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

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Library books beckon readers with tantalizing outfits

The display inviting library patrons to “fall in love” on a blind date with a book.

Sometimes a book isn’t just a book — it’s a promising blind  date or a ticket to a faraway land.

Since Valentine’s Day, the Lincoln Public Library has been offering a selection of “mystery books” — not whodunits, but rather books concealed in wrapping paper with only a couple of clues to help you decide whether this could be the book for you. They’ll be on offer until midweek.

Meanwhile, since this is school vacation week, the library is also offering prepacked bags with DVDs, books, and CDs focusing on particular destinations such as Florida, Italy and even outer space, even if this is a “staycation” for you. Reference librarian Laura Paryl, who’s been wanting to do this for a while, picked out and assembled all the materials.

As for the “mystery books,” the only clues for potential readers are genre, year of publication, and names of a couple of other “if you liked X” titles. Reference librarian Robin Rapoport chose them based on books that were successful at other libraries that have done similar “Blind Date with a Book” displays. Though she hasn’t read all the books on display, “there are definitely some personal favorites in there,” she said.

Rapoport eventually plans to post a list of the titles to relieve the suspense experienced by those who tried to judge a book by its cover (or wrapping paper), as well as response cards to find out what books people really enjoyed or didn’t.

Leaf blower issue comes before voters again

A group hoping to limit the use of gas-powered leaf-blowers in Lincoln will hold a public forum on Thursday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. in the Town Office Building to discuss regulations that will be voted on at the Annual Town Meeting in March.

The Leaf Blower Study Group (now a subcommittee of the Conservation Commission) is proposing a bylaw that would place limits on when leaf blowers can be used. It would allow use of any type of leaf blowers in the fall and spring but only electric machines in the summer, and it would prohibit their use entirely from December 16 to April 14. From June to September, leaf blower use would be permitted during certain hours seven days of the week, though on Sundays, only residents of the property on which the leaf blower is being used may do so.

Leaf blowers could be used at any time for public safety and emergency situations, such as for cleanup after storms. The town’s building inspector could also grant one-day exemptions for users dealing with special situations and not ongoing routine maintenance, and there would be no rules on decibel levels.

“The idea is to regulate leaf blower use, not eliminate it,” group vice chair John Koenig explained in a presentation to the Board of Selectmen in December.

“It’s noncontroversial — there are so many studies that there is consensus that this is toxic and carcinogenic,” said Jamie Banks, chair of the group, which has gathered extensive research on the issue. Leaf blowers pose a health risk from airborne particles and exhaust, as well as noise pollution, research shows. Fuel spillage and maintenance chemicals are also harmful to the environment.

“The proposed bylaw is not a ban, but [instead] places reasonable limits on the use of noisy, polluting blowers for reasons of health, environment, and quality of life,” Banks said.

The Board of Health agreed in 2015 that “exposure to high-intensity, episodic or long-duration noise and air particulate and vapor dispersion from leaf blowers represents significant potential health hazards to our citizens” and members supported “efforts to craft effective and economically sound approaches to mitigate those health risks.”

The issue first came before the town in 2015, when the group proposed more sweeping restrictions. They submitted a citizens’ petition for a Town Meeting vote but later withdrew the item in the face of opposition and opted for more public education instead.

Thanks to its efforts and equipment demonstrations since 2015, town maintenance workers now use electric leaf blowers when possible, and property owners including the Rural Land Foundation have limited the use of the machines in the mall area, because the health risks of leaf blowers are much higher when they’re used to clear dirt and debris from hard surfaces such as sidewalks and streets.

“Now we feel like we’re ready for the next step,” Conservation Commission chair Peter von Mertens said, referring to the proposed bylaw.

At their December meeting, selectmen were initially lukewarm to the proposed bylaw, since there had been little public communication about it to that point (such as during November’s State of the Town meeting) and no formal solicitation of opinion since a 2014 survey.

“I would like to know more about the extent to which the people in Lincoln think this is a problem to be solved immediately,” Selectman Jonathan Dwyer said. “I feel like we have a lot of problems in town to solve right now and people only have a certain amount of capacity to deal with all of them.”

“I just have the sense there will be lots of questions raised” about how the leaf blower group formulated its proposed regulation, Selectman Jennifer Glass said.

“It would be very helpful for me” to hear feedback from public outreach before deciding on his stance on the proposal, Selectman James Craig said. The board will vote on whether to endorse the bylaw in early March.

Banks noted that public education was more difficult before the group became formally aligned with the Conservation Commission because it had no budget; “it was not due to lack of intent or effort.”

Magic Garden gets ready to welcome Ducklings and Explorers

Magic Garden staff along with two of its founders get ready to open the new rooms. Left to right: assistant director Susan Scalisi, director Lori Leo, founding parents Barbara Low and Mary Jo Haggerty, Little Duckling teachers Karen Puglielli and Michele Landurand, and Little Explorer teachers Linda Pham, and Ligaya Ferguson. Click to enlarge, and see more photos below.

The sunny rooms are gleaming with brand-new toys, books, cribs, and tiny chairs—all ready for little children next month and a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 3:30 p.m.

Staff from the Magic Garden Children’s Center are busy preparing for the March 1 opening of two new rooms in a satellite location at the First Parish in Lincoln’s parish house on Bedford Road. For the first time, Magic Garden will care for babies age 2–15 months in its Little Ducklings room, as well as adding a Little Explorers room for toddlers age 15–24 months. Until now, the youngest kids at Magic Garden’s main Hartwell facility were 15 months old.

Two longtime teachers from the Hartwell facility—Michele Landurand, a pre-K teacher in the Starburst room for 27 years, and Karen Puglielli, a teacher in the Moonbeam room for 25 years—will staff the new rooms, along with two teacher aides. 

Magic Garden has two rooms of its own in the parish house and will share two other rooms with the church’s education program. The renovations maximize the space with folding and sliding doors, and a wide exterior door was put in place of a window in case of emergency, when teachers will put the infants in one or two wheeled cribs and roll them outside.

One of the shared rooms has a wall-height bulletin board on wheels that can be swung back and forth 180 degrees for use by either set of children. Margit Griffith, the education director at First Parish, will lead Magic Garden’s music class, and there are also plans afoot to involve seniors (“grandfriends”) from the Council on Aging across the street.

Click images below to see larger versions. Photos by Alice Waugh.

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Who’s running for town office in March

Here is a list of those who have filed appears with the Town Clerk to run for office in the March 25 election. Click here for links to the web pages for these boards and committees, which list current members. Candidates have until February 20 to withdraw in time to have their name not appear on the ballot.

Board or CommitteeOpenings/termsCandidates
Board of AssessorsOne (3 years)Laura Sander*
Board of Health
One (3 years)Steven Kanner*
Board of SelectmenOne (3 years)James Craig*
Cemetery CommissionOne (3 years)Conrad Todd*
Commissioners of Trust FundsOne (3 years)Douglas B. Harding*
DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park TrusteesOne (4 years)Linda Hammett Ory*
Housing CommissionOne (3 years)Keith Gilbert*
Lincoln-Sudbury Regional District School CommitteeTwo (3 years)Kevin J. Matthews,* Cara Endyke-Doran
One (1 year)Candace Miller*
Parks and Recreation CommitteeOne (3 years)Anita Spieth
Planning BoardTwo (3 years)Margaret Olson,* Stephen Gladstone*
School Committee (PreK-8)One (3 years)Trintje Gnazzo**
One (2 years)Susan Taylor
One (1 year)Adam Hogue**
Town ClerkOne (3 years)Valerie Fox**
Trustees of BemisOne (3 years)Sara Mattes*
Trustees of Lincoln LibraryOne (3 years)Dennis Picker
Water CommissionOne (3 years)Heather Ring

* incumbent running for reelection

** previously appointed to fill vacancies in 2018 (Trintje Gnazzo replaced Jena Salon and Adam Hogue replaced Alvin Schmertzler; Valerie Fox replaced Susan Brooks)

News acorns

Dobrow to give talk on Emily Dickinson book

Lincoln author Julie Dobrow on Monday, Jan. 28 will speak on Monday, Jan. 28 at 10 a.m. at Bemis Hall about her new book, After Emily: Two Remarkable Women and the Legacy of America’s Greatest Poet — a mother/daughter biography of Mabel and her only child, Millicent Todd Bingham. This book tells the story of Mabel and Millicent’s fascinating lives that pushed the boundaries of what women of their respective eras did, how Mabel’s 13-year-long love affair with Emily’s brother Austin led her to the Emily Dickinson work that defined her career and her life, and how Mabel and Millicent’s own complex relationship complicated it all.

Food Project to hold Winter Institutes for youth

The Food Project will offer two Winter Institutes, bringing together social-justice-minded youth development and agriculture professionals from around the country and the world. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation is the sponsor of the both weekends (a session on January 3–February 2 was added to accommodate demand after the February 7–9 session was filled).

The three-day Institute is packed with activities, workshops, and conversations for participants to learn about youth leadership and sustainable agriculture from The Food Project’s staff and youth as well as from each other. To learn more about the 2019 Winter Institute including how to register, click here.

The Food Project has long been a leader in youth development, healthy food access, and sustainable agriculture. Rather than replicating its work elsewhere, the organization provides training and tools to other organizations and people who are developing similar models, specific to the needs of their own communities. 

Talk on responding to climate catastrophe

Join veteran journalist, author, and activist Wen Stephenson as he leads a frank conversation about responding to climate catastrophe—with a little help from Buddha, Jesus, and the prophets—on Tuesday, Jan. 29 at 6:30 p.m. at St. Anne’s in-the-Fields Episcopal Church.

In a recent program, Stephenson, drawing from Zen Buddhist and Christian tradition, reflected on how we might still speak and act with honesty and compassion in the face of dire scientific and political realities. “According to climate science,” Stephenson said, “it’s almost certainly too late to stop ‘catastrophic’ climate change on some scale; it’s already happening. But that same science tells us there’s still a wide range of possible futures. Just how catastrophic it will get and how fast is unknown, and still depends a great deal on what human beings do—most importantly, what we do politically—in the coming years.”

Guests who arrive at 6:30 will be served a light vegetarian supper. The program, which is free and open to the public, will begin shortly after 7 p.m.   

Hospice house offering volunteer training

Care Dimensions, the region’s largest provider of hospice care, will hold training classes for those interested in becoming volunteers to greet visitors and help out at the Care Dimensions Hospice House in Lincoln, as well as visit patients in their homes. Two training options are available: Wednesday and Friday afternoons, February 27–March 22, from 1–3:30 p.m. at the Lincoln hospice house (125 Winter St.) or on Tuesday and Thursdays, February 26–March 21, from 6–8:30 p.m. at Microsoft Corp., 5 Wayside Rd., Burlington. To register or to learn more, call 781-373-6509 or email MSu-Leland@CareDimensions.org.

Help update the Lincoln directory

It’s time to update your favorite paper-based search engine, the iconic Lincoln Directory. The volume is compiled by the Friends of the Library biennially and contains the telephone numbers of residents, local businesses, and town offices. A yellow card was mailed to residents with instructions on updating or adding your information and for businesses to take advantage the advertising space. To update your information via email or to learn about volunteering or advertising, email LincolnPhoneBook@gmail.com. The Lincoln Directory is mailed free to every household in Lincoln. The deadline for updates is March 1.

Correction

In the obituaries published on January 17, Martha Loomis Grabill’s name was spelled incorrectly. The error has been corrected in the original post.

Obituaries

Martha Loomis Grabill, 96 (January 13) — a celebration of her life will be held at the First Parish in Lincoln in the spring. Click here for full obituary.

Eleanor Jean (Fee) McKnight, 85 (January 9) — Children include Richard McKnight of Lincoln. Click here for full obituary.

Karen A. Coye, 65 (January 7) — Naples, Maine resident grew up in Lincoln. Click here for full obituary.

James Nicholson, 79 (December 26) — founder and leader of several medical-device startup companies. Click here for full obituary.

Martha Grabill

Eleanor McKnight

Karen Coye

James Nicholson

Lincolnites pitching in to help victims of government shutdown

A government employee at the January 10 “Stop the Shutdown” rally in Washington, D.C. (Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Many families in Lincoln are feeling the pinch of the ongoing government shutdown, but town-wide efforts are underway to try to help those who are being affected.

The efforts arose as a result of a rapidly organized community meeting on January 14. At the meeting were representatives of the Lincoln Public Schools, the Council on Aging (COA), the Lincoln Family Association (LFA), Minuteman National Historical Park (MMNHP), and the Lincoln Food Pantry, as well as several other individuals.

Among those affected during the shutdown are 73 Coast Guard families who are housed at Hanscom Air Force Base and all but a few of the 17 employees at MMNHP. (Those in the Air Force and other branches of the military are deemed essential government employees and have not been furloughed, but Coast Guard members, including those who work in Boston and live at Hanscom, are not being paid.) Many people who work for government contractors are also missing their paychecks.

The LFA has set up a government shutdown page on its website where people can find out how to help, or can reach out if they need help themselves. Among the needs that have been identified thus far:

  • Volunteers to stuff already-donated items into kids’ bags for Open Table on Friday, Jan. 18 at the First Parish in Lincoln’s parish house across from Bemis Hall. The bags include healthy food for younger guests of Open Table, which offers weekly community dinner programs and food pantries in Concord and Maynard. The organization will also have a special distribution day for families of unpaid government workers on Saturday, Jan. 19 at 33 Main St. in Maynard.
  • Personal care items including soaps (body, hand, dish, laundry), deodorant, shampoo/conditioner, razors and shaving cream, toothpaste, toilet paper, diapers (all sizes), and wipes. Drop off items in bins at the Lincoln Public Library, the COA, the First Parish, St. Anne’s Church, and the Smith and Brooks school buildings.
  • Donations of nonperishable food at the existing Lincoln food pantry bins in Donelan’s and at St. Joseph’s Church.
  • Cash donations to help families pay for field trips, sports and other activities. Families of some Hanscom Middle School eight-graders may be unable to afford the spring civics/history trip to Gettysburg, Washington, D.C., and Hersey Park, according to teacher Jay Peledge.“I don’t want our kids to be even more impacted than they already are by their military family lifestyle. They already need to move around frequently, learn to adapt to new environments, say goodbye to some friends and work to make new ones. I don’t want them to lose out even more because the sacrifices they already make just aren’t enough in the current political climate,” Peledge said.

Donors may send checks to the new Hanscom Families Support Fund or to the existing Legacy Fund, which serves the same purpose for children at the Lincoln School. Write the name of the fund on the check and mail to Lincoln Public Schools Business Office, 6 Ballfield Rd., Lincoln, MA 01773.

Adam Hodges-LeClaire (left), son of Ruth Hodges and John LeClaire of Trapelo Road, and Donald Hafner gather trash collected at Minute Man National Historical Park (click to enlarge).

Meanwhile, volunteers at MMNHP have already pitched in to collect trash. Last week at the park, a group of historical interpreters in full 18th-century costume (including Lincoln Minute Men Captain Donald Hafner and three other Minute Men) spent a morning collecting and removing about 100 pounds of rubbish from the Battle Road trail along the 1.5 miles from the Hanscom access road to the Brooks Tavern. A few days before, another group did the same along the mile of the Battle Road from the Paul Revere Capture site to the Minute Man Visitor Center.

“As you might imagine, we historical re-enactors are very devoted to passing along the heritage of our nation’s founding, and so for us, the Battle Road is hallowed ground, to be respected and preserved,” Hafner said. Those interested in helping out can email him at hafner@bc.edu.

There are also programs to help furloughed veterans, seniors, Coast Guard members, and others of any age experiencing financial hardship.  For more information on how to donate or to get help, see the government shutdown page on the LFA website or call the COA at 781-259-8811.

New program aids Lincoln homeless and those at risk

Homelessness or near-homelessness here in Lincoln? It’s happening more and more often, so a new initiative will provide temporary housing and other help for families at risk.

The Staying at Home in Lincoln project will allow Lincoln residents who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless to stay in temporary emergency housing while social services staff from the town work to arrange permanent housing, as well as any services and benefits required to ensure that the resident will be successful in their new home. This temporary housing could include area hotels or motels, assisted living facilities, or other supportive housing.

The Commons in Lincoln will provide funding for the project, and the Council on Aging and The Commons will work together to craft the program model.

As a retirement community, The Commons has close ties with the COA and its programs, but the connection goes deeper. “We’re part of the Lincoln community, and the Staying at Home project will help us stay engaged with Lincoln and also help address a community need that goes to the heart of helping our neighbors,” said Reynaldo LeBlanc, campus executive director at The Commons. “The project is an opportunity to help residents in the community of all ages, and when [COA Director Carolyn Bottum] reached out to see if we were interested, it was a no-brainer.”

In the past, the COA and the St. Vincent de Paul Society have offered rental assistance to residents at risk of eviction because of inability to pay rent due to some extraordinary circumstance. However, the town organizations has recently seen an increase in residents who are homeless or close to it for other reasons including domestic violence and elder abuse, mental illness or physical disabilities, natural disaster, and legal issues. In the last five years, the COA has dealt with 10 situations of homelessness or near-homelessness in Lincoln (one each in 2014 and 2015, two in 2017 and six in 2018).

“We think that this is probably the tip of the iceberg — there are likely other residents who simply never asked for help and so we weren’t aware of their situations. Because we’re the COA and seniors may be more likely to come to us, there may be more younger people we’ve missed,” Bottum said.

Eight of the 10 cases are seniors, one is a single mother, and one is a family with two parents (both with school-age children). In both family cases, both parents are working but don’t make enough money to take care of emergencies that arise or keep up with rent while waiting for subsidized housing.

What’s become of those 10 cases since 2014? One passed away while waiting for subsidized housing’ three were able to find subsidized or other appropriate housing in Lincoln after waits of some months, five moved out of town, and one continues to be at risk of eviction until subsidized housing opens up.