I wanted to do something more than just a few weeks of summer camp,” said Athena, 12, who just finished sixth grade at the Lincoln School. “I wanted to do so much more.”

While making her summer plans this past winter, she prepared an audition tape in hopes of earning one of the 30 coveted “trouper” spots in the Circus Smirkus traveling summer show, this year aptly named “On the Road Again.” Circus Smirkus — like the rest of the performing world —was put on hiatus by the Covid pandemic. The troupers will perform 46 shows under the Big Top in four states before summer ends.

Athena competed against fellow campers and performers from all over the world. A ballerina and gymnast since the age of 3 who also studies trombone, she impressed the committee and was one of 40 invited to a second audition.

She nailed it, earning a prime spot on the Russian Bar and a backup spot on the trampoline act. After less than two weeks into performing in front of live audiences, Athena became a principal in the trampoline act, too. She also has tremendous fun “clowning,” as it’s called in circus circles (click here to see her short cast introduction video).

Her supportive family played a vital role. “I’ve been 100 percent behind her decision to go on tour and I’ve been rooting for her since the day she came home from Smirkling camp at age 5 saying she wanted to perform under the Big Top, as they call the tent,” said Staci Montori, Athena’s mom. “It’s a dream come true for her, and who doesn’t want their child to achieve their dreams?”

…and after.

Athena (in yellow, kneeling at right) and her fellow troupers with the Russian bar before she’s launched…

Athena, who had seven live performances under her belt when interviewed by the Lincoln Squirrel, said her favorite act to perform is the Russian Bar. “It’s a fun act in general, and the crowd loves it. I get thrown into the air. Everybody is cheering. It’s just so fun, the whole experience!”

The Russian Bar is a circus act where an elite acrobatic flyer lunges into aerial spirals, somersaults, and twists from a vaulting pole that’s 13 feet long and 6.5 inches wide (no cannon is involved). The moves are similar to those of a gymnast on a balance beam, but the pole is flexible, which allows the necessary bounce for the aerialist.

There’s another difference from a balance beam: the Russian bar doesn’t rest on the floor. It’s supported by two other performers called porters, often on their shoulders. Traditionally there’s no net, but the Circus Smirkus version includes a hefty cushion beneath the aerialist and two spotters disguised as clowns.

This act presents as a simple routine because the essential tools are not visible. Trust, precision, and synchronicity are paramount, as are confidence and communication through verbal and nonverbal cues. Flyers must be skilled in balance, acrobatics, and gymnastics. Even the slightest nod must be aligned with the two others in the routine.

Athena (center) talks with one of her coaches.

Being one of the youngest in the group hasn’t diminished her status. “Athena is a wonderful trouper,” said Jonathan Roitman, Russian Bar coach for Circus Smirkus.

What goes through her mother’s head as Athena wows the crowd on the Russian Bar?

“Each time, I feel both a bit nervous and super-excited for her and all the performers,” Montori said. “I won’t lie — my hands sweat a bunch during the Russian Bar act. It was hard to watch for the first five or six shows because she flies very high into the air and does a back tuck without safety lines. I hadn’t seen her do this without lines before opening day. I didn’t realize she had perfected it enough to do it like this. She kept it a secret to surprise me, I think. It’s getting easier to watch now, especially since she seems more confident and skilled at doing it after each performance. My hands still sweat, though.”

Athena agreed that she gets more comfortable with each performance. “There were definitely nerves the first time,” she admitted. But her nervousness dissipated once she and the rest of the troupers made their way to center stage and the crowd cheered. “It was a full house, and the adrenaline was pumping.”

Being a committed circus performer requires more than shooting through the air and making people laugh. Athena and the others have to set up some of the smaller tents before the show and then break them down afterwards. In between, they pick up the gum wrappers, drink cups, and other debris that audience members leave behind. The whole thing “is a really long process,” she said. “The first time we did it, it took us five hours, but the last few times it’s only taken two hours.”

But even cleaning up after strangers doesn’t dim Athena’s enjoyment. “I want to do it again next year,” she said. In fact, Athena would love to be a trouper for the next seven summers, which will take her right up to high school graduation.

The experience has created bonds she knows will last a lifetime. “It’s a very welcoming community,” she said. “It feels more like a family and we’re all so close. It helps that we’re all such good friends with each other.”

Athena also knows her time with Circus Smirkus is giving her other skills for future success. “I’m learning the importance of responsibility and how to rely on other people,” she said.

Her mother agrees. “Circus requires the kids to be incredibly hard-working, creative, focused, trusting, and very trustworthy,” Montori said. “They have to take directions, listen carefully and not be distracted; otherwise someone can get very badly hurt. They also need to take risks, be willing to fail, and try again. I think Athena has become much more confident in all facets of her life using these skills from circus training.”

Circus Smirkus has no animal acts or fire throwers. Its dazzle comes from the artistry of jugglers, acrobats, and contortionists as well as clowns. All of the acts are fueled by human strength (both physical and mental), long practices, discipline, and cooperation. Aside from the lighting and audio systems, there’s no technology involved, which means these acts would have been performed the exact same way today as 300 years ago.

You can watch Athena and friends perform their magic when Circus Smirkus comes to Waltham this week. Click here to see a short video advertising the circus and click here for the schedule.

Lincoln’s newest farmer hopes for organic growth

Mohammed Hannan and his wife Kaniz at their farm stand.

Mohammed Hannan grew up on a family farm, but it was thousands of miles away and very different from where he now works the land in Lincoln.

A lot has changed for Hannan, 46, since his days as a boy in rural Bangladesh and as a college student earning a degree in wildlife and conservation biology from the University of Chittagong. He came to America in 2008 on a fellowship from Duke University and now works full-time as a research scientist at Harvard Medical School. But it was food that drove him back toward agriculture.

“Right after coming here, I honestly didn’t have enough money, so I was buying food from Market Basket, Haymarket, and so forth. I quickly realized I needed access to good food but I didn’t have the money for Whole Foods,” he said. He thought of growing food himself but wasn’t sure how to make that happen while working full-time, but he volunteered on a farm on weekends one summer, “and after that I realized it was a lot of fun as well as hard work.”

Hannan learned the ins and outs of New England farming with the help of the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project. He graduated in 2020 from the program, whose mission is to improve local and regional food systems by training the next generation of farmers to produce food that is sustainable and nutritious, and making this food accessible to everyone. While he was learning to farm in Beverly, he won fifth place in an agricultural contest in the “heaviest tomato” category with a Yellow Brandywine weighing in at just over two pounds.

Now Hannan commutes from his home in Cambridge to manage his crops in Lincoln, where he’s been growing vegetables on the Ricci conservation land off Route 2A since 2018. On Saturdays, he and his wife Kaniz also run a farm stand on Route 117 (the Umbrello hay field, site of the former Blue Heron Farm). During his journey, he’s benefited from an ongoing Lincoln connection — New Entry director Jennifer Hashley also helps run Codman Community Farms with her husband Pete Lowy and continues to advise him.

Hannan Agro Farms has also gotten help through a CSA work-share program and WWOOFers—visitors from the Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms program who help out in exchange for produce and learning about organic agriculture. 

During its successful first year, the farm has grown array of traditional veggies and some not-so-familiar produce. These include luffa gourds, which Hannan used to eat in curries back in Bangladesh (the plant can also be dried and used as a sponge). In the future he hopes to include more East Asian gourds and melons, amaranth, and perhaps basil from Ghana. “I’m trying to incorporate quite a bit of stuff from back home and a few other countries,” he said.

Hannan leases both plots of land from the town, which has been very helpful in helping him get started and providing a potable water source on the Umbrello plot, where he brings each week’s load of produce, washes and refrigerates it before arraying it on the tables for sale. He also sells through New Entry’s Food Hub.

Next year, Hannan hopes to use some of the Umbrello land for gourd tunnels — open-ended structures in which the plants grow vertically and the emerging gourds hang upside-down. Salad greens and early-season microgreens are also on his wish list.

“At this point I’m expanding the operation very slowly, taking the time to do this experiment and see where I can take it — see if I can make a living at it,” he said. “To me, I think it’s really, really important that we know our farms and where our food is coming from. During this pandemic, we learned a hard lesson about how the food supply chain can be broken easily. Convenience always comes with a cost. We have our PCP, and we should also have a food care provider — the local farmer.”

Juggling a farm, a full-time job, and a family is rewarding if not always easy. “I believe that whatever you do, if you make a living from what you really like and you have the power of helping other people, it’s really refreshing,” Hannan said.

The Hannan Agro Farms farmstand in the Umbrello hay field opposite 275 South Great Rd. is open on Saturdays from 11 a.m –6 p.m. until late October.

News acorns

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.”