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

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Lincoln group forms in response to ICE arrests

A newly formed group called Lincoln Witness is asking the Select Board to quickly publicize a forthcoming set of FAQs about ICE and immigrants’ rights in the face of the federal crackdown, and to host an informational public event as it did shortly after the murder of George Floyd.

Several Lincolnites met in May after ICE detained people in Acton and “realized that it wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ ICE raids would affect those who live and work in Lincoln, but ‘when’,” the group’s website says. Kim Jalet, who co-founded Lincoln Witness with Kathy Madison, told the Select Board on September 8 that “things are going to ramp up pretty quickly [with the start of the Patriot 2.0 arrest surge in Massachusetts] and we think time is of the essence at this point” to educate Lincolnites about what to do if they see ICE activity in town and how they can support immigrants. Lincoln Witness members, who now number more than 30, believe President Trump “is testing the waters for denying rights to others groups. Protecting the rights of one group protects all of us,” she added. 

Lincoln Witness members have participated in weekly vigils outside the ICE office in Burlington as well as other area protests and standouts. They’re establishing a network of people in Lincoln ready to mobilize as witnesses and reporters should ICE activity be detected in town, and printing and distributing “know your rights” cards in Spanish and Portuguese.

Jalet said that official town support for the aims of Lincoln Witness is especially appropriate in light of the town’s vote to designate Lincoln as a “safe and welcoming community” in 2018 — though not without some disagreement and controversy on the floor of Town Meeting.

“My staff is trained to follow the values expressed in Town Meeting. Those resolutions matter,” Town Administrator Tim Higgins said. “We do not assist ICE in its activities. We cannot interfere but we do not assist.”

Local law enforcement can’t be compelled by the federal government to carry out civil immigration enforcement but may also not interfere or obstruct ICE operations. However, “we’re also guided by law” when it comes to protecting bystanders and property, acting Chief of Police Jon Wentworth said.

Bedford Road nighttime closures rescheduled for July 20 and 21

Due to evolving water main replacement construction conditions, the nighttime road closures and detours from the five-way intersection to Canaan Drive originally scheduled for the nights of July 16 and 17 have been postponed to Sunday and Monday, July 20 and 21 from 9:00pm to 5:00am. Detour directions remain the same:

  • Motorists traveling north on Lincoln Road towards the five-way intersection intending to get on Route 2 eastbound will be detoured onto Trapelo Road and Lexington Road.
  • Motorists wishing to access North Lincoln or Route 2 westbound will be detoured onto Sandy Pond Road to Baker Bridge and Concord Road (Route 126) to Route 2.
  • Motorists who wish to exit Route 2 onto Bedford Road heading south will be detoured onto Lexington Road and Trapelo Road to allow access through the five-way intersection.

Police detail officers and detour signs will be in place to assist motorists. 

State of the Town to offer updates and two discussions

Lincoln’s annual State of the Town Meeting has some new features this year: a community breakfast, a town organizations fair, and an open forum.

The breakfast and fair begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7 in the Lincoln School’s Dining Commons. From 9:30–11 a.m., there will be an overview of town finances and updates on the community center, Lincoln250, and Dark Skies, followed by the community forum.

Then there will be two repeating breakout sessions at 11 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. so residents can attend both if they wish: one on the Town Meeting Study Committee and the other on “Making the Switch Away from Fossil Fuels” with the Lincoln Green Energy Committee.

Background reading:

Community center
Lincoln250
Dark Skies
Town Meeting Study Committee
Green Energy Committee

News acorns

Session on electrifying the home

Zoom in with CFREE on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. to hear building engineer Ross Trethewey for “This Old House” and “Ask This Old House” talk about “Electrifying the Home: Where and When It Makes Sense to Do So.” Click here to register for the Zoom session or go to www.lincolngreenenergy.org.

There are 300 solar installations on homes and businesses in Lincoln? If you have questions about installing solar on your home, we would be happy to share our expertise — email Lincolngreencoach@gmail.org. CFREE (Carbon Free Residential – Everything Electric) is a 13-person subcommittee of the Lincoln Green Energy Committee. Email cfreeworking@gmail.com with questions or suggestions, or if you’d like to join us in our work.

Author discusses Cold War in a Hot Kitchen

Author Margaret Ann Spence will discuss her newest book, Cold War in a Hot Kitchen: A Memoir of Mid-Century Melbourne on Thursday, Dec. 5 from 7–8 p.m. on Zoom. Register here. Presented by the Lincoln Public Library.

Fortune’s Favor at next LOMA

Fortune’s Favor will be the headliner at the next Lincoln Open Mic Night on Monday, Dec. 9 from 7–10 p.m. in Bemis Hall. Fortune’s Favor is known for the holiday classic “I Do All My Christmas Shopping at the Dump,” the title cut of their 2017 CD. LOMA is a monthly open mike night event with mikes and instrumental pickups suitable for individuals or small groups playing acoustic-style. Performers should email Rich Eilbert at loma3re@gmail.com before noon of the open-mike day or (space permitting) sign up at the event.

Coming up at the COA&HS

Here are some of the December activities hosted by the Lincoln Council on Aging and Human Services. Most events are open to Lincoln residents of all ages. For a full list — including clinics, exercise classes, regular meetings of interest groups, and online chats with town officials — see the COAHS’s newsletter archive page. Call 781-259-8811 or email gagnea@lincolntown.org for Zoom links and other information.

Concord Traveling Players holiday variety show
Friday, Dec. 6 at 12:30 p.m., Bemis Hall
Local actors and musicians showcase their talents with humorous short holiday skits and songs, including a comical version of Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol.”

Holiday song doo-wop singalong
Friday, Dec. 13 at 12:30 p.m., Bemis Hall
Immediately following the annual COA&HS Holiday Open House, Peter Stewart and Lincoln’s Doo-Wop Team will lead the singing of traditional holiday classics.

Holiday floral arrangement presentation and workshop
Friday, Dec. 20 at 12:30 p.m., Bemis Hall
Nancy Henderson will guide participants in creating a free holiday arrangement for your table. Bring scissors or clippers; plant materials and container will be provided. Registration required; call 781-259-8811.

Agriculture Commission newsletters look at large and small animals

Goats, bees, chickens and even farm dogs are spotlighted in the Agriculture Commission‘s most recent newsletter. Last spring, bigger farm residents including horses, cows, sheep, and alpacas got the same treatment in words and pictures. As part of the group’s mission to preserve and promote agriculture in Lincoln, it also coordinates donations of produce and eggs to the Lincoln food pantry from several farms: Codman Community Farms, Drumlin Farm, Hannan Healthy Foods, Kanner Family Orchard, Matlock Farm, and Waltzing Matilda’s Farm — the subject of its fall 2023 newsletter.

Celebrate the winter solstice

Celebrate in the Codman Community Farms sugar shack with stories, hot chocolate, cookies and a beautiful luminary walk with Sarah Bishop and Craig Nicholson on Friday, Dec. 20 from 4:30–6 p.m. Click here to sign up.

Read the latest issue of the Lincoln Review

(Editor’s note: ads are sometimes mysteriously appearing in the middle of this post. If you have this problem, just scroll down to see the rest of the page.)

Issue #2 of the Lincoln Review, Lincoln’s arts e-zine (online magazine) is ready for your enjoyment. Just go to:

lincolnsquirrel.com/the-lincoln-review

The page will be available to all until Friday, November 15. After that, only Lincoln Squirrel subscribers will have access. Subscribers may also request a free PDF version by emailing lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. 

If you’d like a printed copy of this issue of the Lincoln Review, please email lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. We will order copies if there is enough demand (10 minimum) and they will be $10.00 each.

In Lincoln, Harris beats Trump in a blowout…

…but in the rest of the country, not so much.

The unofficial results for Lincoln: Harris defeats Trump 80% to 16%. In Massachusetts, her margin was 62% to 36%. But nationwide, Trump won both the popular vote (51% to 47.5%) and the Electoral College (277 to 241, with 270 needed to win).  

Check back later this morning for more details on the election in Lincoln.

 

 

Town Meeting Study Committee members named

Seven Lincoln residents were appointed this week as at-large members of the new Town Meeting Study Committee from a field of 18 initial applicants.

The Select Board interviewed candidates at its October 21 meeting and made their selections on October 22. Committee members are Jennifer Gundy, Ariane Liazos, Kenny Mitchell, Taylor Ortiz, Andrew Pang, Ben Shiller, and Andy Wang. Others who applied were Robert Ahlert, Chris Burns, David Cuetos, Jude Frodyma, Kevin Guarnotta, John Greco, Sara Mattes, Barbara Peskin, Collette Sizer, Ned Young, and Michael Killick (though Burns and Sizer later withdrew their candidacies). Also on the committee are Twn Moderator Sarah Cannon Holden and a Select Board member.

The move stems from the March 2024 Town Meeting, where an unexpected amendment to the proposed Housing Choice Act was made on the floor. Controversy swirled that day and well afterwards about who was allowed to speak, when, and from where. Residents offered initial feedback and ideas at a kickoff session in September.

In the preceding months, Lincoln Residents for Housing Alternatives (now called Lincoln HCA Info) had formed to oppose the town’s rezoning proposal under the HCA. Only one of the newly named committee members (Ben Shiller) is listed as an Lincoln HCA Info supporter on the group’s website. Ahlert, Cuetos, and Peskin were also active in the group last spring but were not chosen for the TMSC.

The TMSC will be introduced at the State of the Town meeting on December 7, which will be “an opportunity to engage residents on one or two questions that would benefit from early feedback,” according to the committee’s charge. The TMSC will present its preliminary report at Annual Town Meeting on March 29, 2025. The final report and recommendations are due in October 2025 to the Select Board and Town Moderator, who will present it to residents at the 2025 State of the Town meting later that fall.

Addenda

  • Lincoln firefighters free a deer trapped in the mud at Farrar Pond (click image to enlarge).

    After the October 7 story headline “Lincoln firefighters rescue deer trapped in mud” was published, the Lincoln Squirrel received a reply to our email asking about the fate of the deer. Danielle Burney, Deputy Communications Director in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, reported that “Massachusetts Environmental Police officers observed the buck as it swam across a small cove at Farrar’s Pond, then made its way onto the opposite shoreline and disappeared into tall grass.” Apparently the animal had not completely lost its taste for water. The original story has been updated.

  • More on the October 7 “News acorns” item about The Food Project needing volunteer help: Volunteers will be engaging in light farm chores, mostly harvesting at this time of year, of many different crops. They may also join farmer Asher Lyon in washing and packing the harvest. Wear sturdy shoes and best to dress in layers. Best times are weekdays, from 8 a.m.–noon and 1–4:30 p.m. The farm prefers a two-hour minimum per session. Feel free to come with a friend or neighbor. Lyon will guide volunteers in getting volunteers up to speed. For more questions or to set a time, email him at alyon@thefoodproject.org.

Correction

The item about the next LOMA (Lincoln Open-Mic Acoustic) event in the October 1 edition of “News acorns” listed the wrong location. It will be in Bemis Hall, not the library.

Lincoln Road crosswalk improvements to begin soon

Ron Boisseau returns for his 12th year as crossing guard in front of Old Town Hall, where the crosswalk will soon get an upgrade. “In all kinds of weather, no matter how wet or cold, Ron always has a cheerful greeting and warm smile,” says School Committee member Susan, Taylor, who took the photo. 

Work to upgrade the Lincoln Road crosswalk at the Old Town Hall will begin next month. It’s the first item on a five-year master plan of roadway projects that was approved earlier this month.

The upgraded crosswalk, which will include a raised table and better signage, “should help slow traffic and create safer crossing for pedestrians and cyclists, especially for students and families who use the crossing to connect to the school campus,” Chris Bibbo, Superintendent of the Department of Public Works, said in a statement. Construction is expected to take a few weeks.

In reaction to the plan listing 12 projects over a five-year period, some residents on LincolnTalk were dismayed that the plan did not include an extension of the roadside path on Trapelo Road down to Old County Road, although the idea was included in the much more comprehensive Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee’s master plan approved earlier this year. The more recent five-year plan arose from a collaboration among the BPAC, the DPW, and the Roadside and Traffic Committee.

“There have been multiple efforts over the years to extend the Trapelo roadside path to Old County Road,” BPAC member Bob Wolf noted on LincolnTalk. “Any extension, however, would cross land owned by Cambridge as reservoir buffer and require their agreement and easement, things they’ve been unwilling to grant. The five-year plan is a statement of what the town believes we are able to address, and the roadside path extension is not possible at this time. The plan will be reviewed and extended annually, however. We can hope circumstances change and the extension can be added in the future.”

“We anticipate that the plan will evolve as priorities change and funding opportunities emerge,” BPAC Chair Ginger Reiner said. The best time to provide input is in the fall, but the group, usually meets the third Thursday of the month at 8 a.m. at Town Hall, welcomes questions and comments at any time.