The Lincoln Squirrel

News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

schools

Lincoln has weathered snow so far, but next storm could add to woes

Lincoln has thus far escaped any major problems from the record-breaking snow and cold over the past few weeks, but the danger of roof collapses will only grow with another storm this weekend—and this one may include ice and rain as well as snow.

Police and fire officials reported that as of Thursday, there had been no power outages or medical emergencies directly caused by the weather. “We’ve been very fortunate,” said Police Chief Kevin Kennedy. “The DPW [Department of Public Works] needs to be commended for the job they’ve done maintaining the roadways.”

The Fire Department has had to alter its usual response to calls as a result of the accumulated snow, said Fire Chief Stephen Carter, who is also the town’s emergency management coordinator. In normal circumstances the department sends an engine and a ladder truck, but the ladder truck won’t fit down most driveways these days, so the department sends a second engine that carries extra water instead. Every piece of fire apparatus also now carries at least one snow shovel, since firefighters often have to clear snow away from homes just to get access to residents who need help, he said.

snow-plow

A worker uses heavy equipment to push back snowbanks from the corner of Sandy Pond and Lincoln Roads. Photo by Alice Waugh

Shortly before the January blizzard, Town Administrator Tim Higgins reported to the Finance Committee that “we had spent very little” from the town’s $265,000 snow removal budget. However, as of Thursday, the town had gone through $300,000, and some contractors’ bills from the last storm were still expected. “To see the budget swing so sharply in a four-week period was really pretty amazing,” Higgins said.

The DPW staff who man the snowplows “are pretty much exhausted… they’ve been essentially going around the clock for four weeks,” Higgins said. “I’ve been really pleased and impressed with the quality of their work and their dedication.”

Owners of commercial property with flat roofs have been “very proactive” in clearing snow, Carter said. Workers have been clearing roof drains above the Mall at Lincoln Station, and a crane has removed hundreds of tons of snow from portions of the building’s roof in recent days, said Bill Jackson, president of Jackson Associates, which manages the mall for the owner, the Rural Land Foundation.

Four years ago, the roof over a recently remodeled Donelan’s Supermarket collapsed from heavy snow. The entire mall was closed briefly for inspection and Donelan’s did not reopen until May 2012. After the collapse, roofing was reinforced over the entire mall where necessary and the Donelan’s roof was rebuilt to hold 55 pounds of snow and ice per square foot, well above the current code requirement of 35 pounds per square foot, Jackson said, “so we’re pretty confident.”

School being proactive in roof clearing

The Lincoln School has been clearing some roof areas during this week’s school vacation and the school’s facilities staff has been assessing the roofs in recent weeks. “They do not feel that our roofs are stressed, or in danger in any way,” Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall said in an email to the Lincoln Squirrel last week. “This proposed partial removal is proactive, not reactive. We do not feel that the current snow load presents a roof collapse problem in any way.”

Though there are leaks evident in several parts of the school, McFall told the School Committee on February 12 that those leaks are not due to structural problems but are simply indicators of where the roof membrane has been compromised due to age. “Regardless of how much snow is on the roof, when there is snow and it melts, it’s going to leak in those places, so we’ve got buckets all over,” she said.

The schools have already used up their allotment of five snow days, so the School Committee sent an online poll to all parents asking for their input on how any further snow days should be made up. McFall recommended to the committee that if more makeup days are needed, classes should be held on April 3 (Good Friday), June 25 and then part of April vacation, in that order. The last day of school is currently scheduled for Wednesday, June 24.

snow-hydrant

There’s a hydrant somewhere under there. Photo by Alice Waugh

Fire hydrants often buried

Water Department staff have been working to clear snow away from fire hydrants, and officials have urged residents to “adopt a hydrant” near their home and keep a three-foot radius around each hydrant clear of snow and ice. Water Department Superintendent Greg Woods’ staff has been out with plows and shovels but has had a hard time keeping up with the snow that blocks hydrants anew whenever the roads are plowed.

“It’s very frustrating to have cleared the hydrants in a section of town only to have that open area immediately filled with snow during the next storm,” Woods said. “The significant snow accumulation is making it difficult to clear the hydrants, but every hydrant that’s cleared by a resident gives the department that much more time to focus on the more difficult locations.”

There have been several instances when recently cleared hydrants have been intentionally filled or buried because a contractor saw an open space to push snow. “We understand it’s difficult to keep driveways and sidewalks open with this volume of snow, but there’s no excuse for intentionally covering a fire hydrant. It puts the public at risk,” Woods said, adding that intentionally burying fire hydrants is prohibited by state law and is punishable by a fine of up to $100.

More danger to roofs this weekend

Although there’s been a lot of snow since late January, the snow has been light and fluffy, so it hasn’t stuck to tree branches and power lines. However, this weekend’s storm is expected to feature rain in addition to heavy wet snow, which will only add to the weight already borne by roofs.

“That’s not going to be good,” Carter said. Even without any more new snowfall, the snow that’s already on roofs will settle, and eventual melting and refreezing will only worsen the situation. “I’m dreading that,” he said with a sigh.

At the behest of state and federal governments, Lincoln and other towns have improved their planning for weather emergencies. Local emergency personnel have been checking in with at-risk seniors, worked with The Commons on planning for sheltering residents if it becomes necessary, beefed up mutual aid with surrounding towns for emergency responses, and used reverse 911 calls to alert residents of road closings and potential weather dangers, including potential roof collapses. The Massachusetts Emergency Management Authority also offers tips on roof snow removal and how to recognize signs of a structural problem.

Meanwhile, residents are scrambling to find someone—anyone—with expertise in clearing snow and ice dams and repairing roofs and gutters that have already been damaged. “These guys are going to be busy until May,” Carter said.

School panel seeks volunteers for class size policy reasearch

schoolThe Lincoln K-8 School Committee is creating a Class Size Research Committee to survey and summarize the recent educational research about the effects of class size on student achievement. The research committee will comprise one member of the School Committee and two to four members of the Lincoln community. We invite members of the community who are interested in participating in this effort to contact the School Committee and tell them about your relevant background.

The School Committee has reviewed its class size policy every seven years or so. The last comprehensive review was in 2007, and so now the School Committee wants to know whether there is recent research that might justify a broader review of the current policy. The specific aims of the research committee will be to identify any new research, to clarify the findings that might be relevant to the Lincoln Public Schools, and to present to the School Committee a summary of the high-quality evidence and insights that might guide a formal review of the whole policy. (The broader review would then consider expenditures on class size reduction in the context of the district’s educational and fiscal priorities and of the town’s spending plans and capacity.)

Any interested member of the community should submit his or her name to the School Committee at schoolcomm@lincnet.org by Friday, Feb. 27. The School Committee will appoint the members of the Research Committee at its meeting on March 5. TheClass Size Research Committee would then work for six weeks, and would submit its final report to the School Committee by April 20.

News acorns – 2/2/15

Left to right: Evan Lee, Katherine Feng, John Dale and Jada Edwards.

Left to right: Evan Lee, Katherine Feng, John Dale and Jada Edwards.

Lincoln School students excel

At a January 31 audition, four Lincoln School music students qualified for the Eastern District Music Festival in March: violinist and concert mistress Katherine Feng and second violinist Evan Lee (orchestra), second trumpet John Dale (band) and soprano II Jada Edwards (chorus). Also auditioning were Kent Mashimo, Kevin Sheppard, Tara O’Malley, Jaelynn Rodney and Colin Christian.

Students in the Lincoln School’s Model UN extension were recognized for excellence at events in recent weeks. At the United Nations Association of Greater Boston (UNAGB) conference at Northeastern University for over 450 students, Lincoln seventh-graders Tara O’Malley and Darcy Flaherty were assigned to the World Health Organization (WHO) committee. As delegates from South Korea, they received a perfect score for their position paper on pandemic response. Eighth-graders Elena Christenfeld and Irene Terpstra and seventh-grader Keith Hylton, representing Nigeria, were also in the WHO committee. They earned Best Delegation award—the highest award possible—for a combination of the work they did on their position paper and negotiating skills during the conference. Then at the December Invitational Model United Nations (DIMUN), 80 students from all over New England had to respond to a pandemic outbreak using real-time information that would change the experience throughout the day for students. At the end of the day, Irene received one of six awards for Best Negotiator.

Six Lincoln School students made honor roll in the AMC-8 exam sponsored by the American Mathematics Competition. The Lincoln School also made the the School Honor Roll, which is unusual for such a small school. The awardees were seventh-grader Zachary Tam (distinguished honor roll); honor roll awardees were eighth-graders Irene Terpstra and Howie Tsang, and seventh-graders Laura Appleby, Piper Bau and Collin Graf.

Downton Abbey finale screening at Pierce House on Feb. 22

For the second year in a row, the pleasure of your company is requested by the Pierce House Committee at a screening party for the final episode of Season Five of Downtown Abbey on Sunday, Feb. 22 from 7-10 p.m. Join your fellow Lincoln Downton-ophiles to watch the popular drama together in the elegant parlor of historic Pierce House. Hats and gloves optional; tea, champagne and sweets will be served. Admission contribution is $10 at the door. Seating is limited, so contact Virginia Rundell (vq@verizon.net or 781-259-0201) to reserve your place now.

Multi-sport court proposed for school campus

The proposed sports court wold go in the blue area next to the tot playground behind the Codman Pool parking lot.

The proposed sports court would go in the blue area next to the tot playground behind the Codman Pool parking lot (click to enlarge).

By Alice Waugh

Lincoln will have a new outdoor court with lighting for basketball, tennis, street hockey and other sports by late summer if officials and voters give a funding thumbs-up.

The proposal by the Parks and Recreation Committee (PRC) calls for a $146,000 multi-sport moveable court to be installed next to the playground at the rear of the Codman Pool parking lot. The court surface, which would be made of perforated plastic and surrounded by netting, could be taken up and relocated if staging space is required during a school building project.

Although Lincoln has recreational facilities for children and town tennis courts, “what we really have is a big gap in the sixth-to-eighth-grade, high school and college-age folks,” said PRC chair Jonathan Dwyer in a January 8 presentation to the School Committee, which oversees use of school property.

The court could serve as an outdoor drop-in sports facility for teenagers and others in the afternoon, early evening and weekends all year round, since it could also work as an ice-skating rink, Dwyer said. “This brings them back to the [Lincoln School] campus and connects them more to the town as they [remember] hanging out at the playground, at the pool and on the fields,” he said.

The location also has the advantage of easy access and parking next to the existing lot and its streetlights, “so we’re not creating a new lit area located in the middle of nowhere—we’re just augmenting what’s already there,” said Dan Pereira, director of the Parks and Recreation Department.

The court would also expand the town’s after-school tennis program, which usually can’t start until after April school vacation because the clay courts need more time to recover from the winter snow and ice.

The PRC estimates that the facility would cost $146,000, including lighting and a water line extension. A traditional court with a poured concrete base would cost about $20,000 less, but it would not have the advantage of being movable and water-permeable, Pereira noted. The Community Preservation Committee has determined that the project qualifies for Community Preservation Act funding and is considering the proposal for recommendation as part of its funding request at Town Meeting in March, Dwyer said in his written proposal to the School Committee.

If funding is approved at Town Meeting, installation could begin in early August and would take about a week, making it ready for use by August 30.

“This sounds like a fun thing to bring forward and could be a real benefit to students,” said Jennifer Glass, chair of the School Committee, which voted unanimously to support the PRC’s request.

School architects present final report; warrant articles mulled

Bschooly Alice Waugh

Reporting on results from previous school building forums, architects noted that residents seem to be converging on a “price point” of $35 million to $40 million for the town’s net spending on a school project.

At the fourth and final School Building Advisory Committee public forum on the school building project on January 12, consultants from Dore & Whittier recapped the previously presented three families of renovation and construction options and their estimated prices (see the Lincoln Squirrel, Dec. 8, 2014):

  • Option 1 – facilities needs only: $12–$29 million
  • Option 2 – facilities needs plus “a la carte” educational enhancements: $29–$47 million
  • Option 3 – facilities needs plus comprehensive educational enhancements: $54–$66 million

The architects added a seventh choice to the Option 2 family called Option 2G, which is the same as 2F but without $7.7 million in deferred facilities work such as a girls’ locker room in Reed Gym, improvements to playing fields, paving and curbing, etc. Option 2G would cost an estimated $39.9 million, said Jason Boone of Dore and Whittier.

At the State of the Town meeting in November and again this week, architects and school officials explained that Lincoln could apply to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) for funding to offset some of the project’s cost. The town could be eligible for a reimbursement of 35 to 40 percent, but only for a project that was approved and overseen by the MSBA. The agency will support only projects that meet all of a school’s demonstrated educational needs, which for Lincoln would mean one of the choices from Option 3 or perhaps an upper-end Option 2.

More than 76 percent of residents at the State of the Town expressed a preference for the Option 3 family, while 20 percent voted for Option 2 and 4 percent for Option 1.

Applying again for MSBA funding would also add at least 18 months to the project timeline and about $3.3 million in cost escalation associated with that delay, as well as a requirement to conform to the state’s requirements and procedures. The MSBA would also require another feasibility study as well as a “clear distinction” between the school project and a community center that might be built, said Jon Richardson of Dore & Whittier.

Homing in on options

Since state funding is far from certain, residents at the third SBAC forum in December were asked which specific project options they would support, depending on the MSBA situation. The options that received the most votes, along with the net costs to the town after a state reimbursement of 40 percent, were:

  • 2E—without state funding ($36.9 million), 17 votes
  • 2F—without state funding ($47.6 million), 17 votes; with state funding (Lincoln’s share would be $28.6 million), 7 votes
  • 3B—without state funding ($55.8 million), 19 votes; with state funding (Lincoln’s share would be $33.5 million), 10 votes
  • 3C—with state funding (Lincoln’s share would be $35.3 million), 44 votes

Option 2G, which was not one of the voting options at that forum but was discussed verbally, would cost about $39.9 million overall, or $23.9 million with state funding.

“What we came to realize is that there is a price point the town is maybe organizing around” of $35 to $40 million as the town’s net cost for a project, Boone said.

What will the MSBA say?

Although there is some uncertainty as to the state’s willingness to fund a project , “we feel that a well-crafted statement of interest and strong support from the town would lead the MSBA to reengage,” Richardson said. “Their primary interest is in successful projects. They would love to take what at the moment is an unsuccessful project and turn it back into a successful project.”

In 2013, the MSBA approved a reimbursement of $21 million for a $49 million project, but the pledge was withdrawn after voters failed to approve the project by a two-thirds majority at Town Meeting.

Applying for state funding “is not just filling out a form and hoping for the best. Lincoln has to find a way to demonstrate its support for an MSBA project,” said School Committee chair Jennifer Glass. The committee would therefore seek a two-thirds majority at Town Meeting this March and a simple majority at the ballot box on the question of whether to apply, as well as support from all town boards and commissions.

To submit a statement of interest to the MSBA, the School Committee and Board of Selectmen are not required to gather a two-thirds voter majority or have any town-wide vote at all, “but that’s not how we want to do this.” Glass said. “If we can’t get two-thirds now, when there isn’t any money on the table,” it will be even harder to do so once voters are asked to approve a specific expenditure, she added. “It is a risk but, it’s a self-imposed risk.”

Deciding on the questions

The School Committee must now come up with wording for Town Meeting warrant articles to find out whether voters want to (1) support a project with a net cost to the town of $30 million to $48 million, (2) reapply for MSBA funding, and (3) approve spending for a feasibility study. The cost of that study would depend on the results of the first two votes. Glass presented three possible ways to frame these questions. Her full presentation also included potential construction timelines that would vary according to the various voting outcomes, with construction beginning anywhere from fall 2016 to mid-2018.

Some residents at this week’s forum worried that the price range voters might be asked about ($30 to $45 million) is too broad, or that multiple questions would be too confusing.

Resident Sara Mattes suggested dividing the various questions between the regular Town Meeting in March and a special Town Meeting in June. “You’re going to really jam a Town Meeting, and it will be very complicated and people may get frustrated,” she said.

Asked about the impact on homeowners’ tax bills of the various options, Glass said that the Finance Committee was working on estimates. At the State of the Town meeting, the FinCom offered figures for estimated property tax increases ranging from 2.5 to 7.3 percent, or $321 to $2,254, based on the median tax bill of $12,503 in fiscal 2015. The estimates assumed different scenarios such as the amount borrowed ($10 million to $50 million), the interest rate (3.6 percent or 4.6 percent) and the time span of the bond (20 or 30 years).

News acorns – 1/12/15

acornFinal School Building Advisory Committee forum on Jan. 13

At a School Building Advisory Committee public forum on Tuesday, Jan. 13 from 7-9 p.m. in Reed Gym, Dore & Whittier Architects will present a summary of the work carried out this fall related to the development of renovation options to address the facility and educational needs of the Lincoln School. Also at the meeting, information will be shared and solicited regarding the Town Meeting presentation and possible warrant articles. The last public forum was held in December (see the Lincoln Squirrel, Dec. 9, 2014).

Chimney scam alert

The Lincoln Police Department would like Lincoln residents to be aware of a scam that has victimized a number of residents recently. The scammers call saying they will clean your chimney for half price and use high-pressure selling tactics. When they arrive, they tell you that you need several hundred dollars of work that you really don’t need. If you receive a call or if they come to your home, please call the police at 781-259-8113.

Kindergarten registration beginning soon

The Lincoln School is beginning kindergarten registration for the 2015-2016 school year. Children who are residents of Lincoln and 5 years old before October 1, 2015 are eligible. Letters and registration forms will be mailed to families starting February 1. Please call the school if you do not receive a letter and your child is kindergarten-eligible. Registration requires your child’s birth certificate and proof of residence in Lincoln. Please call the Smith office at 781-259-9404 if you have any questions about these requirements. A Parent Orientation night will be held on April 15 from 6:45-8:30 p.m. Families will learn about the kindergarten curriculum, program setup, placement process and have an opportunity to ask questions.

Letter to the editor: PTO thanks Community Partners

letter

To the editor:

On behalf of the Lincoln PTO, I’d like to extend our deepest thanks to our PTO Community Partners whose contributions have helped make possible our many enrichment activities at the Lincoln School in 2014-15. These activities include visits to the school by poets, dancers and puppeteers, as well as science, nature and engineering workshops, historical reenactments and more (see the “What We Do” page on the Lincoln PTO website). Our Community Partners include:

Our children’s education is richer because of the help these Community Partners provide, so I hope you’ll join me in thanking them for another great year at the Lincoln School.

Sincerely,

Kimberly Bodnar, Lincoln PTO Chair/President

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Residents start to narrow down school options

schoolBy Alice Waugh

In a follow-up to the State of the Town meeting where attendees expressed preferences for school and community center ideas with sticky dots, those dots were out in force again last Wednesday as residents focused on which direction to go for a school building project.

The December 2 meeting was the third in a series of open forums hosted by the School Building Advisory Committee to update residents on renovation/construction options and cost estimates for meeting the school building’s basic facilities needs as well as educational upgrades.

At the State of the Town meeting on November 15 (see the Lincoln Squirrel, Nov. 17, 2014), architects from Dore and Whittier presented project possibilities are grouped into three broad categories (all estimates include construction costs, professional fees, phasing and escalation due to the passage of time):

  • Option 1: facilities work only ($12.2 million to $29 million)
  • Option 2: facilities plus some “a la carte” educational enhancements ($29.5 million to $47.6 million)
  • Option 3: a comprehensive package of facilities and educational upgrades ($54.7 million to $58.8 million)

Architect Jason Boone of Dore and Whittier reported last week that 76 percent of residents expressed a preference for Option 3, while 20 percent preferred Option 2 and just 4 percent preferred Option 1. In comment sticky notes at State of the Town, residents said they wanted the school project to be tied as closely as possible to a community center project, asked that the new school spaces be energy-efficient, and supported the educational vision outlined by Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall.

Key variables that residents will have to weigh when deciding which route to pursue are cost, which educational enhancements to choose, the importance of energy efficiency in light of the the town bylaw seeking to eliminate fossil fuel consumption in town buildings by 2030, the extent to which people want to preserve the existing school, project timing, and the level of joint school/community use for space in a renovated school.

The cost of a school project will depend on whether the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) is willing to pay for some of it. Boone noted that in the previous go-round, the MSBA would have paid about 40 percent of the $49 million cost for a new school if residents had approved the project by a two-thirds margin at Town Meeting.

If the town decides to seek MSBA funding again, the project must address all of the school’s facilities and educational needs to be eligible, meaning “you would have to do a high Option 2 or one of the Option 3s,” Boone said.

There are some conditions that would come with seeking MSBA funding. The town would have to resubmit a statement of interest and do another feasibility study; there would be a delay of at least 18 months in starting construction (vs. doing a project with town money only); and the timing and amount of funding is uncertain.

Using Option 3A as an example, a 40 percent grant from the MSBA would mean the town would get about $24.3 million, though that would be partially offset by an extra $3.3 million cost caused by the time delay while going through the MSBA process, Boone said. If all went well, the renovated building under Option 3A would be ready for occupancy in April 2019 without MSBA funding and June 2020 with the funding, he said.

Involving the MSBA would also mean less opportunity for overlap between new school space and a community center. “They do have restrictions and requirements, and the relationship of a community center to a school project would be problematic. Trying to combine projects could be a potential red flag to the MSBA,” Boone said.

Residents discussed various community center sites at the State of the Town and indicated that having it located on the site of the Hartwell pods was the best option. “We have not explored any options that embed any community center programming in any of our options,” but none of the Dore and Whittier proposal would prevent such a facility from going on the Hartwell site, Boone said.

Educational enhancement options

When it comes down to choosing among the educational enhancements under discussion, “we acknowledge that we will likely have to make some very difficult decisions,” McFall said as she discussed a sheet listing the educational value (high, moderate or modest) added by various upgrades, “but anything we do to the building will be an educational improvement—anything,” she said.

A cafeteria/commons space for teaching larger groups appeared as a high improvement in three of McFall’s lists of upgrade goals: flexible multi-use spaces, security (since it would involve building a link between the Brooks school and the Reed gym), and community use. “Adding that space really meets a lot of different needs,” she said. A package including a Brooks cafeteria would cost at least $36.6 million by Dore and Whittier’s estimates.

As for the energy efficiency of the various options, Boone said Dore and Whittier hasn’t come up with estimates for work that would meet the 2030 bylaw standards, but any building that did so would need advanced heating/ventilation/air conditioning technology incorporating alternative energy such as geothermal, wind and/or solar.

“It’s important to note that there would be a measurable and significant cost premium to truly achieve that goal,” he said. That priority is also affected by the preservation variable. The more of the existing building you try to save, the harder it becomes to achieve the 2030 goals,” Boone said. “We need to hear from you as to prioritization.”

Those at the meeting were then asked to indicate with one sticky dot which of the specific options they would support with MSBA funding and the another dot what they could support without money from the MSBA. The result: Option 3C got the most stickers overall and a clear majority of the “with MSBA funding” stickers, while several options—2D/E, 2F, 3B and 3C—garnered a good number of  “without MSBA funding” stickers. All of Dore and Whittier’s options are illustrated here.

Options 3B and 3C offer the same features and differ only on the proportion of renovation to new construction. Option 3B is essentially the idea proposed by the “Fireside Seven,” a group of Lincoln architects and designers including Douglas Adams and Ken Bassett that formed after the defeat of a new $49 million school at Town Meeting in November 2012 (see the Lincoln Squirrel, April 2, 2013). It would cost $55.8 million and calls for about two-third renovation and one-third new construction. Option 3C would cost $58.5 million and include 52 percent renovation vs. 48 percent new construction. The drawing for that option shows a new two-story segment connecting the Smith building and the 1994 link, although Boone said two floors weren’t a given and that residents should focus only on the percentage of renovation to new construction.

News acorns – 12/4/14

acornL-S concerts include choral groups tonight

The L-S Winter Choral Concert will be performed on Thursday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. in Kirschner Auditorium at the high school, while the L-S Instrumental Concert will be a week later on Thursday, Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. in the same location.. Both concerts are open to the public and free of charge.

Tonight’s choral concert will feature the L-S Concert Choir & Chamber Singers, the Lincoln School Chorus and the Curtis Select Chorus. The L-S choirs are singing music of America, Ireland, England, France, Macedonia and South Africa, and selections from Carmina Burana. The L-S student-led vocal groups Acafellas, Accent, Achoired Taste, Coro de Chicas & Musigals will perform a variety of popular music to start the concert.Recording of the concert will be available for pre-order. Concessions will be available.

The Instrumental Winter Concert on December 11 will include large ensembles including the Orchestra, Symphonic Band, Concert Band, and smaller groups including the Flute Choir and Violin Ensemble. Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride will provide the grand finale with 130 instrumental students performing together on stage. Highlights from the program  will include:

  • Orchestra—Marche Slav by Tchaikovsky; Jupiter from “The Planets” by Gustav Holst; selections from Bizet’s Carmen; and the Allegro movement from Mozart’s Symphony No. 25 in G minor (used for the theme song of the movie Amadeus).
  • Symphonic Band—Cinicinnatus March by H.A. Vandercook; Blue Ridge Saga by Jim Swearingen; and An American Fanfare by Rick Kirby.
  • Concert Band—Avenger March by Karl A. King; Albanian Folk Dance by Shelley Hansen; and Chorale and Shaker Dance by John Zdechlik (including the familiar Shaker hymn ‘Tis The Gift To Be Simple)
Dog walkers on the school campus: please scoop!

The Lincoln School has noticed a recent increase in dog walkers failing to clean up after their pets when traversing the campus play areas. Principal Steve McKenna notes that this is not pleasant for the child who steps or rolls in just the wrong place while at recess.

Kids invited to participate in First Parish Christmas Pageant

Rehearsals for the December 14 children’s Christmas Pageant at the First Parish Church will be December 7 and 14 during church services. There’s a part for every child who wants one. Children will gather in the sanctuary (the white church) at 10 a.m., then proceed with the pageant leaders up to the Stone Church for rehearsals and performance at 11 a.m. Invite the grandparents and bring a camera, and be prepared to sing along! The First Parish also invites families to attend the Solstice Service and/or one of two Christmas Eve services. Please see the First Parish calendar for more information.

Old Town Hall Exchange hosts “Gift Local” event

The Old Town Hall Exchange will host the 4th annual Gift Local Artisan and Craft Show on December 13 and 14. This event will host a variety of talented local artists, featuring jewelers, woodworkers, and more. Stop by and get some of your holiday shopping our of the way while supporting some terrific local businesses. The event takes place on Saturday, Dec. 13 from 6-9 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 14 from 1-6 p.m.

Talk on bicycling history on Dec. 17

The Lincoln Public Library presents “Boston’s Cycling Craze, 1880-1900: A Story of Race, Sport and Society” with author Lorenz J. Finison on Wednesday, Dec. 17 from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Tarbell Room. Explore the rise of Boston’s cycling through the lives of several participants. Finison details the life of Kittie Knox, a biracial 20 year old Bostonian. Books will be available for purchase.