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

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New phone directories sent out by Friends of the Lincoln Library

Julie Brogan, Ray Shepard, Kate Dahmen and Bryn Gingrich of the Friends of the Lincoln Library stuff phone directories in envelopes for mailing.

Julie Brogan, Ray Shepard, Kate Dahmen and Bryn Gingrich of the Friends of the Lincoln Library stuff phone directories in envelopes for mailing.

Every household in Lincoln will soon receive a free copy of the 2013 edition of the spiral-bound town telephone directory, courtesy of the Friends of the Lincoln Library.

Advertisers listed in the directory’s yellow pages are generally local and known around town. The FOLL are grateful to the businesses in the directory and encourage residents to support them.

A new feature of the 2011 edition is the “pink pages” section that lists organizations and resources that enhance the health and well-being of the Lincoln community. This has been continued in the 2013 edition. The pink pages are sponsored by the town’s Healthy Communities Assessment and Planning Project (download report here) under a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

The Friends of the Lincoln Library raises money through telephone directory ads, monthly book sales, dues and other means to support the Lincoln Public Library’s adult and children’s programs, museum passes, and library furnishings and equipment.

Additional copies of the directory may be purchased at the library or the Old Town Hall Exchange.

Company says no trees were removed unnecessarily

By Alice Waugh

The president of the company in charge of tree removal for the Route 2 project said on May 31 that no trees were removed unnecessarily and that his workers cut down only those they were asked to remove.

Lincoln residents near the highway construction site, especially in the Brooks Road vicinity, have complained about what they say is excessive tree removal among other issues related to the work, and the Board of Selectman has named a Route 2 Oversight Committee to gather more information (see related story).

[Read more…] about Company says no trees were removed unnecessarily

Town forms Route 2 oversight panel in response to complaints

treestump-smBy Alice Waugh

Lincoln has formed a new Route 2 Oversight Committee to coordinate the town’s actions in response to problems arising from the Route 2 construction project.

Residents who live near the construction areas have complained repeatedly to the Board of Selectmen and Lincoln police about issues including alleged traffic violations by construction equipment, disruptive night work and the visual impact of tree-cutting near the highway. At the May 23 selectmen’s meeting, a coalition called the Brooks Road Abutters Group (BRAG) presented selectmen last week with a memo containing photos and a demand that BRAG and the town be “compensated for the unnecessary removal of these trees with additional replacement trees over and above those shown on the contract drawings, with species, size and location determined by the abutters.”

[Read more…] about Town forms Route 2 oversight panel in response to complaints

Summer wellness clinics for all ages

stethoscopeLincoln residents of all ages are invited to meet with a nurse at a free wellness clinic this summer. Come to get your blood pressure and/or body mass index checked, ask questions, or learn about wellness resources.

Dates and locations of summer clinics are:

  • Friday, June 21 — 10 a.m. to noon, Lincoln Woods Community Building (50 Wells Road)
  • Wednesday, June 26 — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., St. Joseph House behind St. Joseph Church (142 Lincoln Road)
  • Thursday, July 11 — 10 a.m. to noon, Lincoln Woods Community Building (50 Wells Road)
  • Wednesday, July 31 — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., St. Joseph House behind St. Joseph Church (142 Lincoln Road)
  • Wednesday, August 28 — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., St. Joseph House behind St. Joseph Church (142 Lincoln Road)

These clinics are funded by CHNA 15 and provided by Emerson Hospital Home Care. For more information, please call the Lincoln Council on Aging at 781-259-8811.

Lincoln police memorialize Sean Collier

Lincoln police officers at a recent Board of Seelctmen meeting includes (left to right) Chief Kevin Mooney, Lt. Kevin Kennedy and Officer Anthony Moran.

Lincoln police officers at a recent Board of Seelctmen meeting includes (left to right) Chief Kevin Mooney, Lt. Kevin Kennedy and Officer Anthony Moran.

By Alice Waugh

The death of Sean Collier, an MIT police officer who was killed by the alleged Boston Marathon bombers, hit home at the Lincoln Police Department, where he had worked intermittently as a special-duty officer for two years. Now the Lincoln Police Association is creating a permanent memorial to Collier in the lobby of the town’s Public Safety Building.

Lincoln police were also heavily involved in the effort to apprehend the suspects in Watertown on April 18, and the Board of Selectmen thanked eight of the officers in person at the board’s May 6 meeting.

[Read more…] about Lincoln police memorialize Sean Collier

Firefighters extinguish car fire on Route 2A

A car fire on Route 2A was captured by a resident who emailed the Lincoln Squirrel.

A car fire on Route 2A was captured by a resident who emailed the Lincoln Squirrel.

Drivers on Route 2A in the Minute Man National Historical Park were startled to see a car ablaze at about 7:30 this morning, but Lincoln firefighters extinguished the fire and no one was hurt.

According to Lt. Ben Juhola of the Lincoln Fire Department, the driver noticed a warning signal on his dashboard and pulled over into a driveway. He then noticed smoke coming from his car so he grabbed his belongings and jumped out of the car, “and the fire started to progress,” Juhola said.

The  fire took about 20 minutes to extinguish, said Juholas, adding that he did not have the name of the driver.

School Committee seeks library trustee candidates

The Lincoln School Committee is responsible for appointing a member of the Lincoln Public Library Board of Trustees and is currently seeking applications from those interested in filling this three-year commitment. The committee seeks candidates who are users of the library and committed to further strengthening the connection between the library and the Lincoln Public Schools.

The library board meets monthly, with additional subcommittee and/or liaison meetings including technology, budget, buildings and grounds, capital planning, DeCordova, Friends of the Library, various ad hoc task forces that work on the Library’s strategic plan, the annual reports needed for the Finance Committee and Town Meeting, and occasional event planning. The trustees also oversee and sponsor events that require a member to attend.

If interested, please submit a letter of interest to Jennifer Glass at schoolcomm@lincnet.org.  Submissions are due by May 30.

Lincoln “grandmothers” go to work for Markey

"Grandmothers for Markey" recently addressed cards at the Groves. Left to right: xxx (Photo: Alice Waugh)

“Grandmothers for Markey” recently addressed cards at the Groves. Left to right: Joan Kimball, Sonja Johansson, Carolyn Birmingham, Sally Meyer, Peggy Schmertzler. (Photo: Alice Waugh)

Ed Markey has some Lincoln ladies to thank for his recent primary victory.

The group of senior women, spearheaded by Lincoln resident Peggy Schmertzler, got together several times at the Ryan Estates and The Groves in Lincoln to work on cards asking recipients to support U.S. Rep. Ed Markey is his bid to win the Senate seat vacated by John Kerry. The work involved sticking address labels on the preprinted cards but also adding a personal hand-written note to each. Combining modern political techniques with the old-school personal touch, the women got their preprinted address labels from the Markey campaign, which found and printed names and addresses of Democrats and unaffiliated senior women voters who live in Plymouth and Whitman where Markey’s Democratic primary opponent, Steven Lynch, had a strong following.

Markey’s campaign isn’t the first go-round for these women, however. Schmertzler and two others, Betsy Hatfield and Margot Lindsay, started the group in 2008 as Grandmothers for Obama. In 2012, the Massachusetts pilot group established a website, GrandmothersforObama.org, and expanded to include hundreds of women in about 25 states who hand-addressed canary yellow postcards declaring support for Obama. The group doesn’t send money to any political campaigns, though they pay the postage on their postcards themselves.

Since the presidential election, the group has sent postcards on behalf of Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren as well as Markey. In their campaigns, they also advocate progressive stances on issues including the environment, women’s reproductive rights, rights to equal pay and health care, increased taxes on the wealthiest 1 percent to reduce cuts in services, and gun safety.

“In our combined mailings, we reached approximately 10,000 voters,” Schmertzler said.

Markey beat Lynch in the April 30 primary, so the grandmothers will soon be back at work on his behalf in preparation for the statewide special election on June 25, when he will face off against Republican Gabriel Gomez. Democrats are hoping that race will not have the same outcome as the 2010 special election, when favored Democrat Martha Coakley lost to Republican Scott Brown.

Although addressing cards may seem like a mundane task, the women enjoy working together to try to make a difference. “It’s very bonding because we all care about the same issues,” Schmertzler said.