news

SBAC interviews design firms

The School Building Advisory Committee interviewed four design-firm candidates on July 14 and 15. The committee expects to select one of the firms later this month to define renovation solutions for the Lincoln School and prepare cost estimates for a range of possible projects (see the Lincoln Squirrel, June 19 2014).

The four firms interviewed by the SBAC are Schwartz/Silver Architects of Boston, HMFH Architects of Cambridge, Design Partnership of Cambridge, and Dore & Whittier Architects of Newburyport and South Burlington, Vt.

Traveling tidepool visits library on July 16

Do you know what a sea star eats or how snails move? Come explore and interact with local tidepool animals while learning basic biology and anatomy when the New England Aquarium’s Traveling Tidepool comes to the Lincoln Public Library on Wednesday, July 16. Advance signup at one of the times below is required; call 781-259-8465.

• PreK to grade 1 — 9:30-10:15 a.m.
• PreK to grade 1 — 10:30-11:15 a.m.
•  Grade 2 and up — 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Lincoln Public Library, Inc.

Antique Auto Show is this Sunday

The annual auto show at the Codman Estate on Sunday, July 20 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. draws more than 200 classic and antique autos, trucks and motorcycles from all over New England and includes entertainment by the New Liberty Jazz Band, museum tours, a raffle, and food concessions. Rain or shine.

Free to Historic New England members and children under 12, $5 for nonmembers, $10 registration fee for vehicles (passengers are free). Please call 617-994-5900, ext. 5514 for more information. Purchase tickets at www.historicnewengland.org

Bemis Hall to unveil improvements at grand opening

Everyone is invited to a grand opening of the front entrance, parking lot and crosswalk of Bemis Hall on Thursday, July 24 at 11:45 a.m. Recently, the front entrance has been improved to make it both more attractive and convenient, the parking lot has been reconstructed, and a new crosswalk with flashing pedestrian lights on Bedford Road has been installed for safety. Many town departments and committees, local organizations, and residents have worked together to implement these projects. A brief ribbon-cutting ceremony will be followed by refreshments inside Bemis Hall.

Second date for Concord River cruise added

What better way to spend a relaxing summer afternoon than winding down the Concord River on a luncheon cruise? The Council on Aging is hosting a cruise on Monday, August 18 in addition to the previously announced date of Monday, August 11.

The cruise lasts an hour and 15 minute and includes lunch, sunshine, and glorious memories. You’ll leave the Lincoln Mall at 10:30 a.m. and venture by Doherty’s bus to the South Bridge boathouse, where you’ll board a boat and begin your cruise. You will enjoy a lunch of chicken salad, tuna salad, sliced turkey, ham and cheese, or vegetarian salad sandwich,  fruit, dessert, and lemonade or iced tea while you cruise. The bus will arrive back at the Lincoln Mall at about 1 p.m.

The cost is $28 per person, payable by a check made out to FLCOA/Trips and sent to Donna Rizzo, 22 Blackburnian Road, Lincoln MA 01773. Please enclose your phone number and email address and indicate your choice of sandwich when you send your check. Sign up now, as there is a limit of 20. Reservations must be made by August 4 and are non-refundable. Questions? Call Donna at 781-257-5050.

Two nonprofit preservation groups have filed an appeal with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in an attempt to block construction of a new hangar and parking.at Hanscom Field.

Jet Aviation, a commercial firm that leases land at Hanscom owned by Massport, applied to the Lincoln Conservation Commission under the state Wetlands Protection Act for permission to encroach on a wetlands buffer zone for its project. The company  declined to apply under the local Lincoln wetlands bylaw, saying that Massport as a state agency is exempt from non-zoning local regulations and that this exemption extends to anyone who leases land from Massport. After five public hearings, the commission approved Jet Aviation’s application with conditions under the state provisions by a 5-2 vote, noting that the proposed work is in fact subject to review under the town of Lincoln’s Wetlands Protection By-law.

Save Our Heritage and ShhAir (Safeguarding the Historic Hanscom Area’s Irreplaceable Resources) filed an appeal with the DEP on May 27, arguing that Massport and its tenant, Jet Aviation, should be required to adhere to local wetlands regulations. Lincoln resident Kati Winchell of Save Our Heritage noted that while the groups want to protect wetlands and forestall increases in traffic, jet noise and air pollution that could accompany Hanscom’s growth, they’re also worried that the case could have much wider ramifications.

“This is a precedent-setting case extending beyond wetlands issues,” the groups said in a press release. In challenging Massport’s claims to exemption from local regulations, a successful appeal “may open new doors for Hanscom-area town boards who until now have worked under the long-held assumption that their hands were tied in matters concerning Hanscom Field development.” This assumption that local boards have no jurisdiction over Hanscom other than zoning has left Massport “free from meaningful local control and [provided] businesses who lease land from Massport with special privileges and immunities not available to other area businesses that play by local rules. Now, for the first time in decades, this may change with regard to non-zoning matters, pending the outcome of this case.”

“This case is lifting the curtain on Massport’s presumed freedoms and local boards’ presumed limitations,” Winchell said on Tuesday.

“This appeal… challenges Jet Aviation’s casual invocation of a claimed Massport exemption without factual demonstration, recent legal authority, or Massport even being an applicant here,” said Greg McGregor, an attorney with the firm hired by Save Our Heritage and ShhAir.

The appeal asks the DEP to either send the application the project back to the Lincoln Conservation Commission with directions that Jet Aviation is required to file under the local bylaw (under which the ConCom could theoretically insist that no part of the project be built on the wetlands buffer zones in question), or to overturn the approval because it allegedly did not, in fact, conform with state wetlands regulations.

The DEP has scheduled a site visit for June 24 as part of the appeal process.

Town Clerk intern sought

Massport is sponsoring a paid summer internship in the Town Clerk’s office this summer for a period of six weeks starting July 7. Qualified candidates should be 16 or older, computer adept, and able and willing to work independently. The position is for 20 hours per week and must be filled by or before Friday, June 27. If interested, please call the Town Clerk’s office at 781-259-2607.

 Self-defense class for teen girls

The Lincoln Police will be hosting a teen female self-defense class on August 9 and 10 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Carroll School on Baker Bridge Road. The class is primarily aimed at girls who are about to start college, but others are welcome as long as space is available. As of today, there are four spaces left. Anyone interested in participating should contact Jena Salon at 215-514-5963 or jenasalon@gmail.com.

The plaque commemorating Betty Bjork outside the Lincoln School’s computer lab (click to enlarge).

Former teachers makes the Hall of Fame

Former Lincoln teacher Betty Bjork will be inducted into the Association of Teachers of Mathematics in Massachusetts (ATMIM) Hall of Fame. Betty’s husband Al will accept the award on Betty’s behalf. Superintendent Becky McFall will represent the Lincoln Public Schools at the ceremony on June 30.

At the Lincoln School, Bjork served as assistant principal, mathematics supervisor and computer coordinator. From 1964-1974, Bjork worked with Robert B. Davis, a renowned mathematics educator, on the innovative Madison Project curriculum. As reported in her obituary in the Lincoln (Maine) County News, she was a leader in the 1908s in implementation of computer technology in the classroom. In 1985, she founded and directed the EdCo Computer Center, a resource center for teachers and administrators in the Boston area. She was also a partner in the Education Technology Center at Harvard University.

Bjork and her husband moved to Lincoln in 1967 and later lived in New Harbor, Maine. She died in 2007 at age 70.

Sharon Antia

Meet state rep candidate Sharon Antia on June 27

Lincoln resident and candidate for State Representative Sharon Antia is hosting a Listen and Learn session at the Whistle Stop on Friday, June 27 from 12-1:30 p.m (See the profile of Antia in the Lincoln Squirrel, June 10, 2014.)

Ise Gropius

See and learn about Gropius jewelry

Historic New England associate curator Laura Johnson will give a talk on “Small But Perfect Things: The Style and Jewelry Collection of Ise Gropius” on Friday and Saturday, June 27 and 28 from 7-9 p.m. at the Gropius House (68 Baker Bridge Rd.). the talk will touch on Ise Gropius’s stylistic trendsetting and collection of unique designs using intriguing modern materials. Join an intimate gathering on a summer evening at the Gropius House for light refreshments, a talk, and evening house tour with special examples of jewelry on view.

Tickets are $25 for Historic New England members and $35 for nonmembers. Space is limited and registration is required. Please call 781-259-8098 for more information or buy tickets online at www.historicnewengland.org.

Some of the educational materials that the Lincoln School bought via redeemed Donelan’s receipts.

Students at the Lincoln School will have a pile of new educational games, puzzles and other items to work with, thanks to residents who saved their Donelan’s receipts during the year.

Lincoln School PTO members led by Kimberly Bodnar gathered and tallied many shopping bags packed full of receipts totaling $157,290—a 14 percent increase over last year’s $138,428 total. School principals Steve McKenna and Sharon Hobbs redeemed them through the Register Tapes for Education program to purchase the following item:

• Solar Calculators (10)
• Folding Geometric Shapes™ (4 sets)
• Money Sudoku (4)
• Match It Up™ Math Puzzles – Money (4)
• Match It Up™ Math Puzzles – Time (4)
• Fractions Sudoku (4)
• Fraction Formula™ Game (4)
• Fun-to-Know® Puzzle (2)
• Guess Who?® (4)
• Number Balance (4)
• Modular Flip Chart: Money (4)
• Hot Dots® Learn-to-Solve Word Problems Card Set for grades 1-3 (2)
• Grape-scented Washable Stamp Pad (2)

On June 10, WBUR aired a remembrance of Dr. Charles Keevil of Lincoln, who died on April 8 at the age of 88 (see obituary here). The piece was part of The Remembrance Project, WBUR’s series of broadcast obituaries about non-celebrities who led meaningful lives (“Alongside the famous deaths in the newspapers, there are the small print columns about the equally loved but lesser-known—ordinary people who have lived extraordinary lives,” its website notes). Dr. Keevil was also the subject of this letter to the editor.

There will be a concert in memory of Lincoln’s Bill Elliot on June 14 (see the Lincoln Squirrel, June 9, 2014).

Bill Elliott

An organ concert in memory of former Lincoln resident William Elliott, who died on March 24 at the age of 82, will be performed in the First Parish Church in Lincoln on Saturday, June 14 at 11 a.m. on the church’s newly refurbished organ by music director Ian Watson.

Elliott worked with the space program to develop infrared missile launch detection from satellites, did heavy metals analysis on astronauts’ hair to determine physiological changes due to space flight and zero gravity, and invented a novel kind of analytical instrument that is the basis of many patents. Later in life he helped draft legislation to ensure safe drinking water for Massachusetts residents, and served as the chair of the Shutesbury Board of Health for many years.

Other recent obituaries:

Dorothy B. Foust, 87 (May 21)—former clerk of First Parish Church

Richard Dickie, age unknown (April 28)—World War II veteran and father of Willard Dickie of Lincoln