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

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Covid-19 vaccination clinic for kids

There are still spots available at the Covid-19 vaccination clinic for kids aged 5-11 on Saturday, Nov. 20 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. in the Reed gym. Click here to register for an appointment  (select “Nov. 20” only). The clinic will be well staffed to ensure the process goes smoothly and our young children feel safe and well cared for from start to finish. Additional clinics are being planned for first and second doses — information coming soon.

Register for adult classes at Minuteman Voc-Tech

Minuteman Technical Institute (MTI), part of Minuteman Regional Vocation Technical High School in Lincoln and Lexington,  is now accepting student applications for adult workforce development programs that begin in January for the programs in Metal Fabrication and Joining, CNC Machine Operation, Carpentry Pre-Apprentice, and Plumbing Code. In addition, MTI will accept applications beginning in January for 10-month programs that start in August 2022 for the 2022-23 school year. MTI will hold 10-month programs in Automotive Technology, Cosmetology, and Electricity. For more information, visit minutemanti.org. Classes are held on weekday evenings.

MTI’s January programs are tuition-free for qualified applicants as part of Gov. Charlie Baker’s Career Technical Initiative. Students who complete the programs will receive industry-recognized credentials and hours toward licensure in their respective fields. The programs are held in collaboration with Commonwealth Corp., MassHire Career Centers, and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. Prospective students must meet eligibility requirements to access these tuition-free opportunities.

Join the Reading for Racial and Social Justice group

The Lincoln Public Library’s Reading for Racial Justice program is now Reading for Racial and Social Justice. While continuing to read books focused on racism and racial justice, they will also be incorporating fiction and nonfiction titles related to other social justice issues. All sessions will be conducted via Zoom. To receive a Zoom invitation or to obtain more information, email rrapoport@minlib.net. Copies of the books in various formats are available. The upcoming schedule:

Police log for November 6–15, 2021

November 6

Old Winter Street (8:03 a.m.) — A person lost their dog. Waltham police recovered the dog and made arrangements with the owner for reunification.

Moccasin Hill (4:01 p.m.) — A resident reported possible identity theft.

Woods End Road (8:10 p.m.) — Report of possible drone in the area. Officers checked but found nothing.

Weston Road (10:51 p.m.) — Report of screaming coming from behind a residence. Officers checked; the noise may have been coming from wildlife.

November 7

Bedford Road (12:23 a.m.) — A driver struck a deer. There was no damage to the vehicle and the deer ran off.

Concord Road (2:06 p.m.) — Caller was concerned about an individual walking behind their home. Turns out it was a neighbor.

Wells Road (6:05 p.m.) — Caller reported a suspicious vehicle near the railroad footbridge. Police confirmed the vehicle was associated with an event at the Codman House.

November 8

Tower Road (12:00 p.m.) — Caller reported a loose goat. The animal control officer was notified and returned the animal.

Todd Pond Road (4:01 p.m. and 7:10 p.m.) — Attempt and then successful delivery of court paperwork.

November 9

Bedford Road (11:52 a.m.) — Caller reported a possible vehicle crash. The crash turned out to be utility workers.

Cambridge Turnpike eastbound (1:16 p.m.) — Report of a minor motor vehicle crash at Tracey’s Gas Station. Patricia Keefe-Driscoll of Concord was transported to the hospital and summonsed for operating under the influence of alcohol.

Donelan’s lot (2:39 p.m.) — Caller reported that they had locked their keys in their vehicle. The fire department responded and was able to open the vehicle.

Cambridge Turnpike eastbound (3:42 p.m.) — Motorist stated that they were involved in a motor vehicle crash on Route 2 east. The call was transferred to the State Police.

November 10

Hanscom AFB Vandenberg Gate (8:39 a.m.) — Report of a minor motor vehicle crash. An officer responded and assisted with exchange of papers.

Hanscom AFB (9:13 a.m.) — Hanscom Security reported that an individual attempting to access the base had an active arrest warrant. Chhandy Khon of Lowell was arrested and transported to Concord District Court.

Bedford Road (2:34 p.m.) — Caller reported a deceased deer on their front lawn. The animal control officer was notified.

Old Cambridge Turnpike (10:55 p.m.) — Caller stated that they had observed an individual running behind their property. Officers checked the immediate and surrounding area and were unable to locate anyone.

November 11

Old Cambridge Turnpike (11:57 a.m.) — A resident asked to speak with an officer regarding a possible dispute with their landlord.

Lexington Road (3:15 p.m.) — Caller reported that an individual was flying a drone over their property and when confronted, refused to leave. When police arrived, the individual was gone from the area.

Mt. Misery lot (4:47 p.m.) — Caller reported that their vehicle was damaged while parked. A report was filed.

Trapelo Road (6:29 a.m.) — Waltham police reported that they were looking for a vehicle involved in a possible domestic violence incident that was heading toward Lincoln on Trapelo Road. The area was checked but the vehicle wasn’t found. Waltham police said that the vehicle may have traveled onto I-95.

November 12

Due to a brief but powerful storm, branches, trees, and/or wires reported down on South Great Road (2:58 p.m.), Sandy Pond Road (3:17 p.m.), Hillside Road (3:21 p.m.), Brooks Road (3:26 p.m.), Wheeler Road (3:29 p.m.), Old County Road (4:19 p.m.), Weston Road (5:13 p.m.), and Silver Hill Road (6:24 p.m.),

Conant Road (7:36 p.m.) — A resident reported that a family member was overdue. After police were called, the person returned home.

November 13

North Great Road (2:50 p.m.) — Officer checked on an unoccupied motor vehicle in the Paul Revere lot.

Ridge Road (2:45 p.m.) — A resident reported an incident at their neighbor’s home. Officers responded and an investigation was initiated.

November 14

Blackburnian Road (9:48 a.m.) — A resident reported they had located a cat and advised that they will hold onto it until the following day and bring it to the vet.

Lexington Road (11:01 a.m.) — A resident reported an unknown vehicle on their property. It turns out that another family member had granted permission for the vehicle to be there.

Minute Man NHP Visitor Center (12:52 p.m.) — A wallet was found on the Minuteman trail. The owner was contacted and recovered the item.

South Great Road (3:48 p.m.) — A resident reported that squirrels had made their way into the home. The animal control officer was notified.

Post office, Lincoln Road (6:27 p.m.) — A passerby reported what looked like a strobe light at the post office. The strobe turned out to be a flickering exterior light.

South Great Road (6:39 p.m.) — A caller reported an elderly male walking on Route 117 heading east in all-black clothing close to the side of the roadway. Officers checked the area but were unable to locate the individual.

November 15

Tower Road (12:55 a.m.) — A resident reported that an engine had been running in the area for the last 15 minutes. A disabled train was nearby, and officers remained on scene to assist with the transfer of passengers to awaiting buses. The disabled train was ultimately removed from the area.

South Great Road (10:09 a.m.) — Weston police reported a black Ford Mustang with heavy front end damage was last seen heading west on Route 117. Lincoln police officers located the vehicle near Codman Road. The operator of the mustang failed to stop for the police. After a brief pursuit, the vehicle stopped on the off-ramp to Route 30 in Weston. The operator of the vehicle, identified as Miguel Gonell of Manchester, N.H., was arrested and charged with receiving stolen property (motor vehicle), operating after license revocation, failure to stop for police, speeding, marked lanes violation, and malicious destruction of property. He was arraigned the following day at Concord District Court.

Lincoln School (2:26 p.m.) — An individual asked to speak with an officer regarding a vehicle parked at the school.

Juniper Ridge Road (6:10 p.m.) — A resident reported receiving multiple fraudulent calls.

Cambridge Turnpike eastbound (7:11 p.m.) — OnStar called to report a motor vehicle crash with airbag deployment on Route 2. One occupant was transported to the hospital via the Lincoln ambulance. Massachusetts State Police will handle the crash investigation.

Lincolnite plies her art in music, film, and now a book

By Maureen Belt

Ruth Mendelson in front of the Lincoln Public Library with her new book, “The Water Tree Way.”

Composer, humanitarian, and children’s author Ruth Mendelson has come to believe that when something unfortunate happens to you, it’s not a bad thing — it’s just the universe’s way of getting you on the right track. 

For example, as a bass guitar student at Berklee College of Music in the 1980s, she suffered what she thought was a dream-crushing wrist injury. “I didn’t think I was ever going to be able to play an instrument again,” recalled Mendelson, an Illinois native who now calls Lincoln home.

Unable to consider a life that did not include musical creation, Mendelson scrambled for options that didn’t require two fully functioning wrists. She didn’t have to look far — she discovered that Berklee had a degree program for film scoring, a profession she had never considered and knew nearly nothing about. She took a chance and changed majors. 

“The sky opened up and I came across this universe of spheres that I had never explored before,” Mendelson recalled during a recent interview with the Lincoln Squirrel.

Mendelson enrolled and excelled, and after graduating, she became the first woman in Berklee’s history to teach in the Film Scoring department. More than 20 years later, she’s still at it. This unplanned trajectory took her around the world scoring award-winning films for HBO, Discovery, Disney, Animal Planet, the Smithsonian, and PBS, among others. Her list of accomplishments is long and includes an Emmy nomination and being named a New York Times Critics’ Pick.

Meanwhile, Mendelson’s wrist healed just fine and she’s been playing five-string bass for the One Human Family gospel choir for decades… which led to another unexpected opportunity brought on by so-called “unfortunate” events. She traveled with the choir to Geneva to perform for the opening of the United Nations’ International Peace Summit in 2002 — but her excitement about the prospect of performing on the world stage was replaced with shock when she realized that her bass had been left behind in London, “and I was playing the next day.”

She stayed at the airport for hours filling out paperwork, then caught a later shuttle to her hotel. It was aboard this ride that she chatted with her seat mate, an assistant to world-renowned primatologist Dame Jane Goodall who was speaking at the summit. Mendelson later said she didn’t realize her delayed bass arrival was simply the universe working its magic.

Her bass arrived the next day, but the electricity went out during sound check. But the show went on — power was restored as Mendelson’s group performed. Having skipped the sound check, she played with her eyes shut. Somehow her amplifier got turned around and rolled in front of her. Mendelson tried to nonchalantly kick it back into position. Watching this sideshow, Goodall smiled and asked her assistant the name of the musician who was awkwardly dancing with her amplifier. 

Later that day, Mendelson saw Goodall descending a flight of stairs and introduced herself. Goodall asked Mendelson to carry her purse. The connection was immediate, and the two proceeded to walk arm-in-arm to a workshop Goodall was hosting. “In that moment she went from the iconic Dr. Jane Goodall to a dear old friend,” she said, adding it was like the two had known each other forever. 

Since that fateful event, the duo has been collaborating on a variety of humanitarian projects such as the nonprofit Eagle Vision Initiative they founded to empower people (especially children) through the arts. Mendelson also updated the audio on the audiobook version of Goodall’s groundbreaking work, My Life with the Chimpanzees.

Most recently Goodall volunteered to write the foreword to Mendelson’s debut novel, The Water Tree Way (ThoughtOVac Press, 2020). Though classified by Amazon.com as children’s literature, the book has received rave reviews from readers as old as 92, and it’s a hit with 30-year-olds in France — which she knows because readers are sharing their feedback.

The story follows 10-year-old Jai (pronounced Jay) on a fantastical and often humorous adventure in a land of anthropomorphic trees, insects, birds, and celestial bodies, with notes of John Bunyan, Lewis Carroll, L. Frank Baum, and Joseph Campbell. Mendelson describes her work as “a gift from the universe that I was asked to steward.”

Like many of the works by the aforementioned authors, The Water Tree Way shares timeless life lessons. Jai, who is based largely on Mendelson herself, learns about risk taking, love, loss, helping others, forgiveness, acceptance, the perils of revenge, failure, and finding strength after a fall. She doesn’t shy away from heavy topics but brilliantly reshapes them with positive, child-friendly imagery. For example, Jai encounters rainbow-colored skies and flowers in the chapter on war and destruction. Much of this section is based on a previous project where Mendelson interviewed children before the second Iraq War. 

“I was shocked by how they were affected by even the talk of violence,” she said. 

Children will experience horrible events, but Mendelson’s work provides the tools to work through them. 

“We have to be equipped to deal with hardships,” she said. “If you’re going to succeed, you have to understand it requires failure. We have this glam version of success, but it’s completely false.”

The last few paragraphs of The Water Tree Way leave open the possibility of a sequel, but Mendelson isn’t sure yet if one is forthcoming. However, a Hollywood executive producer has already expressed interest in creating a film version.

While flattered, Mendelson will proceed carefully. “I have to be very discerning with this, because with this book, the most important part of it is its heart and soul and spirit and that has to be 100 percent retained,” she said.

Lincoln resident Ruth Mendelson’s debut novel The Water Tree Way is classified as a children’s work, but all ages can benefit from its life lessons. Here are a few inspiring lines drawn from the book (compiled by Maureen Belt):

  • Everyone has a song inside of them. A song that is magnificent and unique.
  • To react in anger only makes things worse.
  • To lose a good idea is one thing, but to lose sight of who you truly are is far worse.
  • You are beautiful and necessary and the world would never be the same without you.
  • Never return a mistake with a mistake.
  • We all fall sometimes. And sometimes, we simply need a jump start to get back up.
  • It never occurred to her that a present could be something you can’t see or touch.
  • The entire day went by with no victory in sight but she refused to give in to disappointment. 
  • All things move by a power greater than themselves — even humans who don’t think so. 
  • You must first accept that some of your thinking has been wrong before you can change it.
  • You always have what you need. Don’t worry.
  • Really, how horribly dull — to try a couple of puny times and just give up.
  • The drum is calling you.
  • You can’t expect to understand everything all at once. 
  • They would often say that courage is one of the greatest things to celebrate.
  • The main thing to remember is that it’s very important to ask for help when you need it. Don’t think that you have to figure it all out alone. 
  • All things that are free do things spontaneously, without explanation and without warning. And, being free, they bring beauty wherever they go. 

Town gets $400,000 for South Lincoln septic plant design work

The town has received a $400,000 state grant to design and engineer an upgrade to the wastewater treatment plant in South Lincoln, which owners of the mall have been advocating as a requirement for redeveloping that commercial area.

Lincoln Planning officials have been considering ways to rezone South Lincoln to encourage denser housing and mixed-use development in the larger area encompassing the mall, the MBTA station and adjacent businesses, Ridge Road, Doherty’s Garage, and Lewis Street. Among the ideas is redeveloping the mall (which is in tenuous condition financially) by adding a second story for housing. But the Rural Land Foundation, which owns the mall, has said that the wastewater treatment plant that serves both the mall and Lincoln Woods will need an upgrade for any redevelopment to be feasible. 

As a result, the town applied for a $400,000 grant even as it awaited the results of an engineering study by Wright-Pierce to evaluate the condition of the plant and see if it could handle additional septic capacity. Phase 1 of the study was completed in October and showed that the 35-year-old plant, though “a little long in the tooth” and needing some work, is operating at about 50% of its 26,000 gallon-per-day capacity and could handle some additional residents and businesses.

The town applied for the grant before knowing any of the study’s results because “you always have to plan the next step and the next step” in advance, said Paula Vaughn-MacKenzie, director of planning and land use.

“As that [study] was going on, we knew that if we could get a grant to cover [upgrading the treatment plant], that would benefit both the town and Community Builders,” which owns the 125-unit Lincoln Woods and the plant, Vaughn-MacKenzie said. “Everybody knew it was working but everyone also knew it was old… this entire evaluation is in response to the feedback we’ve been getting from the public asking about the infrastructure, and we know we can’t have redevelopment without the infrastructure” to support it.

The mall originally had a separate wastewater treatment facility that failed, and the RLF has been contracting with Community Builders to use the Lincoln Woods system for some years.

Wright-Pierce said earlier that Phase 2 of the study, which should be complete by the end of the year, will look at whether the existing plant can handle flow above 26,000 gallons per day for which it’s permitted, alternative treatment methods with a life-cycle cost analysis, and a recommendation on how to proceed, both with flows and treatment type. It’s unclear if that remaining work will be affected by news of the grant.

The grant money isn’t targeted at a specific project, “but it will provide a framework for going forward,” Vaughn-MacKenzie said. After Phase 2 is complete, “we’ll look at options and discuss with the community and Community Builders what the capacity and various costs will be” to upgrade the plant.

Vaughn-MacKenzie said she had asked Wright-Pierce and two other engineering firms for a ballpark estimate for upgrading or replacing the plant and was told it would be around $400,000, so that’s the figure she used in the grant request.

The town had been under a public announcement embargo while a formal announcement ceremony was being organized. Mike Kennealy, Secretary of Housing and Economic Development, will appear at the event at Town Hall on Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 3:30 p.m. 

New book probes the past and present at Mt. Misery

The front and back covers of Ron McAdow’s “Imagining the Past at Mount Misery.”

How did Mount Misery get its name? Who built the 350-year-old sawmill? What forces shaped this  strange, eventful, terrain? These are some of the questions answered in Imagining the Past at Mount Misery, a new booklet by Lincoln resident Ron McAdow.

The book offers a trail guide to the Mount Misery conservation land with color photos, maps, and diagrams explaining the history and geology along a two-mile walk on the property. McAdow lives near the trails and walks then frequently, “and I discovered this land had an unexpectedly fascinating history,” he said. That part of Lincoln was originally in Concord, and in the century before Lincoln was incorporated in 1754, the Billings family, and their sawmill and farms, were part of Concord’s history. After doing research at the Concord and Lincoln libraries and online, “I invited friends for a walk, and told them what I’d learned. They found it interesting and encouraged me to write it down.”

McAdow was executive director of Sudbury Valley Trustees from 2003 to 2013. Before that, wrote guides for paddling local rivers, with one book on the Concord, Sudbury, and Assabet Rivers and its follow-up, Charles River: Exploring Nature and History on Foot and by Canoe. For the Appalachian Mountain Club, he also co-authored a book called Into the Mountains; the Stories of New England’s Most Celebrated Peaks. More recently, he’s been writing fiction, and he’s also editor in chief at Personal History Press, where he formats and ghost-writes family memoirs for clients.

“I began [the latest book title]with the word ‘imagining’ because if you use your imagination on this walk, at some points you’re on an island overlooking a huge frigid lake, while at other times you’re walking along the bottom of a what was a lobe of ice, looking up at sand and gravel deposited by meltwater streams as the last ice sheet melted,” McAdow said. “If you go back only 350 years, you can help an English immigrant and his sons try to figure out how to scratch a living from the sand the glacier left behind. It grows pine trees well enough; how are they to be converted to lumber, and how are those boards to be transported to market? We don’t have precise information about these topics — but we can fill in, provisionally, by imagining the needs of the people who lived here. When we stand on the top of Mount Misery we know for sure what Henry Thoreau’s impressions were, when he had climbed that hill, because he recorded them in his journal.”

Ron McAdow

In writing this kind of guide, “recreation meets education. It can’t be a tome, but it needs enough of the right details to be interesting,” he said. “The challenges start with locating information, then sorting what’s plausible from what seems to be mistaken and verifying or correcting conclusions with people who know more about local history than I do. I appreciate the assistance of the Lincoln Historical Society! The next challenge is to figure out a format that will suit the purpose. I had just completed a square color book about a family farm for a client of my Personal History Press. I thought it was attractive and flexible format, so I used it for the guide. Balancing space given to different subjects and choosing visual materials is fun but not easy.”

McAdow will give an online slide talk about the project at the monthly Conservation Coffee hosted by Lincoln Land Conservation Trust and Rural Land Foundation on Thursday, Dec. 2; call 781-259-9251 or email llct@lincolnconservation.org for details. Imagining the Past at Mount Misery is available at Something Special in Lincoln and Verrill Farm in Concord; his other two books are available at the Mass Audubon Shop at Drumlin Farm and Sudbury Valley Trustees’ Wolbach Farm.

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See “The Addams Family!” at L-S

Tickets are now on sale for the LSB Players’ production of “The Addams Family!” — a hilarious and irreverent musical about a loving yet macabre family set in their ghoulish ways, as they face the prospect of their daughter/sister, Wednesday, marrying someone far too normal for their taste. Performances are in the Kirshner Auditorium at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School on Wednesday through Saturday, Nov. 17–20 (all shows at 7:30 p.m.). Masks are required.

Directed and choreographed by Carly Evans, music directed by Michael Bunting, and conducted by Tom Grandprey. Reserve tickets by sending an email to LSBTickets@gmail.com. Please indicate the date of the performance you wish to see and the number of student/senior ($8) and or adult ($15) tickets you would like to reserve. Reserved tickets will be held at the will-call table on the night of each performance, or you may pick them up the downstairs theater lobby entrance on Sunday, Nov. 14 from 12:30–2 p.m.

Holiday drives for families affected by abuse

Each year, the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable sponsors a family for the holidays and invites local communities to become involved in making the holidays brighter for families affected by domestic violence. Families in shelter for the holidays face a sad and difficult time as they are separated from family and friends and are hiding from their abusers.

Sponsoring a family or organizing a collection with colleagues, friends, or group is a great way to help. The following organizations all conduct holiday drives:

Holiday drives start early so that agencies have time to process donations. In some cases, gift cards are being collected so families can shop and wrap their presents.

LNS offers session on pre-K/K program

Join Lincoln Nursery School teachers and parents in a virtual discussion about the school’s preK/K program on Tuesday, Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m. The Studio Red program is a mix of older 4-year-olds to 6-year-olds. The children have either just missed the cutoff date to turn 5 for kindergarten, or in many cases, are  kindergarten-eligible based on their age and chose to have their kindergarten year at LNS. After a year in Studio Red, families can choose for their child to move to kindergarten or first grade. Click here to register for the discussion.

Update your information for the Lincoln Directory

Watch for a large yellow card in your mail this week from the Friends of the Lincoln Library (FOLL), since it’s time to update the Lincoln Directory, which hasn’t been published since 2019 due to the pandemic. The directory is a helpful guide to all things Lincoln — people (white pages), town offices and organizations (green pages), service providers, and trusted businesses (yellow pages) — and is mailed to every residence in Lincoln. For residents, it’s an easy way to contact neighbors and find service information, and for advertisers, it’s a guarantee that Lincolnites can learn about them and know that they support the Lincoln Public Library.

If your information hasn’t changed since the 2019 edition, you’re all set. If you want to make changes to your existing white pages listing or add cellphone information, we need to hear from you. Note that FOLL never sells any of the directory information. To make updates, send an email to lincolnphonebook@gmail.com, fill out the card when you receive it and mail it back to the FOLL, or drop the card with your new information at the library. The deadline to have your information included in the Spring 2022 directory is January 7, 2022. Many thanks to The Commons for their generous support in helping to fund the mailing.

My Turn: Many thanks to all who helped with costume parade

By the Lincoln Family Association

The Lincoln Family Association organized a Halloween costume parade with Courtney Koumijan, resident coordinator of Lincoln Woods, and Cathiangely Quirindongo, Rey Romero, and their children Vianavi and Reythian Romero of Lincoln Woods with friend Isaac Rosado. This was a bright light for so many in Lincoln during a difficult time to parent children — a chance to celebrate the creativity of kids, the joy of a longstanding trick-or-treat tradition, and a chance to gather safely as a community that has always focused on the growth, happiness, and health of its children.

It is in the heart of this rally around our youth that we see Lincoln shine so bright — every business at the Lincoln Mall simply saying an enthusiastic yes, and how can we help, when LincFam inquired if they would be able to participate. Donelan’s — which in the heart of the pandemic kept their doors open and created special shopping times for residents most at risk for Covid-19 complications — created a beautiful autumnal Halloween table laden with sweet treats and healthy snacks just inside its doors. Something Special — who in this same time offered to personally shop for each resident and bring perfectly wrapped gifts to hands unable to enter their store so no kid missed a birthday present from their grandparents, friends and family — opened its doors to delight children and fete them with delicious treats, smiling at each costume, knowing every superhero and classic character. Twisted Tree — which somehow managed to keep us fed, create an opportunity to not have to cook a meal to keep that semblance of normalcy, and to lessen the burden of the isolation for individuals and families — had frosted bubbles, hay bales and pumpkins lining its windows.

The police and fire crews  — who never stopped showing up for us and keeping us safe — showed up first to shepherd us from a flawless fall fest organized by Lincoln’s incredible Parks and Rec department to Lincoln Woods to safely end the parade for our costumed little ones. They engaged each child who sprinted towards the shiny vehicles and trucks. As if on cue, a commuter train slowly passed, dappled with late fall sunshine and honking for the cheering kids who deserved just a little more magic this year when being a kid is just a little more complicated. Residents of Lincoln Woods handed out countless pieces of candy, sharing the joy and creating the joy of the day. 

We are a community of individuals, organizations, and businesses who say yes. You came, Lincoln, you showed up. Masked and ready to celebrate our youth, you came and costumed yourselves, your kids, your pets. Our youngest participants may not remember a time before masks, but they will never forget the  happiness of that day. Thank you for all your kindness, your joy, and your willingness to always do a little more to make Lincoln such a special place to grow up. The world may make our individual hearts weary, but the community of Lincoln consistently lifts and fills us.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!

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“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.

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“On Belonging in Outdoor Spaces” speaker on Nov. 10

Join the Fall 2021 continuation of the “On Belonging” speaker series with “N’Sibo: the River to Which I Belong” featuring Rich Holschuh via Zoom on Wednesday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m.

The concept of “indigeneity” denotes the original people of a place. This is not a dualistic relationship but rather an understanding that the people are the land and the land is the people, including all of our relations. Holschuh will explore principles of relationship, reciprocity, and responsibility, along with an examination of how these ways of being have been embraced or rejected in the Northeast, along with the implications. Visit www.onbelongingoutdoors.org to learn more and register to receive the Zoom link.

Holschuh is a resident of Wantastegok (Brattleboro, Vt.) and an independent historic and cultural researcher. He has served on the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs and is a public liaison and tribal historic preservation officer for the Elnu Abenaki Tribe, members of the contemporary Indigenous community in Vermont. Rich is founder and director of the Atowi Project. His work draws on indigenous history, linguistics, geography, and culture to share beneficial ways of seeing and being in relationship with place.

This is a free program. Fall funding provided by The Sudbury Foundation. This speaker series is hosted by Farrington Nature Linc, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Mass Audubon, Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, The Food Project, The Walden Woods Project. 

Sen. Barrett to speak on Mass. climate bill

The Lincoln Land Conservation Trust invites everyone to attend a Zoom meeting with state Sen. Mike Barrett on Monday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. In “We Got a Climate Bill for Massachusetts. Now What?” he’ll talk about the far-reaching climate bill that became law in Massachusetts this spring, what needs to be done to make sure it is fully implemented, and what concerned citizens in Lincoln can do to help. There will be time for Q&A. Click here to register for the Zoom link.

The LLCT’s mission includes helping Lincolnites learn more about climate change and what they can do about it. This presentation is co-sponsored by the First Parish in Lincoln Green Committee, St. Anne’s Climate Justice Ministry, and Lincoln Mothers Out Front. 

Session on talking to kids about invisibility of Native Americans

The Lincoln METCO Parent Board will host “Talking to Kids About Stereotypes and Invisibility of Indigenous Native Americans,” the second Diversity and Dialogue event honoring Native American Heritage Month on Wednesday, Nov. 17 from 6–7:30 p.m. Missing information and misinformation about the First Nations people of the Americas has made stereotypes hyper-visible and truths invisible. The journey of un-erasing Indigenous voices and learning what we were not taught or mistaught starts with accurate information. It continues by having conversations with families, friends, community members, and our children. Understanding tribal land acknowledgements is a next step in making Indigenous voices visible. Join Lincoln School teacher Claudia Fox Tree as she confronts “invisibility” and implicit bias, while focusing on how to engage children through books, videos, and conversations. A resource list with books and links to videos and articles will be provided. Click here to join the Zoom meeting (passcode: 994150).

Make holiday wreaths at Codman farm

Using fresh evergreen branches, Codman-grown dried flowers, seed pods, fruits, and foraged elements, you will learn how to design and make a beautiful, all-natural wreath to decorate your home for the holidays. We’ll provide all course materials and tools needed, plus some delicious treats from our farm and local vendors. Bring a beverage of your choice and we’ll provide the rest!

Due to high demand, there will be two workshop dates: Saturday, Nov. 27 from 2–4 p.m. or Saturday Dec. 7 from 2–4 p.m. No experience necessary, though the class is best suited for adults and teens. Please bring a mask; class will be held in the greenhouse. Cost is $95 per participant. Sign up on the CCF events page. Questions? Email jess@codmanfarm.org.

Lincoln once had a big greenhouse gas producer — a lime kiln

By Donald Hafner

In 1730, Samuel Dakin with his brothers and three other investors had high ambitions. They formed a partnership for “searching after, digging, and improving all such mines or ores as may be found in or upon the land of” Samuel Dakin. Iron ores were highly valued, and bog iron ore — which forms in iron-rich, swampy water — had been found around Iron Mine Brook near Beaver Pond in Lincoln. The partners hoped a lode of bog iron ore might lie buried beneath Dakin’s land. His mining ambitions, however, were a bust. If the partners ever found “such mines or ores,” they were meager.

Fortunately for Dakin, his father had bequeathed to him a limestone quarry and a kiln for roasting limestone at high heat, converting it into powdery, white lime. The quarry and the lime kiln were located on Dakin land bounded by modern Sandy Pond and Baker Bridge roads. For his neighbors, it might well have been cursed as “Lime Kiln Field.” The heat needed to roast limestone into lime required large amounts of wood and produced acrid smoke and toxic fumes. The lime kiln cannot have been a good neighbor.

Lime had many uses in 18th-century Lincoln. Weaver Joshua Child used “two pounds of the best rock lime” in his recipe for dyeing cloth. Joshua Brooks used lime at his tannery on the North Road to remove hair from the hides before tanning. And in March 1767, the town paid Joshua Brooks for “eight bushels and half of hair to mix with lime for the meeting house.” The town had built a new gallery in the meeting house, and lime bought from Amos Dakin was mixed with sand and the hair from Brooks’ tannery “to plaster under the galleries in the meeting house.” (The animal hair helped bind the plaster together.) Over the years, the town treasurer’s records are sprinkled with payments for lime to be used in whitewashing the walls of the town’s schoolhouses.

It is not clear when the lime kiln in Samuel Dakin’s field ceased belching smoke and fumes. In 1788, Dakin sold his land to a Lincoln newcomer, Zachariah Smith. Whatever became of Dakin’s lime kiln, clearly it had not transformed Lincoln into a mining town. Yet perhaps scattered in that field there still can be found a scorched stone or two that once were part of Lincoln’s ancient lime kiln.

This account of the Dakin lime kiln is indebted to Jack MacLean’s A Rich Harvest, which can be purchased from the Lincoln Historical Society. Illustration from “Pre-Industrial Lime Kilns” (Historic England, 2018).

“Lincoln’s History” is an occasional column by members of the Lincoln Historical Society.

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Marc Day (center).

Donate to Marc Day Scholarship Fund

Friends and family of the late Marc Day invite donations to a scholarship fund established in the name of Marc, a Lincoln resident and graduate of Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School who died on September 8.

Organizers are hoping to raise $25,000 to help one college-bound L-S track runner each year. Marc, a student at Curry College, was diagnosed with brain cancer at age 19. “Some of his many loves were flowers, sushi, hot sauce, clothes and friends. Always his friends,” his mother Mary Day wrote.

To donate, click here. Under ” Dedicate this gift,” please type in “Marc Day” or “Marc Day Memorial Scholarship.” Donation may also be made by check payable to “L-S Scholarship Fund.” Write “Marc Day Scholarship” on the memo line and mail it to LSSF, P.O. Box 693, Sudbury, MA 01776.

Substitute teachers needed

Apply to become a substitute teacher in the Lincoln Public Schools for students in grades preK-8. Morning, afternoon or all-day shifts are available on the Lincoln and Hanscom campuses. Work with younger or older students based on your preference. Rates start at $60 (half-day) and $100 (full day). Click here to learn more and apply on line. Questions? Contact Kerry Parrella at kparrella@lincnet.org or 508-958-6872.

Minute Man NHP unveils art exhibit

A new public art exhibition has been installed in the Minute Man National Historical Park in collaboration with the Umbrella Arts Center in Concord. Curated by Monkeyhouse, “Go Out Doors – Minute Man National Historical Park” brings unique, park-inspired artistic perspectives to the Umbrella’s “Go Out Doors – Neighbors” regional exhibition of artfully upcycled, painted doors, installed in towns throughout Battle Road, MetroWest and beyond.

The doors feature designs inspired by and creatively interpreting themes from three major sites in the park selected in consultation with Park interpretive staff led by Visitor Service Manager Jennifer Pierce and 2021 intern Luis Berrizbeitia. Click here to learn more.

The project is the park’s second major collaboration with Umbrella, following 2019’s “Earth Press Project: Witness,” a large-scale sculptural installation by MMNHP’s first artist in residence, Nancy Winship Milliken. It is supported in part by The Foundation for Metrowest. Originally inspired by the door exhibit on NYC’s High Line, “Go Out Doors” has expanded from the Umbrella’s original summer 2020 exhibition in West Concord into a wide collaborative public art campaign with thematically similar installations cropping up along trails, open spaces, business districts and cultural attractions in many area towns.