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Council on Aging activities in November

Holiday shopping fraud prevention
November 1 at 12 p.m.
The holidays are right around the corner. Are you armed with vital information to keep yourself safe from scammers when you do your shopping, whether in stores or online? Come to Bemis Hall on Wednesday, Nov. 1 at noon when Robin Putnam, research and special projects manager from the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, will lead a discussion on topics such as: Black Friday shopping tips, return policies, defective merchandise, warranties, lost or stolen packages, gift certificates, credit card skimming devices and how to spot them, and identity theft and fraud prevention.

Meet with an aide to Congresswoman Katherine Clark
November 1 at 1 p.m.
A constituent services representative for Congresswoman Katherine Clark, will hold Office Hours at Bemis Hall on Wednesday, Nov. 1 from 1–2 p.m. on federal benefits and other concerns. No need to sign up.

You’ve been selected!
November 1 at 2 p.m.
To drop by and visit with a member of the Board of Selectmen. Bring your ideas, feedback, questions, or favorite Lincoln anecdote. Whether you stop by for a minute or stay for the hour, they hope to see you from 2–3 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 1.

Medicare 101: what to know, how to choose
November 1 at 7 p.m.
Come find out the basics of Medicare on Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. at Bemis Hall with Minuteman Senior Services SHINE counselors Don Milan and Anne Meade. This introduction to Medicare is especially for those who will be signing up in the next year, but is also for those who just wish to learn more and understand their benefits better. Don and Anne will discuss traditional Medicare, Medicare Supplement plans, Medicare Advantage plans, and medication drug coverage (Medicare, Parts A, B, C, and D), how to go about choosing the plan or plans that are best for you, avoiding penalties when you sign up late, and more. Bring your questions and concerns! Minuteman Senior Services provides a variety of services that help seniors and people with disabilities live in the setting of their choice. For more information, call toll-free 888-222-6171 or visit www.minutemansenior.org.

Coping when you have a family member in hospice
November 3 at 10 a.m.
Having a family member with an advanced/life limiting illness can be overwhelming, but this stage of life can also be a time of healing for all involved. All family members are invited to an informal discussion at Bemis Hall on Friday, Nov. 3 at 10 a.m. Steve Menichetti, RN, and Lilian Warner of Deaconess Abundant Life Services, and Mary Crowe, LICSW, ACHP-SW of Care Dimensions will offer some information and strategies on caring for the caregiver from a physical, emotional and spiritual perspective with plenty of time for you to share your own experiences.

Give thanks for the Lincoln Trad Jazz Band!
November 3 at 12:30 p.m.
Thanksgiving is a traditional American holiday and jazz is America’s most traditional music, so celebrate Nov. with the Lincoln Traditional Jazz Band! Come to Bemis Hall on Friday, Nov. 3 at 12:30 to hear them play, tap your toes, or get up and dance if you can’t sit still. Cheek to Cheek, Ain’t Misbehavin’, When You’re Smilin’ — you name it, they play it!

Toni Lynn Washington and Sax Gordon Beadle sing and play the blues
November 5 at 2 p.m.
All ages are invited to a free concert by renowned Boston-area blues vocalist Toni Lynn Washington and acclaimed saxophonist Sax Gordon Beadle on Sunday, Nov. 5 at 2 p.m. at Bemis Hall. The performance is the First Annual Ronna Cooper Memorial Concert and is sponsored by the Friends of the Lincoln COA. It is a gift from Margo Cooper in celebration of her mother’s life. Ms. Washington has delighted and awed audiences in Boston and around the country and the globe for decades as both a singer and songwriter. She has received the Boston Blues Festival Lifetime Achievement Award, had seven Blues Music Award nominations, and released five CDs. Sax Gordon, known for his “hard-blowing, exciting, gutsy” signature style, has performed around the world, won numerous awards, and recorded six CDs. The Duke Robillard rhythm section: Bruce Bears on keyboard, Jesse Williams on bass, and Mark Teixeira on drums will back up Toni Lynn and Sax Gordon for this fabulous afternoon of music.

Lincoln Academy with Jennifer Haugh: Making climate change personal—using public art to motivate sustainable behavior
November 6 at 12:30 p.m.
Come to Bemis Hall on Monday, Nov. 6 at 12:30 to hear Jennifer Haugh discuss “Making Climate Change Personal: Using Public Art to Motivate Sustainable Behavior.” Despite the increased frequency of extreme weather events, the effects of individual impacts on climate change are still an abstraction for many. This presentation by the founder of Iconic Energy Consulting looks at concepts ranging from mitigating the aesthetic effects of wind turbines to “feedback” sculpture that rewards communities for reducing energy use, and explores the challenges of connecting the dots between personal choices and global impacts. The Council on Aging provides beverages and dessert. The lectures last about an hour, including a question and answer period. Participants are welcome to stay after the program to continue their discussion. All ages welcome!

Techno teach-in with LEAP students
November 8 at 2:30 p.m.
Middle school students from the LEAP after-school program invite you to join them at Bemis Hall on Wednesday, Nov. 8 from 2:30–3:30 p.m. to get help with a variety of devices, such as computers, cell phones, iPads and tablets, and more! Call the COA at 781-259-8811 to sign up.

Celebrate Veterans Day with other veterans and spouses
November 9 at 9 a.m.
Celebrate Veterans Day with other veterans and their spouses on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 9 a.m. at Bemis Hall. You’ll be treated to pancakes with butter and syrup, coffee, and great conversation! This is a social time just to chat and get to know other veterans in town. The breakfast is free, but please sign up by calling the COA at 781-259-8811.

Bowling
November 9 at 2 p.m.
Go Bowling at the Acton Bowladrome with the COA on Thursday, Nov. 9. Most of us haven’t bowled in years, but don’t worry — bowlers will be using small balls (called candlepin bowling). The group will have four bowlers to a lane and maybe get a little competition going. Afterwards, they will head for an early dinner to Not Your Average Joe’s to discuss their bowling skills or lack thereof. They will leave Donelan’s parking lot at 2 p.m. and plan to be back in Lincoln by 6:15 p.m. Traveling in a Doherty’s School Bus, the cost of the trip is $15 which includes lane and shoe rental and dinner will be on your own. To make your reservation, send your check to Donna Rizzo, 22 Blackburnian Rd., Lincoln MA, 781-257-5050.

How much is that antique or jewelry worth?
November 9 at 2:15 p.m.
You never know what treasures you might have hidden in your attic or jewelry box. Come to a special Appraisal Afternoon with Karen M. Keane, CEO, and Kaitlin Shinnick, senior specialist, fine jewelry, from Skinner Auctioneers, on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 2:15 at Bemis Hall. Ms. Keane or Ms. Shinnick will identify, comment on, and place a value on one item. If you don’t have anything to be appraised, come on down to join the fun and see what your friends and neighbors have brought.

Lincoln Academy with Zach Woods: amateurs assist in the second war for U.S. independence
November 13 at 12:30 p.m..
Come to Bemis Hall on Monday, Nov. 13 at 12:30 to hear Zach Woods discuss “Amateurs Assist in the Second War for U.S. Independence.” Non-professional militia, privateers, and Napoleon hindered and helped as we fought against the superior but hamstrung British military in the War of 1812. What was the war all about? Learn about some of the surprising and telling moments in the conflict through a short film and presentation. The Council on Aging provides beverages and dessert. The lectures last about an hour, including a question and answer period. Participants are welcome to stay after the program to continue their discussion. All ages welcome.

Free elder law clinic
November 13 at 3 p.m.
Got a question about issues such as estate planning, MassHealth, protecting assets for a loved one with a serious disability, guardianship, conservatorship or probate? The COA is pleased to provide a monthly legal clinic with elder law attorney and Lincoln resident Sasha Golden on Monday, Nov. 13 from 3–4 p.m. at Bemis Hall. There is no charge for the thirty-minute consultation, but please sign up by calling the COA at 781-259-8811.

Free wellness clinic for all ages
November 14 at 10 a.m.
Meet with a nurse at Lincoln Woods on Tuesday, Nov. 14 from 10 a.m. to noon. Blood pressure, nutrition and fitness, medication management, chronic disease management, resources, and more. Funded by the Ogden Codman Trust and provided by Emerson Hospital Home Care.

The COA science group: 4,000 feet of climate change, part II
November 16 at 10:15 a.m.
Join physicist Stanley Solomon on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 10:15 a.m. in Bemis Hall for the second in a three-part series exploring the physicists’ view of climate change using articles from three issues of Physics Today, a professional journal published by the American Physics Society and read by physicists worldwide. In this session, Stan will discuss the validity of accumulated temperature measurements. He plans to distribute copies of the articles before the sessions, so if you would like copies, please call the COA at 781-259-8811 to leave your name and email address.

Brush up on CPR and auto-defibrillators
November 17 at 9 a.m.
Knowing CPR and how to use an automatic defibrillator (AED) can help you save a life. Come to Bemis Hall on Friday, Nov. 17 at 9 a.m. for a brush-up or an introduction to CPR and use of a defibrillator given by the Fire Department. This free workshop may lead to certification or you may take it just in case you come across someone in need in your daily life.  Call the COA at 781-259-8811 to sign up and let us know if you would like certification. All ages are welcome! (maximum of 20.)

Lincoln Academy with Lawrence Climo: An American doctor in the Vietnamese Health Service, 1966–67
November 20 at 12:30 p.m.
Come to Bemis Hall on Monday, Nov. 20 at 12:30 to hear Lawrence Climo discuss “An American Doctor in the Vietnamese Health Service, 1966-67.” Dr. Lawrence Climo is a retired physician, new to Lincoln. He’s also a Vietnam vet. Larry participated in an unusual military mission during the Vietnam War for which he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal by the U.S. government and the Gallantry Cross with Palm by the Republic of Vietnam. Come hear about those experiences, which he has recently detailed in a book. The Council on Aging provides beverages and dessert. The lectures last about an hour, including a question and answer period. Participants are welcome to stay after the program to continue their discussion. All ages welcome.

Gourmet luncheon with friends old and new
November 21 at 11:30 a.m.
Lincolnites 60 and older are invited to enjoy a delicious gourmet meal with new friends and old at 11:30 on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at St. Anne’s Church. They welcome new diners often — give them a try! Please reserve by calling the COA at 781-259-8811 at least a week ahead even if you have previously attended. The cost of each meal is $5. Caregivers are welcome to come with those for whom they are caring. Let them know if you need transportation or a seating partner when you sign up. The lunch is co-sponsored by the COA, the Friends of the COA, Minuteman Senior Services, Newbury Court, St. Anne’s, and the Lincoln Garden Club.

Fireside chat: what are you grateful for?
November 22 at 10 a.m.
Let’s give thanks. Even if you’ve had a challenging year, let’s not dwell on that. What are you grateful for? Discuss your thoughts and ideas with a group on Wednesday, Nov. 22 at 10 a.m. at their new location in the Community Room at Lincoln Woods (50 Wells Rd.). The Fireside Chat meets monthly on the fourth Wednesday at 10 a.m. and is facilitated by Sharon Antia.

Property sales in September

  • 5 Deerhaven Rd. — Theresa Meehan to Roger and Rebecca Yeh for $860,000 (September 1)
  • 19 Brooks Rd. — Sarah Smith Cairns to Brian and Kimberly Jalet for $850,000 (September 22)
  • 142 Bedford Rd. — Hui Pires to Paul and Reanna Wu for $618,999 (September 18)
  • 12 Old Cambridge Turnpike — Amanda Fargo to Leon Calitri for $575,000 (September 1)
  • 169 Lexington Rd. — Yolanda Cellucci Trust et al to Lincoln Master Build 1 LLC for $350,000 (September 13)
  • 0 Fridolin Hill Rd. (three parcels) — Donald W. Barron and Charles Anton to Yesim Taskor and Halil Ali Pirnar for $1,400,000 (September 29)

News acorns

Trunk or Treat moved to Friday

Due to a rainy forecast, the “Trunk or Treat” event originally scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 25 has been rescheduled for Friday, Oct. 27 from 5–6 p.m. in the Brooks parking lot. This is an annual event sponsored by the Parks and Recreation Department where the back ends of cars and trucks are decorated for Halloween and children can “trunk or treat” among them in safety. Register your vehicle for one of the reserved spots, decorate your trunk area, and pass out candy or non-candy items or host fun games. If you can’t participate, candy donations are always welcome. No vehicles will be admitted into the lot after 4:15 p.m. To register, call 781-259-0784.

Halloween party at the library

Celebrate Halloween early with a kids’ party at the Lincoln Public Library on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 11 a.m. Families can groove to children’s songs and Halloween favorites. Come in costume if you wish—but be sure you can still move! Recommended for ages 6 and under, but all are welcome.

Fall knitting group starting

A new weekly knitting group is starting on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. in the Lincoln Public Library’s Tarbell Room and will run though December 21. Knitters of all levels are welcome. Beginners should contact Jen James at jenjames@gmail.com to find out what materials are required.

Clarification

An October 23 article headlined “School committees float idea of a shared L-S/Sudbury superintendent” quoted a brief by attorney Marc Terry as saying that the ability of a town district and a regional district to share central office functions is “an unsettled point of law.” While this quote is accurate, it does mean to imply that the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education does not allow such arrangements, only that state statutes are silent on the subject. The last paragraph of Terry’s memo notes that any potential challenge could be forestalled by an intermunicipal agreement (IMA) subject to approval by the Boards of Selectmen.

Community center group selects architect

The Community Center Preliminary Planning and Design Committee (CCPPDC) has selected the firm of Maryann Thompson Architects to help design a proposal for a community center for Lincoln.

Massachusetts work by the Cambridge-based firm includes designs for the Atrium School in Watertown, the Broad Institute in Cambridge, the Walden Pond visitors’ center, and Temple Ahavat Achim in Gloucester. The firm is already working closely with SMMA Architects, which was hired to design the Lincoln School project.

The CCPPDC and the School Building Committee will present updates at the State of the Town meeting on November 4. By that time, “we want the two architectural firms to have spoken quite a bit and start aligning their processes and procedures, and maybe put a couple of community forums on the calendar,” said CCPPDC Vice Chair Margit Griffith.

Maryann Thompson Architects should have a proposed basic design for a community center along with firm cost estimates ready before an anticipated Special Town Meeting in June, when residents will be asked to vote on a school design, Griffith said. If and when residents decide to pursue the community center project, the town will ask for bids from firms to do the detailed design. “They’re not producing a plan for a community center that people vote on [in June] and break ground on,” she said.

The CCPPDC is drafting a timeline in conjunction with the SBC with “key choice points for decisions and deliverables by the architect,” said committee Chair Ellen Meyer Shorb. Designing a school and a community center simultaneously is “a really difficult, complex process that no one has done before, but the bottom line is to include the town early and often.”

 

 

 

Interactive website brings residents into South Lincoln planning

A screen shot of the South Lincoln revitalization website at courb.co/lincoln.

Using a new interactive website, residents can look at a map of South Lincoln, see some of the improvements being discussed, and add their own comments and suggestions.

The project page at courb.co/lincoln was created for the Lincoln Planning Board and the South Lincoln Planning Implementation Committee (SLPIC), which are working to make the area around Lincoln Station a vibrant, walkable and sustainable village center. Officials can post updates and respond to comments by residents as part of the public process, which also includes in-person workshops and events.

The project team behind the website can drop a “pin” on certain areas of the map to invite discussion. For example, when users click on one of pins, it opens a text box saying “If this underutilized green space next to Donelan’s and Lincoln Woods was revitalized, what events would you like to see held here?” Residents can then post and read each other’s responses, much like the comments section at the bottom of a blog post, or add their own pins to start discussion on another specific area of South Lincoln. Participants receive a notification when the project team replies.

The town was recently awarded a $400,000 Complete Streets grant for 10 projects in town, some of which include including signs, roadway markings, crosswalks, bike racks, and informational kiosks in South Lincoln. One of the website pins asks residents where they wold like to see these kiosks located.

The web platform was created by coUrbanize, a startup founded by urban planners from MIT with the goal of supplementing the traditional community process that planners use by connecting people online. “Traditional planning workshops are important, but they can be a challenge for many people to attend,” said coUrbanize co-founder Karin Brandt. “By using technology to reach people and lowering the bar to participation, we can ensure that more voices are heard.”

Council on Aging welcomes new co-assistant director

Abigail Butt. (Photo by Alice Waugh)

The Lincoln Council on Aging has hired a new co-assistant director with the tools to help meet the needs of the town’s growing senior population.

Abby Butt started at the COA in September, sharing her job with Susan Isbell (she succeeds social worker Pam Mizrahi, who still leads a support group at the COA). Isbell helps seniors with applications for programs and services such as fuel assistance, while Butt handles more complicated situations where the client’s need aren’t so cut and dried.

Butt is not a social worker or counselor—she holds a PhD in gerontology from UMass-Boston’s McCormick School of Public Policy, and she’s trained in researching programs and doing needs assessments for entire communities as well as individuals. While a graduate student, she held a fellowship through the city of Somerville’s housing division, and she was outreach coordinator for the Beverly COA from 2011-16. She’s also a board member of the COA in Salem, where she currently lives.

“I discovered I really love working for cities and towns — I love working locally, kind of at the ground level,” said Butt, 34. “I enjoy doing a little of this and a little of that, and getting to know people. I’m excited about getting out into the community.” She has begun holding office hours at Lincoln Woods and making home visits, “so we can give services right where (clients) are,” she said.

Another part of Butt’s portfolio is modernizing the COA’s record-keeping. Before her arrival, all case notes were kept on paper; having them in digital form will make it easier for COA staff to follow up with clients with resorting to phone calls or lengthy emails with each other, “so the seniors are going to get much better service,” she said. The COA plans to move from hand-written to electronic sign-in for activities at Bemis Hall, “so the receptionist can focus on being welcoming and helping people instead of trying to get them to write legibly on a piece of paper about the activities they’re participating in,” Butt said.

The ability to gather growing amounts of information from individuals and government — then “distilling it down into something that’s manageable into a policy brief and recommendations and action steps,” as Butt describes it — is becoming more important every day. “We’re  about to have more seniors than we ever have, and we need to be proactive.”

Research by Butt’s colleagues, among others, bears this out. The Baby Boomers have begun to retire, and improved medical technology means people are living longer — and requiring more services — as they move into their 80s, 90s and beyond.

In Massachusetts, the share of the population age 60 and older is expected to increase from 19 percent in 2010 to 28 percent  in 2030, with 65+ population growing by 61% and the 85+ population by 34 percent, according to UMass-Boston’s Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging. As a result, most cities and towns in the Commonwealth will have at least 50% more seniors in 2030 than they do today—so Lincoln is hardly alone in confronting the need for better facilities and programs for its older residents.

“Abby has already made a wonderful difference here at the COA by bringing not only her enthusiasm and skills, but also lots of ideas from the other COAs she’s worked with,” said COA director Carolyn Bottum. “She’s helped us take a fresh look at how we do things and some of our procedures, and she’s also suggested a number of important and entertaining programs that we’ll be offering here in the next few months.”

The town of Salem, where Butt sits on the COA board of directors, has just broken ground for a new community center. That experience should also prove very useful “to help us ensure that we are bringing the best possible proposal to the town for a community center at the appropriate time,” Bottum said.

Tuesday workshops to focus on school’s educational priorities

The School Building Committee (SBC) and school project design team will hold a series of meetings this week with residents and students as they continue to answer the question: How will the building support our vision of education?

Lincoln School administrators and faculty discussed the town’s educational priorities during a day-long session facilitated by the design team from SMMA and EwingCole:

  • Provide high quality education
  • Create an engaging and inspiring approach to learning
  • Encourage interactive, multi-disciplinary, project-based learning modes; foster curiosity
  • Value diversity; display creativity
  • Provide a variety of learning spaces
  • Value reflection
  • Optimize connection to the natural environment
  • Host community events and promote partnerships with the community

These priorities reflect those laid out in the Lincoln Public Schools strategic plan approved by the School Committee in August 2017.

On Tuesday, Oct. 17, residents are invited to community workshops focused on how physical space impacts teachers and students. The workshops will take place from 8–10 a.m. and 7–9 p.m. in the Brooks gym. Questions to be discussed will include:

  • How does our current building impede our educators?
  • If a new building is built, or significant renovations made, how will it affect what is taught and how it is taught?
  • How do we know our new/renovated building will meet the needs of the next generations of Lincoln students?

Also on Tuesday, members of the design team will meet with student groups from grades 3, 5, and 8 to talk about what they like about the Lincoln School building, see examples of other schools, and discuss what they’d like to see in a new/renovated school.

In discussions about the school, phrases such as “21st century learning,” “project-based learning,” and “maker spaces” are used a lot. The SBC offers some short videos to help make these concepts clearer, and invite residents to bring questions about them to one of the Tuesday workshops:

The SBC always welcomes feedback and questions about the process. You can make a public comment by clicking on the “comment” button at the bottom of any of the posts on the SBC website, or you can send a message directly to the SBC by clicking on “Contact the SBC” on the site’s home page menu.

Five campus possibilities offered at SBC workshop

School Building Committee architects proposed some master planning objectives for the Ballfield Road campus as well as five general options for locating the various aspects of the Lincoln School around that campus at a public workshop on October 3.

Before they even began presenting their thoughts, resident Steve Perlmutter summed up his feelings about the campus that are shared by many of those who rejected the 2012 school design that would have encroached on the central ball field and significantly reconfigured the north side of campus.

“I’m concerned that if we’re not very careful, we could lose much of this special place and with it, a large part of Lincoln’s soul, character, and heritage,” said Perlmutter, noting that he was speaking as a private citizen and not in his capacity as a member of the SBC. The school campus is “stunning and bucolic” and “quintessentially Lincoln,” he said. “We need to keep on asking ourselves if what you propose to do belongs to the land instead of the other way around.”

The ball field is “one for those central gems you would never get back if you developed it, agreed Sandra Farrell, a landscape architect with SMMA Architects, adding that the field and the healthy trees around it are “more or less sacrosanct)

The firm’s planning objectives for a multigenerational, multiprogram campus include developing a healthy network of trees and pathways around school buildings and between community spaces including the tennis courts and the pool. The final plan should also foster educational goals while also creating cohesion between new and old elements and demonstrating stewardship of the land, she said.

Before thinking about what structures should be renovated or replaced, SMMA principal architect Alex Pitkin encouraged residents to think about five configurations—taking into account locations, “adjacencies,” building heights, and even overlap—for four main elements (see below):

  • PreK–4
  • Grades 5–8
  • Common areas that the public could also use outside school hours such as the auditorium, gyms, and cafeteria(s)
  • Community center elements including the Council on Aging, the Parks and Recreation Department, and the Lincoln Extended-day Activities Program.

“Sometimes it’s very effective to move functions around a building, whether it’s renovated or rebuilt,” Pitkin said.

The next public workshop will focus on educational vision and will take place in two identical sessions on one day: Tuesday, Oct. 14 from 2–4 p.m. and 7–9 p.m. in the Brooks gym. For more information on the history of the project, news and upcoming events, go to lincolnsbc.org.

Click on an image to see larger version:
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”57″ gal_title=”Oct 2017 campus options”]

Mother of driver in bike accident protests ‘ghost bike’

The mother of a teenage driver involved in one of two fatal bike accidents in 2016 vehemently protested plans last week to install a “ghost bike” at the Public Safety building.

Julie Lynch spoke a the Board of Selectmen meeting on September 25 about the pain that both families have gone through since the accident at the intersection of Bedford and Virginia Roads claimed the life of Westford resident Mark Himelfarb in August 2016. Details of the accident were not released while it was being investigated by local and state police and the district attorney’s office—a process that took 13 months before the DA’s office announced on September 12 that no charges would be filed.

The cyclist, while riding north on Virginia Road, “crossed over the yellow centerline deviating from the marked lanes of northbound travel and encroached upon the motorist’s path of travel,” according to the release, adding that the collision occurred in the southbound side of the road.

Shortly after the accident, Concord resident and cyclist Erik Limpaecher installed a “ghost bike” on his own initiative near the accident with a placard saying “M. Himelfarb, father of 2, 8-17-2016, Come to Full Stop,” according to an August 23, 2016 Globe article. Lincoln officials immediately removed the object because it was a safety hazard but also out of respect for the feelings of the driver, who was not at fault.

In June 2017, the family of the victim in the other 2016 accident, Eugene Thornberg, said they would create and donate a ghost bike to remind both motorists and bicyclists about the need to safely share the road. The monument will include a plaque with wording that is not specific to either accident.

But Lynch, the mother of the Virginia Road accident driver, tearfully protested to selectmen that ghost bikes serve to memorialize the bicyclists who are killed and neglect the feelings of the driver and his or her family, especially since the driver is often not at fault. (The Squirrel has also published this letter to the editor she originally submitted on September 23.)

“A middle-aged bicyclist broke the law” by crossing over the center line and striking the side of her daughter’s car, Lynch said. “It was traumatic, it was awful. My child performed CPR.”

Her daughter’s license was suspended while the investigation was ongoing, “and she spent her entire senior year making up excuses to her friends about why she couldn’t drive” because the family was told not to discuss the accident, Lynch added. “They treated her like a criminal for 13 months.

“From the information I’ve seen, most of the serious bike accidents are caused by the bicyclists, not the operators,” Lynch added. “We’re memorializing cyclist error.”

Lincoln “has really gone out of our way as a town and a police department” to be sensitive to all parties involved, Town Administrator Tim Higgins said. The ghost bike “is not meant as an editorial comment, it’s not meant as a memorial to any individual—it’s helping to educate the motoring public and the cycling public about the importance of safety.”

Lynch also objected to locating the ghost bike at the Lincoln Public Safety Building. When Higgins said that he had made sure the first ghost bike was quickly removed from the accident site, she cried, “She won’t drive that street any more—it doesn’t matter! But she does drive by the police station… Nobody talked to me about how she would feel about seeing a ghost bike  but I think she deserved to be asked.”

“Your summary of the facts [of the accident] is spot on,” Higgins told Lynch. “We struggled with this issue to get the information out to the community. While the investigation was going on, we were not at liberty to reveal some of the details.”

The investigation into the Thornberg accident revealed that motorist was also not at fault. The bicyclist had pulled up alongside a row of traffic at a stoplight; just as the light turned green, he fell off his bike under the wheel of an stopped truck next to him and was killed when the truck moved forward.