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

Exotic cat captured in Lincoln is the talk of the town

The serval first spotted by Martin Pierce and Mary Jo Haggerty outside their door (note the domestic cat in the foreground who is not feeling welcoming). See more photos below.

(Editor’s note: see an update on Bruno here.)

Lincoln has some interesting animals on its farms and in its woods, but none so exotic as the serval cat that was captured with the help of the MSPCA and several Lincoln residents.

The saga began on December 28 when Partridge Lane resident Martin Pierce posted a photo on LincolnTalk of an unusual-looking stray cat that he and his wife Mary Jo Haggerty saw outside their front door, “looking all over the place like he wanted to come in,” Haggerty told CBSN-Boston. They called the MSPCA, which advised them to feed the car or leave food at the same time every day and call when he returned.

In the ensuring days, there was much speculation by more than a dozen residents on LincolnTalk as to the species of the animal; bobcat was ruled out early and Pierce’s neighbor Vic Saleme speculated tongue in cheek that “perhaps someone threw the ocelot out.” Eventually there was agreement that the animal was a serval — a wild animal native to sub-Saharan Africa. In North America, they can be seen only in zoos and wildlife rescue facilities (Animal Adventures in Bolton, Mass., has had one in the past, though it’s not clear whether the serval is still living there).

Nothing more was heard for a few days until January 3, when Saleme wrote the cat was back and he left some food for it (“he loves Tyson chicken nuggets,”) he wrote. More than a dozen residents pitched in on LincolnTalk with referrals and suggestions for how to trap the animal.

The next day, he was spotted again by Saleme and Deerhaven Road resident Khinlei Myint-U, and two MSPCA staff members with a humane trap rushed out to Lincoln. Earlier that day, Saleme captured a video of the animal that’s now on the MSPCA-Angell’s Memorial Hospital’s Facebook page (the organization also posted the story of his capture on Instagram).

“I drove up and he was just sitting in the driveway. I couldn’t believe how lucky we got,” Alyssa Krieger, Community Outreach Manager at MSPCA Boston, told NBC 10 Boston. She and a helper were able to catch the serval after attracting him with a little bowl of Meow Mix (which she held in a hand gloved in a bite-proof gauntlet). He bolted into Pierce’s garage and she was able to grab him using a thick blanket before putting him into a cage and loading him into their van.

“I think he was just, like, ‘I’m so cold! I’m from Africa!’” Krieger told NBC 10. The cat, which has been nicknamed Bruno, was quite the media star — he was also the subject of a piece on WCVB-TV , WJAR-NBC 10 in Providence, R.I., and articles in the MetroWest Daily News and its associated papers as well as Boston.com, which also has Saleme’s video.

After Bruno was taken to Angell Memorial in Boston, veterinarians found he was about a year old and was quite thin, weighing only 19 pounds (healthy adult servals weigh 20-40 pounds. One of his back legs had been broken in two places some time ago, possibly from being hit by a car. Staff will evaluate his quality of life and pain level to to see if he can continue to manage as is, or if he would be more comfortable if the leg were amputated.

Krieger speculated that Bruno was an escapee from a home where someone was keeping him illegally as a pet to breed Savannah cats. It’s therefore highly unlikely that the owner will be identified.

The MSPCA will work with the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife to find Bruno a permanent home in a zoo or sanctuary once he’s ready. in the meantime, since the organization is nonprofit, they set up an online fund for people to donate toward his medical care. Anything raised beyond the cost of his care will be used to treat homeless animals or to support financial aid for those who need it at Angell Memorial.

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News acorns

New restaurant opening is several weeks off

The Tack Room, the latest iteration of the restaurant in South Lincoln, is “still about 4-6 weeks away from opening,” according to owner Michael Culpo, who originally hoped to open by Christmas. “We are very excited to open and to serve the Lincoln area and beyond!” he added.

Town notary service suspended temporarily

Effective Thursday, Jan. 6, notary services at Town Hall and Bemis Hall will be temporarily suspended in response to changing public health conditions and efforts to protect employees and their families. Notary services will resume when public health conditions allow. The town referred residents to these other public notaries:

Click here for more information about notary locations and services.

Library offerings

Several upcoming events are being offered via Zoom by the Friends of the Lincoln Public Library.

Lily Geismer

“The Road to Segregation: Lincoln, Route 128, Suburban Liberals & the Long Roots of Inequality”
Thursday, Jan. 13 from 7–9 p.m.
How did Boston’s western suburbs become the largely white and affluent communities they are today? Lily Geismer, Associate Professor of History at Claremont McKenna College, examines the results of post-war federal policies and local suburbanization and their impacts on race and class in residential patterns in Lincoln and surrounding towns. Geismer is author of Don’t Blame Us: Suburban Liberals and the Transformation of the Democratic Party and Left Behind: The Democrats’ Failed Attempt to Solve Inequality. Elise Lemire, author of Black Walden, writes in the introduction to Don’t Blame Us: “This is local history at its finest, both particular in its questions and far reaching with its answers. I will never see my hometown of Lincoln, Massachusetts, in quite the same way again.”

Co-sponsored by First Parish Lincoln’s Racial Justice Advocates, Lincoln WIDE (Welcome, Inclusion, Diversity, Equity), an organization of Lincoln residents, and the Lincoln Historical Society. Click here for the Zoom link (meeting ID: 943 6533 7243, passcode: 392036)

“Opera for Everyone”
Saturday, Jan. 15 at 2 p.m.
Travel to Salzburg, the city of Mozart and “The Sound of Music” without leaving your home with “Opera for Everyone” with Erika Reitshamer. The Zoom link will be posted closer to lecture date at www.lincolnpl.org.

“Artists’ Gardens in New England”
Thursday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m.
Some of our most beloved painters, sculptors and authors were inspired by the gardens they created. Visit the private havens of Edith Wharton, Julian Alden Weir, Childe Hassam, Daniel Chester French, Emily Dickinson, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Celia Thaxter, and others. Jana Milbocker, principal of Enchanted Gardens, combines horticulture, design, and travel tips to educate, inspire and delight both new and seasoned gardeners. To receive Zoom link, please register at Lincoln Public Library events calendar.

Baby Sign Language Class
Four workshops starting on Friday, Feb. 11
Caregivers and their babies (two months or older and pre-verbal) are invited to this four-week workshop with Sheryl White. Sheryl will show you how to teach your baby sign language as well as explore benefits and research for caregivers. Each week participants will “bring” props to class to help bring the virtual program to life with signing directly to the babies. Participants are encouraged to sign up for all four sessions, which will take place over Zoom on Fridays from 10:30- 11:15 (other dates are February 18, February 25, and March 11). Email dleopold@minlib.net to register and receive a Zoom invite. 

Meet members of the White Ribbon Group

In 2019, a group of men joined together in hopes of engaging men and boys to be a part of the solution in ending gender-based violence. Since its creation, this group has met monthly, led local discussions, and hosted events large and small to engage our community in moving towards a world free of abuse in all its forms. Join the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable as they share more about their work, why they chose to get involved, and how you can join in this important work. The discussion will take place via Zoom on Friday, Jan. 11 at 3 p.m. The event is free, but registration is required and can be completed here or at www.domesticviolenceroundtable.org. Click here to make a donation to support this work.

My Turn: Jim Hutchinson is running for Select Board

Dear Lincolnites,

I am writing today to declare my candidacy for the Select Board seat being vacated by James Craig, which will be for a three-year term. I thank James for his many years of service to the town, and I respectfully ask for your support at the town election on Monday, March 28, as I seek to continue my service to Lincoln in a new capacity.

If elected, it would be a bit too much for me to continue to serve in my current role as chair of the Board of Water Commissioners, so I am also announcing my resignation from the commission, effective at the end of our Annual Town Meeting in March. I encourage interested residents to run for this Water Commission seat. Don’t be shy — the new Water Superintendent is fantastic! I also note that if elected to the Select Board, I will offer to be the liaison to the Water Commission and do what I can to help continue our good progress on the work there to strengthen the Water Department and to successfully complete the needed updates to our water infrastructure.

My wife Anne and I have lived in Lincoln for 22 years, and I’ve had the pleasure getting to know many of you while serving on a number of town committees. I was treasurer of Codman Community Farms for three years, a member of the Finance Committee for seven years (as chair for two of those years). I’ve been on the Green Energy Committee for eight years and on the Water Commission for two. In addition, I have had various liaison duties such as helping with the Power Purchase Agreement Subcommittee in charge of getting solar PV panels installed next year on our newly renovated school. I enjoy keeping tabs on what’s going on in town by serving in these positions, and I am perennially refreshed by the humor, intelligence, and thoughtfulness of my fellow volunteers and town staff with whom I’ve worked.

Some of you who know me may believe that I am only interested in the finance aspects of issues and have found that the best way to communicate with me is via a well-constructed spreadsheet. My career was in finance as a portfolio manager and a small business owner, and I’ll admit to believing that there is an important cost/benefit analysis at the heart of many of the issues that we face. If elected, I will offer my assistance and leadership on any such analyses needed for the town.

I have worked extensively with Town Administrator Tim Higgins and Select Board members Jennifer Glass and Jonathan Dwyer in the past, and expect to need only occasional arm-wrestling matches with them to divvy up and collaborate on the work of the Select Board. More generally, I hope to help the Select Board ensure that residents have all of the information they need to make important decisions, such as whether to proceed with building a new community center, or what should happen next regarding South Lincoln redevelopment.

But it is not just about having the information ready for Town Meeting and counting your votes. If we learned anything from the school building project, it was that residents need to be more involved while we develop the proposed solutions to our issues. I’ve been happy to see town leadership encourage more inclusive processes in recent years, and I’d like to help continue that evolution to see what we can do to make resident participation more convenient, productive, and enjoyable for a broader group of people. I believe this has already been happening to some extent. Our pandemic-induced switch to Zoom meetings, for example, has made it easier for many folks to attend meetings. I’d like to continue to pursue new tools and approaches that will bring even more people to town and committee discussions. After all, what’s more important to the Select Board than trying to ensure that we identify and pursue the issues and solutions most favored and important to you, the residents?

Sincerely,

Jim Hutchinson

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

News acorns

New Covid testing program for residents

In an effort to provide Lincoln residents with ample access to Covid-19 testing after the holiday season, the town will provide free Covid-19 PCR drive-through testing at the Pierce House on the following dates:

  • Tuesday, Jan. 4 from 4–4:30 p.m. (residents 60+ only) and 4:30–6 p.m. (all ages)
  • Wednesday, Jan. 5 from 4–4:30 p.m. (residents 60+ only) and 4:30–6 p.m. (all ages)
  • Saturday, Jan. 8 from 10 a.m.–noon (all ages)

This program is for Lincoln residents, employees and school children who: 

  • have symptoms of Covid-19
  • have been identified as a close contact of someone with Covid-19
  • may have been exposed to Covid-19
  • have traveled or gathered with groups over the holiday break

Advance registration is required. Residents over age 60 seeking appointment times between 4 and 4:30 p.m. on January 4 and 5 may contact the COA at 781-259-8811. All other registrations can be completed online by clicking here. At your scheduled time, please pull up to the main entrance to the Pierce House on the back circular driveway. Clinic volunteers will pass materials through your car window for you to self-swab and package your sample for collection. Results are normally available within 36 hours via email. 

If you have special needs or require assistance, please call Fire Chief Brian Young at 781-259-8465. More testing dates will added as needed.

Film: “The Long Shadow”

The First Parish Lincoln  (FPL) Racial Justice Journey continues on Thursday, Jan. 6 at 7–9 p.m. with a Zoom screening of the PBS documentary “The Long Shadow,” which offers a summary of racism in America from its beginnings to recent times. Emmy Award- winning director Frances Causey traces her family’s legacy of plantation-owning in the South and continues into the 20th century. Click here to join the screening via Zoom (meeting ID: 987 9477 5010, passcode: 541766).

Talk on chestnut trees

The American Chestnut Foundation’s lead volunteer in Lincoln, Mark Meehl, will discuss the history of this tree and efforts to preserve its genetic diversity in town at a Conservation Department event on Thursday, Jan. 6 at 8 a.m. In this slide talk, he’ll share photos and videos of TACF’s current efforts and goals at the Flint Fields and Umbrello land. After the presentation you’ll hear updates from our Conservation Department and Lincoln Land Conservation Trust. Click here for the Zoom link (meeting ID: 913 6669 9916; passcode: 065122). Email conservation@lincolntown.org with any questions.

Phone directory deadline is Friday

The deadline for updating or adding your information for the 2022 Lincoln Directory white pages is Friday, Jan. 7. Listings that ran in the 2019 edition and require no editing will remain. If, however, you are new to town or want to correct or add to your entry, time is running out. There are three ways to provide updated information: email lincolnphonebook@gmail.com, fill out the yellow card you received and mail it back to the Friends of the Lincoln Library, or drop the card with your new information at the library, which also has extra copies of the cards. The library never sells the information gathered for the directory, nor do they put it on line. Many thanks to The Commons for their generous support in helping to fund the mailing.

Addendum

The January 2 story headlined “Lincoln mirrors national surge in Covid-19 cases” has been updated to include month-by-month data for Covid-19 cases in the Lincoln Public Schools, as well as the latest number of cases at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School.

My Turn: Craig will not run for reelection

Dear fellow Lincolnites,

I am writing to announce that I will not be seeking re-election to the Select Board this March. Even after six busy years, untold number of meetings (in person and virtual), and continuously adapting to the ongoing global pandemic, this was not an easy decision.

I have been truly fortunate for the past five years to serve with two terrific colleagues in Jennifer Glass and Jonathan Dwyer, and I will dearly miss working alongside them to address the issues of our town. I also cannot say enough about, nor will I be able to fully thank our dedicated and professional town staff, including Tim Higgins, our Town Administrator, Dan Pereira, our Assistant Town Administrator, Peggy Elder, our Administrative Assistant, and many others with whom I have had the pleasure of working over these years.

During my two terms on the board, it has been a privilege to work on important town issues such as the school building project, addressing affordable housing needs with the Oriole Landing project, chairing the town’s Housing Trust, integrating the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum with the Trustees of Reservations, launching what is now called the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, developing our town’s policies related to the legalization of marijuana in Massachusetts, and currently participating as the Select Board’s representative to the Planning Board’s South Lincoln Planning and Advisory Committee, which is evaluating the feasibility and town’s desire for potential zoning changes in the Lincoln Station area.

I would also like to express special thanks to Peter Braun and Renel Fredriksen, with whom I served (and learned a great deal) during my first year on the board, as well as the wonderful advice and support I have received over the years from former Select Board members including Noah Eckhouse, Sarah Cannon Holden, Gary Taylor, and Sara Mattes.

Finally, to all of you who volunteer and serve the town on various boards and committees — thank you! It is this spirit of service which truly makes Lincoln such a special place.

Happy New Year to everyone and here’s hoping for a healthy, safe and (somewhat more) Covid-free 2022!

Sincerely,

James Craig

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Lincoln mirrors national surge in Covid-19 cases

After months of single-digit weekly Covid-19 case numbers, Lincoln’s caseload shot up in the last two weeks of 2021, with 15 cases for the week ending December 23 and another 29 cases in the following week. This is the biggest two-week total since the beginning of the pandemic, surpassing the 27 cases seen in the last two weeks of 2020.

The spike mirrors that of neighboring towns as well as the rest of Massachusetts and the U.S. Over the same time period, Carlisle has recorded 73 positive cases, and there have been 190 in Concord, according to Public Health Nurse Tricia McGean. Local public health officials are responsible for tracking and contact tracing Covid-19 cases, but the state Department of Public Health recognizes that local boards of health don’t have the capacity to follow this surge “and suggests we try to focus on priority groups such as K-12, congregate living situations, daycares, and the like,” she said on December 31.

Massachusetts DPH figures show the distribution of Covid-19 cases in Massachusetts by age for the week ending on December 31.

“That being said, the ones that I do contact generally have mild to moderate symptoms,” McGean continued. “Transmission often happens when groups gather, so I expect more and more cases each day after this holiday week.”

The omicron variant spreads three times as fast as previous variants, so once one family member tests positive, the virus often jumps quickly from one person to another, and “this is where I’m seeing most of the transmission in the cases I interview. One household case turns to two turns to three all in a matter of days,” she said.

McGean could not immediately provide data on the ages of those who have tested positive in Lincoln, but statewide, 40% of cases in the last two weeks of the year were in adults age 20-39, according to DPH figures.

Lincoln schools are reopening on January 3 after the holiday break with “heightened attention to known, effective precautions,” Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall said in a letter posted to LincolnTalk on December 30 by School Committee member Susan Taylor.

All student after-school activities are cancelled for the week, and families are asked to reinforce symptom checking and mask wearing. Teachers and all school employees were instructed to self-test before arriving to work Monday and will wear state-issued KN95 masks at all times indoors. School and health officials will reassess following the results of weekly pool testing, McFall said.

“I recognize that it is concerning that we are returning to school under conditions of increasing numbers of Covid-19 cases. This is not surprising, and while the numbers are higher, we are following a trend similar to last year at this time with a spike in cases following the holidays. If the pattern holds, we can hope to see a large decrease in cases at the end of January,” McFall added.

Since the start of the school year, the Lincoln Public Schools have recorded 82 cases of Covid-19 (68 students and 14 staff), according to the LPS Covid-19 dashboard. That includes nine cases each in September and October, 29 cases in November, and 35 in December. Sixty-one cases were on the Hanscom campus and 21 on the Lincoln School campus.

Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School’s Covid-19 dashboard says there have been almost 60 cases of Covid-19 among faculty and staff as of January 3, up sharply from 17 during the week ending December 29. 

Federal and state health officials have issued new isolation and quarantine guidelines for those who test positive or are exposed to someone with Covid-19. Regardless of vaccination status, anyone who tests positive is required to stay home for five days. If they have no symptoms or the symptoms are resolving after that time, they can leave the house but must wear a mask when around other people for another five days.

McGean said there is no concrete threshold for closing the schools and moving to remote learning in the event that cases in town continue to rise sharply in coming weeks. Any such decision will be made after discussion among McGean, Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall, the Lincoln Board of Health, the state epidemiologist, and the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Judith Glassman, 1948–2021

Judith Glassman

A funeral will be held in Canton and streamed online on Tuesday, Jan. 4 at 12 p.m. for Judith Glassman, who retired as principal of the Brooks School in 2006. The Cambridge resident passed away peacefully surrounded be her family on December 31 after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.

She leaves her loving husband of 50 years, Mitchell Glassman of Cambridge; two sons, Adam Glassman and husband Yoo Jin Glassman of Cambridge, and Matthew Glassman and husband Jeremy Eaton of Ashfield; four grandchildren (Nicolas Glassman, Sarah Glassman, Julius Glassman and Davi Glassman), and two sisters, Anne Mack of Charlton and Debbie Feingold of Worcester and their families.

Judy was born in Lynn and was raised in Worcester, a daughter of David Levy and Selma (Turow) Levy. She graduated Doherty Memorial High School and Boston University and completed graduate work at Leslie College.

She was a beloved teacher, mentor and colleague for over 30 years, working in the Walpole, Holliston, and Lincoln school systems, retiring in 2006 as the principal of the Lincoln Brooks School. She was well known for the love she had for her work, her professional leadership, her no-nonsense sense of humor and as a loyal and life-long friend to many of her colleagues wherever her career path took her.

She was an avid runner for many years and ran the Boston Marathon in 1986. In retirement she enjoyed working part time as a new-teacher evaluator for Wheelock College and spending many hours on the beach in Truro with her husband, children, and grandchildren. Her adventures included traveling much of the world with her husband and winning the chance to dine with Barack and Michelle Obama during their second campaign for the White House in 2012.

She was a member of Temple Beth David in Westwood and later of Temple Beth Zion in Brookline.

The family would like to take this opportunity to thank the personnel at Newbridge on the Charles and Cadbury Commons for their dedicated and compassionate care. Donations in Judy’s memory can be made to Alzheimer’s Family Support Center, 2095 Main St., Brewster MA 02631.

To view the funeral service, make a gift, or leave a remembrance, visit Glassman’s page on the website of Stanetsky Memorial Chapel, which prepared this obituary.

2021: The year in review

Much like 2020, 2021 was a year where Covid-19 dominated our daily lives, including a year-end surge in cases — but we also saw the library, Town Hall and the swap shed reopen, and high vaccination rates and lower disease severity make us cautiously optimistic that the days of widespread deaths and patients on ventilators are in the past.

Other than that, it was a relatively quiet year in Lincoln. The biggest news stories were two town institutions changing hands (Donelan’s and The Commons); the completion of Phase I of the school project, and — perennial Lincoln favorites — the hopes for a new restaurant, and discussions over zoning and how to create a more vibrant South Lincoln with new development. 

Looking ahead, 2022 will almost certainly feature a complete school and concrete steps toward a community center, and maybe even some zoning changes. Stay tuned!

Here are some of the top stories from the Lincoln Squirrel in 2021, followed by an alphabetical list of obituaries. If you’re interested in articles on a certain topic (including Lincoln history, My Turn, police logs, land use, etc.), select one from the “Categories” pulldown in the left-hand column, or just type it in the Search bar at the right-hand column of every page.

December

November

October

September

August

July

June

May

April

March

February

January

Deaths in 2021