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

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Wind storm causes power outages, road closures

High winds caused a large tree to fall on this blue car parked near Donelan’s (click to enlarge). Photo by Joanna Schmergel

It was a winter storm without the snow or a hurricane without the rain, but even without any precipitation, Monday’s wind storm to tear down plenty of trees and limbs in Lincoln.

As of 5 p.m., Eversource reported that Lincoln had 347 customers without power due to more than 20 separate outages. In neighboring towns, there were 1,183 customers without power in Lexington, 953 in Wayland, 508 in Sudbury, and 517 in Weston. Downed trees, power lines and utility poles closed parts of Farrar Road, Old Concord Road, Macintosh Lane, Fox Run, Deerhaven Road and Huckleberry Hill, police reported.

A tree down on power lines on Farrar Road. Photo by Martin Dermady.

The wind tore most of the plastic sheeting from this Lindentree Farm greenhouse. Photo by Moira Donnell.

No injuries were reported, though a falling tree in the Donelan’s parking lot near Lincoln Woods damaged a couple of cars. Police Chief Kevin Kennedy said. Given the several hours of very high winds he noted that the damage would have been much worse if there had been foliage on the trees, or the storm had included heavy snow or ice, he added.

Because the Department of Public Works is busy clearing brush and trees from roads, the transfer station will be closed on Wednesday, Feb. 26.

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