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

My Turn

My Turn: Get ready for Special Town Meeting and SOTT

(Editor’s note: Payne’s Town Moderator postings can be seen on his website at payne.org/moderator.)

By Andy Payne

As your (freshly elected) Town Moderator, I want to make sure you’re all aware of an upcoming Special Town Meeting planned for Saturday, Oct. 24. The meeting will follow the annual State of the Town (SOTT) meeting, with the SOTT starting at 9:00am and the official Town Meeting planned to start at 10:30am.

I hope you all will consider attending: democracy is messy, but it’s “less messy” when more people participate.

Why are we considering a Special Town Meeting?

The Select Board calls a Special Town Meeting when it feels there’s some legislative business (bylaw or funding) that cannot wait for our March annual town meeting. In this case, various town committees are working on plans for replacing the heating & cooling systems at the Library.

Where can I learn more about what’s being proposed?

For more information, see this page (detailed memos at the bottom). A hybrid format multi-board meeting is planned for the evening of Sept. 28 at 6:30pm, and a Select Board Info Session planned for Oct. 5 at 6:30pm.

After reviewing the project information, I still have some comments/questions/concerns. Where can I get those addressed before the Special Town Meeting?

You can attend the Sept. 28 and/or Oct. 5 meetings above or watch recordings afterward. If you still have questions, contact the committees directly — see the information page above.

I would like to address Town Meeting on this project using slides and/or more than the standard 2 minutes allocated to resident commentary. Is that possible?

Contact me by Oct. 1 at andy+moderator@payne.org. Following the Town Meeting Study Committee’s recommendations, I’m piloting a process for “Extended Presentations.” Because of the relatively short lead-up to the STM, the process will be somewhat ad hoc and may change for future meetings. Please bear with me.

For this meeting, the pilot requirements are: (a) one designated resident contact, (b) a petition from 100 registered voter residents, (c) an advertised, public and recorded pre-meeting presentation, and (d) an advertised, public and recorded Q&A session, all completed by Friday. Oct. 16, one week before the STM.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnians. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Awaken the ‘sleeping giant’

By Julie Brogan

On Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 7:00 p.m., citizens of Lincoln will read the U.S. Constitution aloud to honor the ratification of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1789. I am pleased to be scheduled to read the text of Article V, the Amendment Clause. In her Pulitzer Prize-winning book We the People, Jill LePore referred to Article V as a “sleeping giant.” I agree. Article V is a viable way to make enduring change.

Since 2018, I have been working with American Promise, a cross-partisan group begun in Concord, which — like the shot heard round the world — has grown into a nationwide movement. We are uniting Americans to win the For Our Freedom Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to address the issue of money in politics. Why an amendment? The problem of money in politics is constitutional. For decades, Supreme Court decisions have limited the ability of Americans and their elected representatives to set reasonable rules for money in elections. The For Our Freedom Amendment will restore that authority.

Half of all states are now on record urging Congress to propose an amendment on election spending. The most recent states to join Massachusetts in passing a resolution were Idaho and Oklahoma. Bills calling for an amendment have been introduced in Congress by members of both parties, increasing the chances that the two-thirds majority required by Article V will be met. Read about American Promise on our website, Americanpromise.net, and join us. The framers of the Constitution gave We the People the ultimate say over how we are governed with Article V. It’s time to wake up that giant!

Brogan lives on Old Sudbury Road.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnians. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: In praise of Lincoln Girl Scouts

By Tara Mitchell

As the parent of a recent Lincoln-Sudbury graduate, I recently reflected on how Girl Scouts has helped shape my daughter’s evolution into adulthood. When I started her troop 13 years ago with a few other parents of little kindergarteners, I did not know that the lessons we mapped out would culminate in what is ultimately a very well-rounded, conscientious, service-oriented 18-year-old. I thank Girl Scouts for being a steady constant in my daughter’s life. It showed her how to be present and explore new avenues, and how to make a difference in her community (of course, her father, teachers, coaches, etc., deserve some credit too!).

In the early years, I was glad that Girl Scouts brought different girls together — not just the sports kids or the drama kids or the science kids — and included girls living in Lincoln and Boston. Girl Scouts has a step-by-step guide to help leaders plan for meetings, suggestions for activities, badges the girls can earn, and hosts/sponsors events that the girls can go to either as a troop or individually to gain more skills or experiences.

The Lincoln community loves the support that the Girl Scouts provide: coffee and snacks at Town Meeting and Girl Scout cookie sales at Donelan’s and the transfer station, not to mention all the work with COA&HS to support our senior residents. Town leadership is also supportive of the Lincoln Girl Scouts. They have helped the girls brainstorm ideas for various service projects, identifying needs within the community and helping to bring the necessary people and resources together to make it happen.

Many Lincoln Girl Scouts have received their Gold Awards, the highest honor in Girl Scouts. Each girl has identified a need, come up with a solution, and worked over 80 hours implementing the solution. Many high school troops have done service trips to places like Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. These accomplishments/experiences and the commitment that it shows have been the topic of many girls’ college essays.

Several Lincoln Girl Scouts have also held positions or been recognized as leaders in the larger Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts (GSEM) community. Lucy Dwyer (2024) and Brooke Mitchell (2026) were selected by GSEM to be one of three Girl Scouts to participate in the GS Leading Women’s Award ceremony honoring girls and women whose leadership, dedication, and impact strengthen the community. Alexandria Taylor (2024/25) served as a youth member of the GSEM Board of Directors, giving her an opportunity to help steer the future of Girl Scouts through Council decision-making while serving as an ambassador for the Council. 

Lincoln is a community where girls can see their impact. They come away knowing that they can have a say and can make a difference in the world. It’s a powerful message for any child and we are fortunate to have the framework to make it a reality.

Girl Scout troops can start at any age. The first level is Daisy which is kindergarten and first grade. This level introduces the foundations of Girl Scouts and girls can earn a patch each meeting as they build their knowledge of what it means to be a Girl Scout. For leaders, this is an easy way to get acquainted with the support provided by GSEM as well as the resources available from past Lincoln troop leaders. Most troops meet one time per month during the school year and can participate in town-wide activities like helping at special commemorative events around town, Town Meeting, camping, Winter Carnival pancake breakfast, and Bridging.

If you are interested in having your daughter join Girl Scouts, please reach out to Laura Taylor (lauranastos@yahoo.com) or Tara Mitchell (taramitchell365@gmail.com).

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnians. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Lincoln Green Energy Choice updates

By Paul Shorb*

The Lincoln Green Energy Committee (GEC) wants to (1) share good news about current pricing and (2) advise you of proposed changes to the Lincoln Green Energy Choice program.

Pricing news

Good news! Lincoln Green Energy Choice prices are lower than Eversource’s new residential Basic Service price in effect August 1 through January 31, 2027, which is 17.323 cents per kilowatt-hour (c/kWh). The three tiers you can choose from in the Lincoln Green Energy Choice program are 15.409 c/kWh for Lincoln Standard Green (the default option), 16.119 c/kWh for Lincoln 100% Green, and 13.731 c/kWh for Lincoln Basic. For more information, go to LincolnGreenEnergyChoice.com.

(click image to enlarge)

The current program

Lincoln Green Energy Choice, which was instituted by the town in 2021, is a group electricity purchasing program for Lincoln residents and businesses in the town of Lincoln. The program gives electricity customers an alternative to Eversource’s Basic Service and to other electricity supply offers in the marketplace. Participants receive long-term, stable and historically competitive electricity supply prices. Participants are free to change their tier or even leave the program at any time at no charge, and there are no unexpected rate changes.

The program has supported regional renewable energy development by purchasing Class I Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) beyond what is required by state law. We believe this has worked to speed up “greening the grid” and thus reduce the burning of fossil fuels that drives climate change.

Changed circumstances

However, due to changes in federal policy and possible state actions as explained below, the effectiveness of buying extra Class I RECs to help mitigate climate change has become less certain. In short, at least for the next few years, voluntarily buying extra Class 1 RECs is no longer expected to drive more investment in building new renewable energy generation; instead, it will increase “Alternative Compliance Payments” from electric utilities such as Eversource and electricity suppliers. Traditionally, those payments have been used to fund the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, which in turns funds a wide range of good decarbonization projects. However, recently the Governor has twice redirected some of those funds away from climate-benefitting projects and towards ratepayer relief, which could happen again.

In response to these developments, the GEC has proposed that the Select Board consider a different approach to using the Lincoln Green Energy Choice program to reduce our community’s carbon emissions. Specifically, instead of buying extra Class 1 RECs, the program could invest more directly in decarbonization projects in Lincoln and/or elsewhere. Implementing a new approach will require a vote at the March 2027 Town Meeting. Well in advance of that vote, we will invite public comment on a proposal.

The GEC always welcomes community input, including by attending GEC meetings, which are held virtually on select Thursdays at 8:00 AM. Meeting links and agendas can be found on the town website.

Current options for program participants

The Select Board and GEC encourage residents to join, or stay in, the Lincoln Green Energy Choice program. As shown in the graphic above, currently the rates of all three tiers of the program are less expensive than the Eversource basic rate; over the past five years, the program has saved Lincoln ratepayers over $850,000.

For those residents who would like to stop paying for additional Class 1 RECs until the new program structure is in place, Lincoln Basic is the most cost-effective option. You may also choose to leave the program entirely, but at current Eversource rates, doing so would increase your electricity rate. If you do move to Lincoln Basic, we hope you will change back to Lincoln Standard Green or Lincoln 100% Green when the new approach to decarbonization debuts next year.

To learn more about the program, including how to change your level of participation, visit www.masspowerchoice.com/lincoln.

* Shorb is writing on behalf of the Lincoln Green Energy Committee.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnians. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Drumlin days

By Stewart Coffin

With all the talk in the news these days about nuclear weapons, some Lincoln residents might be surprised to learn that nuclear bombs were once deployed right next door. Don’t worry — note my use of the past tense.

This story begins when my wife and I, together with our three children, move to Lincoln in the summer of 1964. Right away we noticed that our little transistor radio periodically made a strange hissing sound a couple times a minute. It wasn’t long before we associated this with a radar antenna merrily revolving on top of the nearby Drumlin Hill. Back then the top of the hill was clearly visible from our farmyard on Old Sudbury Road, although hard to believe now with so many more trees everywhere.

We were told by neighbors that it was a Nike site of nuclear-armed missiles for defense against Soviet bombers. My later research revealed, to my relief, that this site was only for tracking, and that the actual nuclear-armed missiles were housed deep underground a mile away off of Oxbow Road. Since a few years earlier I had been employed at Lincoln Laboratory working on, of all things, the Sage System of continental air defense, you might think I would have known all about this. But my division worked only on computers. The site was opened in 1959 and decommissioned in 1974. All that remains now, thankfully, is the once bare hilltop now partly covered with trees.

I actually have many fond memories of that hilltop. We had a family tradition of taking the children for a stroll up there on one special evening during the summer to gaze at the full moon rising far to the east. We called it our Moon Walk. The view back then was spectacular. It is less so now with so many more trees, but the large fields that were once Boyce and Van Leer farms are now still open and cultivated as part of Drumlin Farm, thus still affording at least a partial view. Even our own nine-acre plot remains the same, as does so much along our rustic road. Ah yes, so many memories.

Editor’s note: Learn more about the Nike missile sites in Lincoln and Wayland here and here. Stewart Coffin was profiled in the Lincoln Squirrel on April 1, 2026. 

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnians. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: SPJE coalition launches weekly protest at Hanscom Field

By Alex Chatfield

Editor’s note: Area residents are also gathering every Friday at the Hanscom traffic circle to protest the use of Massport-owned Hanscom Field civil airport to transfer people arrested by ICE as suspected illegal immigrants (Lincoln Squirrel, March 9, 2026).

On Wednesday morning, Aug. 5, nearly 40 people gathered around the traffic rotary at the entrance to Hanscom Field Civil Terminal in Lincoln to demonstrate their opposition to a proposed controversial private jet hangar expansion at Hanscom Field (not the adjacent Hanscom Air Force Base), which would double the private jet hangar capacity of the airport.

The proposal has been undergoing a state environmental review since 2023. Standout participants traveled from Acton, Arlington, Bedford, Cambridge, Carlisle, Concord, Lexington, Lincoln, Newton, Roslindale, Somerville, Sudbury, and Watertown. The event was held by the Coalition to Stop Private Jet Expansion at Hanscom or Anywhere (SPJE.org). Candidates Ravi Simon and Alison Leary who are running for state representative in 13th Middlesex and 10th Middlesex districts respectively, also attended.

Photo by Andy Platt.

Participants held signs and banners with hard-hitting messages directed toward morning commuters entering the Hanscom Civil Terminal parking lot, among them: “Welcome to Massport — Enjoy Your View of the Dying Earth from Your Private Jet” and “CO2 Super-emitter Private Jets: a Luxury Our Climate Can’t Afford.”

According to a 2024 independent analysis, the proposed private jet hangar expansion would add 66 to 79 additional private jets to Hanscom, generating 6,000 additional flights annually and 150,000 new tons of CO2 each year.

If the expansion goes ahead, private jet emissions at Hanscom alone are expected to cancel approximately 70% of the climate gains from all solar PV ever installed in Massachusetts, which opponents say is a direct and immediate threat to hard-won efforts by towns and cities across Massachusetts to reduce their carbon footprint and combat a worsening climate crisis. For this reason, the fight to stop the immense 50-acre, nearly 500,000-square-foot expansion has transcended to statewide opposition with the engagement of 120 organizations across Massachusetts and, over 15,000 individuals who have signed a petition to Gov. Healey urging her to stop what they consider to be an indefensible expansion in the middle of a worsening climate emergency.

Photo by Will Winchell.

“This proposed expansion must be stopped,” said Andy Platt of Acton, who participated in the standout.

Though work on the old Navy hangar on the eastern portion of the proposed project site began last month, this is by special waiver from MEPA (Mass. Office of Environmental Policy) specific to that one hangar only. Regarding the remaining proposed 17 new hangars and five new underground fuel tanks, MEPA is waiting for a re-do report from the developers which would replace a previous report that MEPA rejected in 2024 (see this Boston Globe article). The new report is now expected no sooner than this fall. Meanwhile, the fight to stop the expansion continues to grow and protests are in full swing, say activists at the Aug. 5 standout.

More photos and video from the event can be found here. More information about this issue can be found at www.spje.org, or contact info@spje.org.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnians. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Befriending our landscapes and rethinking summer health

By Annamaria San Antonio (Jai Kaur)

August is National Wellness Month, but what is the point of celebrating wellness nationally if we ignore the root of the word “national”? A nation is fundamentally the land — our shared outer terrain, which directly mirrors our inner bodily terrain. True wellness requires us to care for both, yet a growing cultural paranoia is driving us to treat our environments as battlegrounds to be sterilized rather than ecosystems to be befriended. When we recognize that our internal vitality is deeply interconnected with the health of the earth, we shift our mindset from knee-jerk panic to mindful, proactive stewardship.

To underscore why it is critical to become aware of what is moving in and around this shared land, we can look at two events that recently occurred right outside my door at our historic Codman Estate in Lincoln.

Last month, I witnessed a contractor spraying pure glyphosate to kill poison ivy along our stone walls. It was a windy morning, setting up the perfect condition for chemical mist to drift toward our community organic farm, where local children play and neighbors walk their dogs. Pesticide and herbicide drift accounts for up to 25% of an applied chemical becoming airborne. Because I advocate for reducing our reliance on synthetic chemicals, I wrote a firm, fact-based email to management laying out the science of chemical drift, gut microbiome destruction, and soil biology. The very next day, management permanently banned chemical herbicide applications across the entire property.

Two days later, during a summer gathering, a bumblebee stung an elderly guest twice. Instead of panicking or running for a chemical spray can, I used ice packs to handle the external heat and an internal homeopathic remedy to soothe the swelling. By the end of the evening, she experienced no pain (or hard feelings!).

These two events highlight a major cultural dilemma: how proactive are you when it comes to reducing the hidden disruptors in your own environment? The hard truth is that man-made toxicants are monumentally harder to get out of our bodies than they are to get into them. While biological toxins like a bee sting can be mobilized out of your tissues through standard circulation, exercise, and massage, clearing synthetic toxicants out of your cells is a far more complex process.

Reacting in blind fear to nature leads to a broader, systemic poisoning of our soils, plant life, and waterways.

When towns panic and order widespread aerial spraying for non-endemic risks, those chemicals settle into the food we eat and the water we drink. Heavy metals and lipophilic — or fat-loving — chemical compounds cross the blood-brain barrier over time, triggering mitochondrial damage and chronic inflammation. We must look past what chemical corporations or regulating boards deem as baseline “safe” and consult independent advocacy groups like the Environmental Working Group  to research what we allow into our homes.

The answer to environmental risk is absolutely not to retreat indoors, lock our windows, and hide from the world. In my practice, I notice a concerning trend of people pulling away from the natural world out of sheer anxiety. This hypervigilance has evolved past bugs into an avoidant fear of sweat, exercise, and even the sun. Complete sun avoidance leaves us severely Vitamin D-deprived, yet this vital hormone is monumentally beneficial for our immune systems.

Yes, being outside carries some risk. But the responsibility is on us to be educated and prepared, not to demand that nature be tamed so we feel secure. When we rush to use harsh chemical barriers in our yards, we try to kill a fly with a blowtorch, knocking out entire ecosystems in the process.

Mindful prevention is necessary, but sheer panic cuts us off from the exact nature medicine our nervous systems need. Step outside with confidence, arm yourself with a little natural education, and go enjoy the expansive peace that is waiting for you right outside your door.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnians. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Clarify who’s responsible for damage from falling tree limbs

I am writing to support the Eversource tree management initiative. The work is necessary, and we pay for it in our bills. I hope that the town takes steps to consider a plan for management of trees on roadsides not strung with utility lines, and on the many miles of town roads not subject to the current Eversource program.

Several years ago I was staying at a vacation cottage when, a few hundred feet away, two campers were crushed in their tent by a falling tree limb. Last year a roadside “weed tree” snapped off and fell across one of our cars, causing thousands of dollars in damage. Shortly thereafter, a similar sized tree snapped off in our yard, causing some damage to backyard equipment, falling in a space where people often gather. Last week another such tree snapped off and fell onto our property — this time causing no damage. All three trees, young oaks, had cores completely compromised by rot.

Stop anywhere in Lincoln and look up. Chances are, you’ll see dead or half-dead trees and, perhaps, huge dead limbs stretching over roads and pathways. These trees are not part of some green savings bank account which will grow and provide us joy if left undisturbed. They are living things, like us, subject to the laws of gravity. They will come down, and when they do,  threaten life and property.

In addition to my personal experience, I have close second-hand knowledge of four people killed by falling trees or branches. When, in the winter, I hear the sharp crack of something breaking in the forest, or feel the thump of something heavy hitting the forest floor, I do not think this is happening in someone else’s life. I take notice.

We have excellent police and fire departments. There is no call for cutting out these services because “a little crime is to be expected” or “a fire now and then probably won’t harm us much,” but a town official recently wrote that “scattered power outages” are not a major concern. I do not want the town to clear-cut all roadside trees. I’d rather see thickets of trees than miles of fences. I love our landscape and support the natural screening trees provide, but there must be some conscious, planful attention given to our dead and dying tree cover.

If there is something really wrong going on with our trees, let’s have a forum on causes and conditions so that’d we can plan and act consciously. Leaving it to several hundred property owners to figure out one home at a time with local landscapers is not a program. Management of this risk is a public health issue, just like clean water, vaccinations, and road maintenance. If the town is liable or we as citizens have liability, let’s have the town convene a forum to let us know who owes what to whom.

Clearly, all trees do not come down at three in the morning, or fall harmlessly back into the forest. When or if people are killed or property damaged, will we or the town be liable for negligence?  Where do we stand with insurance companies which, in time of growing fire risk, may be rating our properties as vulnerable, or uninsurable? Again, we all face these questions, and the town has, or can act, or at least begin a process to keep us informed. Denial does not repel the law of gravity.

Donald Seckler
91 Lexington Road

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnians. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Concern about road signs

By Carol DiGianni

Since extensive road work is underway, the large orange triangular signs along the roadway pose a difficulty in exiting our driveway at Ryan Estate. It is hard to see cars coming until they are almost upon you as they came along pretty fast, so timing and luck is everything. Lots of traffic in and out of our driveway, including the food pantry, make this a concern.

I have asked the police to take a look and at least move the big triangular sign over closer to the church. Unfortunately, they reported that it was not a problem and nothing need be done. I wonder if they just looked at it or tried to exit our driveway as a real test. 

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnians. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Committee and recipient say thanks for Lincoln scholarship

By Carolyn Dwyer

The Lincoln Scholarship Committee has the incredible honor of providing financial support to Lincoln-resident high school seniors (and those who are not residents but attended middle and high school here), as they head off to college and pursue their dreams.

While some of the scholarships we administer are supported by donors such as the Codman Trustees and the Todd Family, the remainder are funded by you, the residents of Lincoln, who generously support these students by contributing regularly to our annual Spring fundraising appeal. These students are the recipients of Lincoln Community Scholarships.

These one-year Community Scholarships were originally established by a $1,000 donation to the town by Miss Fanny S. Campbell. Her desire with this initial donation to the Lincoln School Association in 1956 was to create the Lincoln Permanent Scholarship Fund. Since then, the Committee has worked to build upon Miss Campbell’s legacy so that we may support Lincoln graduates in the best way we can. Thus began our annual fundraising appeal. We rely solely on your donations to administer the Lincoln Community Scholarships and we are incredibly grateful for the folks who recognize that there is real need in Lincoln and that investing in our children is our greatest hope for the future we desire.

This year we had a larger than normal pool of applicants, all of whom brought enthusiasm, intelligence, and promise to our table. They also brought significant financial need as well as a number of instances of overcoming personal challenges that make their journeys more challenging. We were able to support these students, though we always wish we could provide more support, especially as college costs continue to escalate.

We have the privilege and joy of interviewing each applicant, and hearing their stories. These are amazingly talented young Lincoln residents who clearly have drive and purpose. We would love to be able to give them even more, but we can’t do that without your continuing support.

These scholarship recipients are likely your neighbors, your babysitters, your lifeguards, or your volunteers at local events. We would like to share below one note of gratitude (with her permission) from a June 2026 recipient of a Community Scholarship. While Kaylynn’s note was handwritten, we have typed it up for easier publication. When you read it you will understand the time it took her to write this gracious and grateful note to you all. When she handed it to me, she said it was for the people of Lincoln. Enjoy and please consider donating to support future scholars from Lincoln. Donations can be sent to Lincoln Scholarship Committee, PO Box 6283, Lincoln, MA 01773 or clicking here.

Thank you, yet again, to all who have already generously supported our children.

Dwyer is chair of the Lincoln Scholarship Committee trustees. 

Dear kind person,

Thank you for your generosity and for investing in students like me. I am truly honored to be selected as a recipient of the Community Scholarship.

Receiving this award means more to me than I can fully express. As someone raised in a single-parent household, I have seen firsthand how sacrifice and hard work can open doors, but I have also learned that determination alone cannot pay a college tuition bill. Every scholarship, regardless of the amount, makes a meaningful difference in my ability to pursue higher education and focus on my future.

Education has always been important to me. I moved from Indiana to Massachusetts in search of greater educational opportunities and a community that would challenge me to grow. I like to think I have an Indiana heart and a Massachusetts open mind. Indiana taught me resilience, gratitude, and the true value of community, while Massachusetts encouraged me to ask questions, advocate for others, and dream bigger than I ever thought was possible.

Throughout high school, I have dedicated myself to academics, advocacy, writing as an aspiring author, theater, and volunteer tutoring while working toward my goal of making a meaningful difference in the lives of others. This fall, I will be attending Haverford College. As exciting as this opportunity is, it also comes with financial responsibilities that remain even after receiving significant financial aid. Your scholarship helps make that opportunity more accessible and allows me to begin this next chapter of my life with greater confidence and less financial uncertainty.

I hope to pursue a career in law, particularly in advocacy and civil rights. I am passionate about ensuring that people (especially those whose voices are often overlooked) have access to representation, opportunity, and justice. The opportunities I have been given have inspired me to create opportunities for others, and your support brings me one step closer to that goal.

Your generosity is a reminder that there are people willing to invest in the dreams of students. At a time when college can feel financially daunting, your support gives both financial help and encouragement/hope.

One day, I hope to be in a position to give back in the same way. I want to support students with the same big dreams, difficult circumstances, and determination to keep going. Until then, please know that your kindness is making a genuine difference in my life.

Thank you again for your generosity and belief in my future. I am deeply grateful.

With much gratitude,

Kaylynn Ellison

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnians. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.