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

letters to the editor

Letter to the editor: thanks from food pantry

Andrew Craig and Henry Darnall with the vanload of donations they collected.

To the editor:

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul would like to thank Andrew Craig for organizing a food drive for our Food Pantry in Lincoln. With the help of his mother Julia, his friend Henry Darnall, and Henry’s dad Greg, he collected food from 30 households. They delivered two carloads of food to the Food Pantry, sorted the food, and checked all the use-by dates. It was an incredibly successful food drive. Our thanks go also to the 30 households who took part by donating food so generously.

It is not too late to help. Please drop food donations off at the side entrance on the left side of St. Joseph Church, where the ramp is. If you buy food at Donelan’s you can drop it off in the collection barrel behind the registers.

Items most needed are pasta sauce, Progresso soup, cereal, pasta, brown rice, white tuna, cans of corn, cans of black beans, and Campbell’s chicken noodle soup, as well as toilet paper and paper towels.For monetary donations, please make checks payable to St. Vincent de Paul and mail them to St. Vincent de Paul, PO Box 324, Lincoln MA.

We are very impressed with how much food Andrew was able to collect. The need is growing fast, and we rely on donations more than ever before. We have never before given out so much food. It is heartening to see a young person like Andrew take initiative and so many Lincoln residents responding to his request for donations.

Sincerely,

Ursula Nowak
Society of St. Vincent de Paul, St. Joseph Conference

Letter to the editor: please support the COA

Dear neighbors,

Like all of us, the Lincoln Council on Aging (COA) has been faced with many new challenges as a result of the coronavirus/Covid-19 pandemic. While many of the COA’s regular programs and activities have been cancelled, others have adapted and moved online. The entire COA staff is working remotely and focused on protecting and serving the town’s most vulnerable residents of all ages by helping people find the resources — food, counseling, medical care, etc. — they need in these unprecedented times.

Especially now, the needs of those served by the COA have been increasing faster than the town’s ability to cover the cost of meeting those needs. Fortunately, the Friends of the Lincoln COA, a nonprofit organization formed to provide financial assistance to the COA, is able to supplement the COA budget. Last year, the Friends were able to contribute roughly $30,000 to COA programs and services.

Donations from individuals in Lincoln are the Friends’ principal source of income. We hope that you will support the COA and its work with your tax-deductible contribution. If you can, please contribute by sending your check to Friends of the Lincoln Council on Aging, P.O. Box 143, Lincoln, MA 01773. We appreciate your support.

Sincerely,

Rhonda Swain
President, Friends of the Lincoln COA

Letter to the editor: help get Markey on the ballot

(Editor’s note: This is reprinted at the request of the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee from the LTDC website at www.lincolnmadems.org/news-opinions.)

To the editor:

In order to have both declared U.S. Senatorial candidates (Ed Markey and Joe Kennedy) appear on the primary ballot, each candidate must have 10,000 signatures on their nomination papers by May 5. As of April 7, Ed Markey had 7,000 signatures and Joe Kennedy had 15,000 signatures — so as of that date, only Joe Kennedy had qualified.

If Lincoln Democrats and independents share our desire to have a contested election with both candidates on the ballot, please follow these steps: 

  • If you’re registered to vote as a Democrat or an unenrolled voter in Massachusetts, fill out this form to say you’re willing to add your name to get Markey on the ballot: EdMarkey.com/sign.
  • The Markey team will mail you the official paperwork with instructions on what you need to do.
  • Add your signature (and ask any other registered voters in your household to do the same).
  • Mail it back to the Markey campaign in the stamped and pre-addressed envelope that they’ll send you.

That’s it. It’s fast and easy. And please help ASAP!

The Massachusetts State Committee is recommending that both candidates be on the ballot, as long as they have the required signatures on their nomination papers. Although the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee does not officially support candidates before the primary, we strongly believe in contested elections and offering voters a choice of  qualified candidates. Therefore, we are writing and asking if you could sign Ed Markey’s nomination papers.

Sincerely,

Joan Kimball and Barbara Slayter
Co-chairs, Lincoln Democratic Town Committee

Letter to the editor: Town Moderator seeks reelection

To the editor:

Today I handed in my nomination papers for reelection to the position of Town Moderator. I feel honored to have served in that position for six years and look forward to serving for another term.

I have learned a great deal about running our Town Meeting, but I know that with each meeting, there is more to learn. I strive to ensure that our meetings are respectful at that same time that the issues are fully and robustly debated. The feedback from residents has been helpful and worthy of reflection and consideration.

As Moderator, I have also enjoyed working for six years with Lincoln eighth-graders in an effort to introduce them to direct democracy through the process of gathering signatures of registered voters and submitting a citizens’ petition to Town Meeting.

I ask for your support at the local election on Monday, March 30. And I look forward to seeing everyone at our annual Town Meeting on Saturday, March 28.

Sincerely,

Sarah Cannon Holden
Weston Road

Letter to the editor: Abrams inspires support for voting rights organization

To the editor:

The right to vote is a nonpartisan issue. It represents the “voice” of the electorate and is a right of all citizens — except that, in reality, it is not. Stacey Abrams, however, is doing what she can to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to vote.

More than four hundred concerned and enthusiastic voters, including voters from Lincoln, attended a meeting sponsored by Force Multiplier in Wellesley on December 4 to meet Stacey Abrams, the founder of Fair Fight, the nonprofit organization established to fight voter suppression in Georgia and in the nation.

Fighting for fair elections — and fighting against voter suppression — is the key mandate of Fair Fight, and an issue on which we can all come together. Abrams asserted that many problems prevent fair elections — foreign intervention, lack of uniform federal voting standards, corruption, and disinformation — exist, but we can’t overcome all of them immediately. Fair Fight’s immediate aims are practical and on the ground: train poll watchers to oversee the elections, assure accessible polling stations, provide aid to voters, have lawyers on call, and give reliable information to voters ahead of time.

Following the 2018 race for governor of Georgia, Abrams, the Democratic candidate who lost by 55,000 votes, led efforts to study the role of voter suppression in the election. She and other analysts learned that 1.4 million people were removed from the list of registered voters, including 570,000 people who were purged in one day. They were removed because they had not voted in recent elections and were considered “not to exist.” Abrams asserted that the “sacrosanct” right to vote must not be sacrificed to assure the election of those who want to stay in power.

In Georgia, the contested race for governor was not “called” by the networks for 10 days because of irregularities. After the elections, 50,000 voters called the hot line to try to understand why they were told they did not “exist.” Abrams herself, when she went to vote, was informed that she had already voted. A Yale-trained lawyer, with cameras from CBS, NBC, Fox News and other networks observing the exchange, Abrams prevailed and cast her vote for governor.

Abrams, a charismatic speaker and passionate advocate for fair elections, received at least three standing ovations for her words and her work. She answered numerous questions from a well-informed and concerned audience. When asked about the Electoral College, she asserted that the Electoral College itself creates voter suppression and ought to be eliminated. “It’s not about giving Idaho an equal chance to elect the president,” she said.

In response to a question of how we in Massachusetts could help, Abrams suggested we go to the organization’s web pages at www.fairfight.com and fairfight.com/fair-fight-2020. The former fosters voter education and advocates electoral reform at all levels. The latter is focused on the upcoming election and will fund, staff, and train voter protection teams in 20 battleground states. These team members will be hired locally so they’ll know the vulnerable communities they’re trying to protect.

We are co-chairs of the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee. We strongly believe that the right to vote should be supported by all of us, whether Democrats, Republicans, independents, or otherwise. In her newly established organization, Stacey Abrams offers us an opportunity to make a commitment to this right of citizenship.

Sincerely,

Joan Kimball and Barbara Slayter
Co-chairs, Lincoln Democratic Town Committee

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: Susan Fargo will be much missed

To the editor:

Susan Fargo served the town and state so well, as a member and chair of our Selectboard and as our senator, both with such accomplishment and both for a long time.

Susan had so many wonderful qualities — her intelligence, her ability to see both the big picture and the details, her hard work always, her wit, her extraordinary writing skills — that benefited us as our reporter and editor for the Lincoln Journal, Selectwoman and Senator. Her causes were always justice for all.

When we moved to Hillside Road in 1974, we were fortunate that our across-the-street neighbors were Susan, Foster, and Mandy. We visited back and forth; we adults were friends, and Mandy and our daughter played together for years. We were so glad when we learned that Amanda and her son, Brady Foster Fargo, had moved back to Lincoln, and we know how very happy Foster and Susan were to have their precious family here.

We are grateful for the lives of Susan and Foster and we miss them, and yet they are here, firmly in our memories. They have left us an important legacy. And we, too, are so glad that Amanda and Brady are here. We send them our very very best and our condolences.

Sincerely,

Joan Kimball
10 Hillside Rd., Lincoln

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: Gearticks urge better home insulation

The fifth-grade Purple Gearticks include (left to right) William Mendelson, Evie Packineau, Jasper Clark, Lucy Reiner, and Quinn Clark. (Photo courtesy Ginger Reiner)

To the editor:

We are the Purple Gearticks (a Lincoln First Lego League robotics team). We are working on a project to decrease energy wasted in houses and making energy greener. These days we’re all worried about climate change, and you can do your part by reading this letter and taking some of the advice at the bottom of the page.

One of the important things we learned is that two-thirds of the energy you use is heat loss: one-third goes through the walls despite insulation and one-third is leakage from windows and doors through cracks. Some ways to improve on this are window seals or door seals. You could also install more insulation or attic caps. Most people do not have enough insulation in their houses.

We hope you will contribute to this effort by sealing your windows and doors. You can consider getting a free energy audit with MassSave. They will come to your house and give you ideas on how to lose less energy.

Sincerely,

The Purple Gearticks, 5th grade: William Mendelson, Quinn Clark, Jasper Holleran Clark, Evie Packineau, and Lucy Reiner

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: thanks to everyone for moyamoya fundraiser

To the editor:

Contestants line up at the cornhole fundraiser at Codman Community Farms.

On behalf of our whole family, I want to thank the community for their outpouring of support and generosity at our fundraiser last weekend. We hosted our first (hopefully annual) Brain Games Corn Hole tournament benefiting moyamoya disease research at Boston Children’s Hospital. There were numerous sponsors and donors that made the event possible.

This past May, our 4-year-old was diagnosed with moyamoya disease, a rare brain disorder, and in June, she had bilateral brain surgery. Thankfully, the best surgeon in the world who also helped pioneer the surgical procedure, Dr. Ed Smith, is located here at Boston Children’s Hospital. Kalea’s cousin was diagnosed 12 years ago with the same disease, and his family’s fund-raising inspired our event. Without their fund raising, genetic testing advances would not have been made (that our children are undergoing now), as well as several lives saved from procedures perfected from his funding. 

In the wake of our Lincoln fundraiser, we thank the police department for cooking all of the food, Dan Pereira with Parks and Recreation for transporting tents and setup/organization, Twisted Tree Café for numerous gift cards for raffle prizes, Boon Ice for donating all the ice to keep drinks cold, and last but not least Codman Community Farms and Pete Lowy, who made the location and atmosphere perfect! Most importantly, we thank the countless volunteers (adults as well as eighth-grade students) who went out of their way to show up early, carry tables and set up, serve food, and assist in the kids arts and crafts tables and bouncy houses. 

There have been so many times since moving here five years ago that we have appreciated this community. However, the past five months have truly made us grateful to be part of this town. The saying “it takes a village” has never felt more true. Community is defined as a unified body of individuals. That could not be seen anymore clearly as it was shown yesterday.

The event alone raised just over $12,000. Our online fundraising page at www.doofamilyfun.com is currently at about $27,500, and has been climbing over the course of today. For those of you unaware, every penny of the event is going directly into the surgeon’s trust to further research. He is one of the surgeons who pioneered the surgery that has saved our daughter’s life.

The Doo family.

Additionally, I have an entire carload of toys, puzzles, and books that we are donating on Monday, Oct. 28 to the ninth-floor hospital play rooms. Kalea is beyond excited to share these items with a place that made her hospital stay more enjoyable. The generosity of friends, family, and people we have not met before has just overwhelmed us.

We hope that everyone enjoyed the day. Our thanks seems so trivial and insignificant for the kindness that everyone has shown, from the bottom of our hearts we do truly thank you for everything! Hope to see y’all again next year!

Sincerely,
The Doo family: Bryan and Brianna, Mikayla, Kailani, Alana, Kalea, Maddox, and Atticus
7 Reiling Pond Rd., Lincoln

Letter to the editor: show domestic violence awareness with purple

To the editor:

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, which takes place each October. During this month, domestic violence service providers use the color purple to raise awareness about the prevalence of domestic violence and the three to four women and girls who are murdered each day in our country within intimate relationships. Some people in witness and protest wear purple clothing, attach a purple pin, or tie a purple ribbon around a tree.

Last year, we at Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable (SWLDVR) , in collaboration with the Lauren Dunne-Astley Memorial Fund and First Parish Unitarian Universalist, went beyond that. We lit several faith and public buildings in purple. Some of you may have seen it. It was a beautiful and dramatic display that both honored those lost to domestic violence and brought awareness to the community that domestic violence has no borders. We want to do that again this year, bigger, brighter, and more powerful than ever.

There are two main ways to participate in the purple lights campaign. Those representing public buildings and faith communities may request to participate by emailing Lauren Montanaro, chair of the Program Committee for the SWLDRV, at lauren@reachma.org. Homeowners may also take part by installing purple bulbs in their door and porch lights and their lampposts. An effective 4.5-watt Feit purple LED electric bulb is available inexpensively and locally at Ace Hardware in Wayland.  

To learn more about the work of the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable, please visit our website at www.domesticviolenceroundtable.org.

Sincerely,

Susan Pettit (on hehalf of the SWLDVR)
Sudbury, Mass.

Letter to the editor: join climate strike on Friday

To the editor:

I urge Lincolnites concerned about climate change to join the Global Climate Strike in Boston on Friday, Sept. 20, and to join in activities planned for the “Week of Action” to follow.

Responding to Greta Thunberg’s call for an uprising to raise awareness about the climate crisis, young people have organized a large climate strike event in Boston. This is part of a national and international campaign to demand faster action from our governments and industries on climate change. The more people who show up, the stronger the message!

The schedule for the day includes:

  • 10–11:30 a.m. — Community events at City Hall Plaza (art activities, partner organization tabling, sign making, community mural)
  • 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. — Main rally at City Hall Plaza (speakers, dances/songs/bands, slam poetry)
  • 1–1:30 p.m. — March to Massachusetts State House
  • 1:30–2:30 p.m. — Action at Massachusetts State House

Many Lincolnites will take the 9:09 a.m. train into Boston. If you arrive at the Lincoln platform by 8:45 a.m., you will be in time for a blessing by the new rector of St/ Anne’s Church. Possible return trains include the 3:30 from North Station.

As Bill McKibben recently wrote in The Guardian, September 20 “is shaping up to be the biggest day of climate action in the planet’s history… But it will only be a success on the scale we need if lots of people who aren’t the regular suspects join in. Many people, of course, can’t do without a day’s pay, or work for bosses who would fire them if they missed work. So it really matters that those of us with the freedom to rally do so.”

If you can’t make it to Boston on Friday, similar local events are planned in:

  • Sudbury (gather at First Parish UU Church, 327 Concord Rd., for sign creation at 11 a.m. and stand vigil at the common at noon)
  • Lexington (join the march from the Minuteman statue on the town green at 9:30 a.m., or gather at the Lexington High School football field at 10 a.m.)
  • other towns (I’ll be joining the event in Manhattan)

But wait, there’s more! The Week of Action following Sept. 20 includes the following opportunities for you:

  • Sunday, Sept. 22 — 350 Massachusetts will kick off its weeklong Charlie Baker Climate Catastrophe Tour. Gather at the State House steps from noon–1 p.m., then march to South Station, where our oversized Charlie puppet will give a press conference and set off on his statewide tour of climate catastrophes. The fun will include street theater and singing the new climate version of “Charlie on the MTA.” Find more details here.
  • Wednesday, Sept. 25 (preferably) — help flood the office of Chase Bank CEO Jamie Dimon with phone calls, demanding that Chase stop its massive lending to the worst parts of the fossil fuel industry. Find more background and a call script here.
  • Thursday, Sept. 26 — make your voice heard from 7–9 a.m. at the Framingham commuter rail station (details here).
  • Friday Sept. 27 — be at Dewey Park near South Station at 3:30 p.m. to join an action by Extinction Rebellion to “peacefully disrupt business as usual.” Find out more through their Facebook event page.
  • Saturday Sept. 28 — be in Bow, N.H., by 11 a.m. to join in the protest against the coal plant there. Go here to get more details, indicate interest, and/or donate.

Sincerely,

Paul Shorb
99 South Great Rd., Lincoln