By Alice Waugh
Lincoln’s Birches School, which opened four years ago with just five students, made the cover of the winter 2016 issue of Independent School magazine and is poised to add a sixth grade for 2016-17.
[Read more…] about For Birches School, education is in their nature
Daniel Farretta, the new organist for St. Joseph’s Church. Photo: Patricia Fitzsimmons
Daniel Farretta is the new choir director and organist for St. Joseph’s Church in Lincoln. He plays at the 10:30 Mass on Sunday mornings, beginning with a prelude of music at 10:15.
Faretta noted that the choir needs a soprano (singers needn’t have experience or be Catholic). For more information, email Sylvia Kennedy at sylpky@verizon.net.
Harold McAleer photographed some of the Lincoln ponies having a spot of tea. Click the image to see a gallery of photos in the Boston Globe.
The Boston Globe has applied its investigative muscle to the mystery of Lincoln’s rocking horses, but the ponies didn’t give up their secrets.
The Globe ran a front-page feature in its September 5 issue about the horses that have accumulated in recent years on a piece of land next to the large meadow on Old Sudbury Road. The horses have taken on different poses, such as a line or racers around the time of the Kentucky Derby, but no one seems to know the how or why of “Pony-henge.”
One of those quoted in the article is Harold McAleer, who has photographed the horses on numerous occasions. Most recently, he sent around a closeup of what might be described as some of Lincoln’s four-legged Tea Party candidates (see above).
The Globe’s web story also included this gallery of photos of the whimsical equine display.
Editor note: This article was submitted by Josh Blumberg, who is entering seventh grade at the Lincoln School. He submitted it to the Lincoln Squirrel at the suggestion of his writing coach, teacher Scot Dexter.
By Josh Blumberg
July was a hot, humid month and August is turning out the same way. I felt like I was melting in that sweltering summer weather! How do you beat the heat? Ever try ice cream? Here in Lincoln we are lucky. There are several excellent options available for the sweet, frozen treat. Here are a few of my favorites.
Dairy Joy in Weston is a delightful location on Route 117. There are nine soft-serve ice cream flavors and three soft-serve sherbets, all of which can be dipped in a delicious chocolate coating. Coffee is my personal favorite. Dairy Joy is a drive-in style ice cream stand with no indoor seating, so you have to hit it when the weather is right. There are plenty of tables in the sun, and only a few in the shade, so you have to eat your ice cream quickly!
Bedford Farms in Concord has marvelous ice cream. There are thirty-six different flavors on the menu, plus nine yogurt flavors for you calorie counters. They also have a killer topping bar—M&Ms, peanut butter cups, sprinkles… you name it, they have it! The Thoreau Street location is fun to visit because it’s in a historic train station right beside the commuter rail. There are plenty of seats inside for rainy days, and a few choice spots outside for viewing passing trains. Here I recommend Cookie Dough in a cone. It’s spectacular!
Finally, there’s Orange Leaf in Wayland Center. Talk about soft-serve flavors! Is 80 enough to satisfy you? At any given time, you will find 20 flavors. These rotate frequently. Plus, there are sugar- and dairy-free options. The toppings bar here is crazier than any other! Be smart about your toppings because they weigh the food, then price it. There are around ten machines and each serve two that can be mixed into a third flavor. You get to serve yourself so the younger kids love it. Parents hate the idea because you can’t put it back!
Do yourself a favor and visit any of these three ice cream places before the end of the summer. They are fun, delicious and very different, making each a unique heat-beating experience. Happy summer!
Peggy McSweeney with one of her young students in class.
By Alice Waugh
When Peggy McSweeney started working as one of the teachers at the Lincoln’s Magic Garden Children’s Center when it opened more than three decades ago, she had no idea she would one day be teaching the children of one of her first students.
McSweeney, who retired from the preschool last month after 33 years, started her career as a third-grade teacher in Randolph. After taking time off to raise her own children, she worked with special-education preschoolers in Concord and then as a teacher assistant for older kids.
“That’s when I realized I really loved preschool children,” she said. “Then once we started [at Magic Garden], I just said, ‘This is where I’m staying’—not knowing it would be 33 years.”
Magic Garden started in a single classroom in the Smith building and later moved into one of the Hartwell pods, sharing space with LEAP (the Lincoln Extended-day Activities Program). In the early years, there was a loft and a huge cage filled with birds that belonged to the building’s maintenance man, McSweeney recalled. The preschool has occupied several rooms in the main Hartwell building for the last 15 years.
One of McSweeney’s students back in the day was four-year-old Bowen Holden, whose grandmother used to come in and read stories to the kids, McSweeney recalled. Holden grew up, started a family and returned to Lincoln—and her own two children passed through McSweeney’s care at Magic Garden not too long ago.
Dozens of Magic Garden parents and alumni threw a going-away party in the form of a hoedown with a live band and square dance caller in the Codman Barn at the end of May. The format was chosen because she has fond memories of community square dances during summers in Marshfield growing up.
“So many families came from years and years ago—it was a big reunion of Magic Garden folks,” McSweeney said. Fellow teachers offered up an affectionate spoof and sang “You Are My Sunshine” with McSweeney-specific lyrics.
“It was absolutely fantastic—I was blown away,” she said. “I was just so touched.”
Peggy McSweeney and fellow teacher Michael Graves at a school-wide dedication picnic where staff and the children named the Magic Garden area in honor of the retiring teacher.
“Peggy has abundant warmth and energy, and an irrepressibly positive attitude that has made her beloved among Magic Garden families,” said Andrew Pang, a Magic Garden parent and president of the program’s board of directors. “When I’ve told longtime Lincolnites that my sons go to Magic Garden, almost invariably the first response is, ‘Does Peggy still teach there?’”
The preschool’s board has established the Peggy McSweeney Fund for Enrichment at Magic Garden to sustain and enhance programs in art, music, movement, languages, science and outdoor learning. “These special programs complement the curriculum and, like Peggy, are particularly memorable parts of a Magic Garden education,” Pang said.
Other changes are on the horizon for McSweeney as well. She and her husband Leo are planning to sell their house in Lexington and move into a condo in the same town. The couple recently celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary.
Once they get resettled, McSweeney hopes to do volunteer work in a school, hospital or library. She keeps active doing tai chi, swimming and walking her dogs, even though she won’t be running around after toddlers every day.
“It’s just been an amazing journey,” she said.
Thomas Rhines (left) and Jake Fox recite the Eagle pledge as they become Eagle Scouts on July 16 at a ceremony by Lincoln Boy Scout Troop 127 at the Codman Farm Barn. Eighty-five friends, family, Scouts and town officials joined in the ceremony and celebration.
For his Eagle project, Thomas created digital trail maps and photographs for the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, enabling trail users to have interactive access through their cell phones and the Google Earth app. Jake’s project was preserving gravestones in the town’s historic Town Hill Cemetery for the Lincoln Cemetery Commission as well as documenting and verifying burial records.
Watch the ceremony via this indexed video on the Town of Lincoln website.
Thom Quirk and Elizabeth Cherniack look over a donation at the Bikes Not Bombs drive.
Lincoln Recycling Committee helper Darragh O’Doherty.
At Lincoln’s 4th annual Bikes Not Bombs drive on June 13, the Lincoln Recycling Committee collected 65 adult and children’s bicycles and $340 in cash donations, as well as a variety of bicycle parts such as tubes, tires, wheels, and forks. This is a 22 percent jump from the 53 bikes collected last year.
Many of this year’s donations will be heading to Ghana on July 21 when Bikes Not Bombs will host a “Stuff a Cargo Event” in its Dorchester warehouse. Please refer to the Bikes Not Bombs website for more information and other volunteer opportunities. Although many Lincolnites participated, there were also donations from residents of Acton, Bedford, Burlington, Carlisle, Lexington, Maynard, and Sudbury.
The Lincoln Recycling Committee (Laura Berland, Elizabeth Cherniack, Bernadette Quirk, and Susan Stason) thanks everyone who donated and also extends a grateful thank-you to the following individuals who donated their time to help flatten bikes and accept donations on a beautiful Saturday: Thom Quirk, Darragh O’Doherty and Cecelia Nunez-O’Doherty.
A Nepalese child in the earthquake rubble. (Photo from OLE Nepal’s Indiegogo fundraising page)
Editor’s note: An April 30 letter to the editor from Diana Smith noted that her son Adrian is in Nepal and is collecting PayPal donations for supplies that will be transported to rural villages. On May 3 she noted that readers can also donate via check if they prefer not to use PayPal. Direct contributions to Adrian are not tax-deductible, but 100 percent of the gift goes to help the villagers; there are no administrative fees. Adrian and his friends will be carrying the supplies through the mountains to the villages because the roads are blocked. You can make out a check to Adrian Smith and mail it c/o Diana Smith, P.O. Box 6294, Lincoln, MA 01773. The memo can say “Earthquake Relief.”
By Alice C. Waugh
Only a few months after Rakesh Karmacharya and his family began calling Lincoln home, much of their homeland lies in rubble after the devastating earthquake in Nepal.
[Read more…] about Quake hits home for Lincoln family from Nepal
Lincoln resident Allison Wiggin Paolisso is running in Monday’s Boston Marathon to raise money for lymphoma research, while Patricia Levy and her sixth-grade son are coordinating Lincoln’s first Pan-Mass Challenge Kids Ride on Sunday, May 3. Lincolnites are also invited to participate in Emerson Hospital Auxiliary’s annual 5K Run/Walk for Cancer on May 30.
[Read more…] about Lincolnites raise cancer research funds aerobically
Bunny Bonanza at Pierce House this SaturdayAll Lincoln School families are invited to hop on over to the Pierce House on Saturday, April 4 at 10 a.m. for the Lincoln Family Association‘s Bunny Bonanza. Welcome springtime with musicians, refreshments, and of course a massive egg hunt for all ages (please bring your own basket). Festivities begin promptly at 10 a.m. LFA members are free; non-members are $10 per child.