The Lincoln Squirrel

News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

history

Reenactments help Minute Men experience history first-hand

Lincoln historian and Minute Man Richard Wiggin reads the Declaration of Independence before the parade.

Lincoln historian and Minute Man Richard Wiggin reads the Declaration of Independence before the parade.

By Brett Wittenberg

Dawn on a mid-April morning in Lincoln. The rising sun’s rays break over the Stone Church and strike the tricorn hats of the Lincoln Minute Men. Assembled with muskets in hand, the Minute Man company receives its marching orders. The call to action has sounded, and these ordinary citizens have arrived to answer that call to march to Concord—and to war.

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Fourth of July parade in pictures

Hundreds of hot but happy residents of Lincoln and surrounding towns enjoyed Lincoln’s annual Fourth of July parade. This year’s theme was “Townies: Show your Pride!” Click on any of the photos to see a larger version.

If you’d like to add some information or a correction for any of the captions, or if you have your own photos you’d like to share on the Lincoln Squirrel, please leave a comment below or email lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com.

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Book describes Revolutionary War service by hundreds from Lincoln

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Richard Wiggin displays a copy of his book about Lincoln soldiers in the Revolutionary War. (Photo: Alice Waugh)

Most Lincoln residents know that the town played a key role in the start of the Revolutionary War as the site of Paul Revere’s capture, but few know very much about the hundreds of men with Lincoln connections who served in the eight-year conflict that followed. Those stories were researched and collected by Lincoln resident Richard Wiggin in a new book, Embattled Farmers: Campaigns and Profiles of Revolutionary Soldiers from Lincoln, Massachusetts, 1775-1783, which will be available at an author’s reception at 5 p.m. tomorrow (Patriots Day) in the Lincoln Public Library.

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Lincoln Minute Men events to observe Patriot’s Day

Mark your calendars for a variety of historical observances with the Lincoln Minute Men.

minutemen-smPaul Revere’s Capture Ceremony
Saturday, April 6 at 3 p.m.
Minute Man National Historical Park

The Lincoln Minute Men march down Battle Road and narrate the story of Paul Revere’s capture at the actual site. Hear Revere, Samuel Prescott, William Dawes, Mary Hartwell, even Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Music, dramatic reading and musket fire in the Park. For all ages. [Read more…] about Lincoln Minute Men events to observe Patriot’s Day

Historic Gropius House lives on

(This article was originally published in the Lincoln Journal on August 2, 2012.)

By Alice Waugh

The front of the Gropius House on Baker Bridge Road.

In the Lincoln of the late 1930s, Walter Gropius’ home was certainly different. Although the world-renowned architect incorporated a few New England touches into his blocky white modern house atop a hill on Baker Bridge Road, neighbors were skeptical—never dreaming that one day this “lonely little petunia in an onion patch of traditional architecture” would become a national historic landmark.

During a recent “Evening at Gropius,” site manager Wendy Hubbard offered an in-depth look at the house and its designer to a handful of visitors who toured the house at dusk and experienced the dramatic lighting effects he created.

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Oldies but goodies at antique auto show

(This article was originally published in the Lincoln Journal on July 20, 2012.)

By Alice Waugh

Strolling the landscaped grounds of the Codman Estate on Sunday, visitors could take in dozens of antique cars ranging from a Ford Model T to a 1960s Dodge Dart.

The annual antique car show was sponsored at Codman for the 28th year by Historic New England as a fundraiser and a way to attract people to the estate who might not otherwise visit. Some of the cars and owners, including John Bartley of Watertown, have been coming to the show since it began 28 years ago.

Bartley’s car, a 1937 Ford Touring Deluxe, is unusual because it’s only had two owners—Bartley and his late mother. Because of rationing during World War II, she was unable to get a new tire to replace one that was damaged, so she sold the car to her son for $2 in 1943, and he’s owned it ever since. In the glove compartment, Bartley still keeps the notebook in which he jotted down the expenses incurred on a road trip to Canada on his honeymoon in 1951 ($8 for a hotel room, $3.85 for supper, $2.02 for 8.1 gallons of gas).

Bartley’s car is also unusual in that it’s had very little work done on it, since he’s taken good care of it over the years.

“I’m not into restoration. I like ’em clean,” he said.

Another car at the show that’s stayed in the family for a while was the 1975 baby-blue Volkswagen Beetle owned by Laurence and Nancy Zuelke of Lincoln. Because the odometer wasn’t working for a while, they’re not sure exactly how many miles they’ve put on it, though Nancy estimates it at “two-hundred-something thousand.”

Next to the Zuelkes’ car was another 1957 Beetle, this one in metallic gold. Some have asked owner John Henry of Dunstable, if that’s really the original color. He explained that VW offered gold Bugs for two years in honor of the one-millionth Beetle that rolled off the assembly line in Wolfsburg, Germany in 1955. For the show, Henry added a period touch with some musty old suitcases tied to a 1950s VW roof rack with twine (though he used more reliable modern bungee cords for the drive down to Lincoln).

Perhaps the most unusual customization on view was the paint job on a black 1962 Cadillac convertible. Owner John Dunton of Waltham did the painting himself, with advice from an artist friend. Radiating along the sides are subtle red “ghost flames”; because of the technique he used, the flames sparkle in bright sun but almost completely disappear in low light. Dunton even removed the door handles and other appendages from the sides of his 18-foot-long car to enhance the sleek effect.

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