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

News acorns

Actress to portray Abigail Adams

Abigail Adams, wife of a president, mother of a president, and sister of the captain of Lincoln Minutemen, will be portrayed by Sheryl Faye in a one-hour show on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. at Bemis Hall. The show is sponsored by Friends of the Council on Aging and the Lincoln Historical Society as a tribute to Harriet Todd. (Note: the “Ford Flappers, and Fitzgeralds” session scheduled for the same day has been postponed until Thursday, March 7 in Bemis Hall.)

Evensong, Climate Justice Ministry film at St. Anne’s

The St. Anne’s choir.

On Sunday, Feb. 24 at 5 p.m., St. Anne’s will present a service of choral evensong, a beautiful Anglican liturgy in which the word of God is illuminated by music. The choir will chant the psalm and prayers, and offer the mystical “Collegium Regale” settings of the “Magnificat” and “Nunc Dimittis” by Herbert Howells.

There will be a showing of the film “The Devil We Know” at St. Anne’s Episcopal Church on Tuesday, Feb. 26 as part of the church’s ongoing series of films on climate justice. “The Devil We Know” is the story of how a synthetic chemical used to make Teflon products contaminated a West Virginia community. But new research hints at a much broader problem: nearly all Americans are affected by exposure to non-stick chemicals in food, drinking water, and consumer products. A representative of the Toxics Action Center will discuss the organization’s work. A simple vegetarian soup supper will be served at 6:30 p.m. and the film will begin at 7 p.m. Donations will be accepted to help with the cost of screening rights.

South Sudanese program seeks volunteers

The South Sudanese Enrichment for Families program is looking for volunteers for its Saturday Bridges program, which brings together Sudanese children, parents, local students, volunteers, and professionals for enrichment programming during the academic year. Offerings include:

  • Preschool with pre-literacy and early literacy support for 3-4 year olds
  • Outdoor experiential education at Drumlin Farm for elementary and middle school students
  • Infant care
  • Adult workshops covering topics including parent-teacher conferences, Individual Educational Plans (IEPs), how to find resources in the community to support families, and how to look for signs and symptoms of trauma.
  • Personalized tutoring for adults

The program runs on Saturdays from 1:30–5:30 p.m. on March 16, April 6, April 27, and May 11 in the Hartwell pods. Orientation training for all volunteers will be held on Wednesday, March 6 at 7 p.m. at 10 Meadowdam Rd. in Lincoln. For more information, see www.SSEFBoston.org and email Keith Johnson at kjohnson@lincnet.org.

Cross-cultural film workshop for kids

A free cross-cultural filmmaking workshop for students aged 12–14 interested in collaborative movie-making with a twist will take place on Saturday, March 16 from 12:30–4:30 p.m. at the Flint Farmstead at 39 Lexington Rd. in Lincoln. Facilitated by Tom Flint and Japan’s only youth filmmaking organization, Children Meet Cinema, students team up for a filmmaking experience that allows them to explore the magic of cinema and create their own version of a famous film. The experience will consist of collaborative discussions, shooting, editing, screenings, and more. Space is limited to eight participants. For questions or registration, contact Flint at tflint@alumni.risd.edu or 617-930-1560.

Film: “Anton Chekhov’s The Duel”

The Lincoln Film Society presents “Anton Chekhov’s The Duel” (2010, in English) on Thursday, March 7 at 6 p.m. Escalating animosity between two men with opposing philosophies of life is played out against the backdrop of a decaying seaside resort along the Black Sea coast, leading to a duel as comically inadvertent as it is inevitable. Directed by Dover Kosashvili.

Events for parents of 8th-graders

“Life at L-S,” a parent-to-parent conversation about the 8th-to-9th-grade transition with Lincoln School Principal Sharon Hobbs and L-S veteran parents and administrators, will take place on Monday, March 4 (rescheduled from February due to snow) from 7–8:30 p.m. in the Hartwell multipurpose room. The program will focus on extracurricular elements of a busy high-schooler’s life so families have contextual knowledge prior to the L-S course selection process in March. There will also be an information session and building tour for middle-school parents on Thursday, March 7 from 7:30–8:30 p.m. For more information, contact Carole Kasper at carolemkasper@gmail.com or Hobbs at SHobbs@lincnet.org.

Discussion on Modernism in Lincoln

Please join us on Sunday, March 24 from 4–6 p.m. at the Lincoln Public Library to listen to a recent interview with Doug Adams about his relationship with Walter Gropius — part of an ongoing effort to record oral histories of Lincoln residents with interesting connections to modernism. Adams will be on hand for informal discussion afterwards.

Letter to the editor: proposed leaf blower bylaw is an “overreach”

To the editor:

In a recent posting to the Lincoln Squirrel (“Leaf blower issue comes before voters again,” February 18), proponents of a Town Meeting proposal to limit the use of leaf blowers describe their proposal as noncontroversial. I disagree, and I strongly urge Lincoln residents to oppose it in its current form.

The proposal limits my rights to use my leaf blower responsibly and with no harm to my nearest neighbors. Instead of a ban that can’t hope to anticipate all reasonable exceptions, the committee should seek for the town to adopt leaf blower use guidelines and focus on education instead of rules that limit their reasonable use.

I agree that the wanton use of leaf blowers can be both an environmental and health problem, but many Lincoln homeowners such as I live on the edge of a forest where leaves blow in and become lodged in gutters and corners around the house. This happens year round and I sometimes use a leaf blower to help dislodge them. I don’t use lawn services that overuse them. I don’t blow dirt off my driveway into the air. I live hundreds of yards from my nearest neighbor. As a result, when I use a leaf blower, it causes none of the harm that the proposers of this ban refer to. I can’t always limit my use to the hours proposed. None of these restrictions should apply to individual homeowners using leaf blowers themselves on properties over two acres.

It’s great that this group of citizens has been able to get the town to use leaf blowers more carefully in public areas and to get more people to use electric leaf blowers. I believe that the first step as described in this article has achieved a good result for us all. These efforts should continue.

This next step as proposed is an overreach. I understand that it is well intentioned, but it goes too far and limits the ability of homeowners to act reasonably — even if it simultaneously discourages unreasonable use. If the proposal is passed by Town Meeting, my only alternative will be to ignore the ban and use my leaf blower when I need to. No one will know, especially in winter when everyone is indoors over a quarter-mile away with their windows shut. But each time I have to do that, I’ll rue the day that the majority of my neighbors somehow found themselves justified to deny me the right to act responsibly on my own property.

We’re better than this. We can do better than this.

Sincerely,

Mark Deck
11 Boyce Farm Rd., Lincoln

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters 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.

Obituaries

Eleanor Fitzgerald

Eleanor Fitzgerald, 79 (February 17) — educator, realtor, and town volunteer. Click here for obituary and February 21 funeral arrangements.

John E. Howard, 90 (January 26) — had dental practice in Manchester-by-the-Sea. Click here for obituary.

Theodore Dreier Jr., 89 (February 4) — longtime psychiatrist at McLean Hospital. Click here for obituary.

John E. Howard

Theodore Dreier Jr.

Library books beckon readers with tantalizing outfits

The display inviting library patrons to “fall in love” on a blind date with a book.

Sometimes a book isn’t just a book — it’s a promising blind  date or a ticket to a faraway land.

Since Valentine’s Day, the Lincoln Public Library has been offering a selection of “mystery books” — not whodunits, but rather books concealed in wrapping paper with only a couple of clues to help you decide whether this could be the book for you. They’ll be on offer until midweek.

Meanwhile, since this is school vacation week, the library is also offering prepacked bags with DVDs, books, and CDs focusing on particular destinations such as Florida, Italy and even outer space, even if this is a “staycation” for you. Reference librarian Laura Paryl, who’s been wanting to do this for a while, picked out and assembled all the materials.

As for the “mystery books,” the only clues for potential readers are genre, year of publication, and names of a couple of other “if you liked X” titles. Reference librarian Robin Rapoport chose them based on books that were successful at other libraries that have done similar “Blind Date with a Book” displays. Though she hasn’t read all the books on display, “there are definitely some personal favorites in there,” she said.

Rapoport eventually plans to post a list of the titles to relieve the suspense experienced by those who tried to judge a book by its cover (or wrapping paper), as well as response cards to find out what books people really enjoyed or didn’t.

Leaf blower issue comes before voters again

A group hoping to limit the use of gas-powered leaf-blowers in Lincoln will hold a public forum on Thursday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. in the Town Office Building to discuss regulations that will be voted on at the Annual Town Meeting in March.

The Leaf Blower Study Group (now a subcommittee of the Conservation Commission) is proposing a bylaw that would place limits on when leaf blowers can be used. It would allow use of any type of leaf blowers in the fall and spring but only electric machines in the summer, and it would prohibit their use entirely from December 16 to April 14. From June to September, leaf blower use would be permitted during certain hours seven days of the week, though on Sundays, only residents of the property on which the leaf blower is being used may do so.

Leaf blowers could be used at any time for public safety and emergency situations, such as for cleanup after storms. The town’s building inspector could also grant one-day exemptions for users dealing with special situations and not ongoing routine maintenance, and there would be no rules on decibel levels.

“The idea is to regulate leaf blower use, not eliminate it,” group vice chair John Koenig explained in a presentation to the Board of Selectmen in December.

“It’s noncontroversial — there are so many studies that there is consensus that this is toxic and carcinogenic,” said Jamie Banks, chair of the group, which has gathered extensive research on the issue. Leaf blowers pose a health risk from airborne particles and exhaust, as well as noise pollution, research shows. Fuel spillage and maintenance chemicals are also harmful to the environment.

“The proposed bylaw is not a ban, but [instead] places reasonable limits on the use of noisy, polluting blowers for reasons of health, environment, and quality of life,” Banks said.

The Board of Health agreed in 2015 that “exposure to high-intensity, episodic or long-duration noise and air particulate and vapor dispersion from leaf blowers represents significant potential health hazards to our citizens” and members supported “efforts to craft effective and economically sound approaches to mitigate those health risks.”

The issue first came before the town in 2015, when the group proposed more sweeping restrictions. They submitted a citizens’ petition for a Town Meeting vote but later withdrew the item in the face of opposition and opted for more public education instead.

Thanks to its efforts and equipment demonstrations since 2015, town maintenance workers now use electric leaf blowers when possible, and property owners including the Rural Land Foundation have limited the use of the machines in the mall area, because the health risks of leaf blowers are much higher when they’re used to clear dirt and debris from hard surfaces such as sidewalks and streets.

“Now we feel like we’re ready for the next step,” Conservation Commission chair Peter von Mertens said, referring to the proposed bylaw.

At their December meeting, selectmen were initially lukewarm to the proposed bylaw, since there had been little public communication about it to that point (such as during November’s State of the Town meeting) and no formal solicitation of opinion since a 2014 survey.

“I would like to know more about the extent to which the people in Lincoln think this is a problem to be solved immediately,” Selectman Jonathan Dwyer said. “I feel like we have a lot of problems in town to solve right now and people only have a certain amount of capacity to deal with all of them.”

“I just have the sense there will be lots of questions raised” about how the leaf blower group formulated its proposed regulation, Selectman Jennifer Glass said.

“It would be very helpful for me” to hear feedback from public outreach before deciding on his stance on the proposal, Selectman James Craig said. The board will vote on whether to endorse the bylaw in early March.

Banks noted that public education was more difficult before the group became formally aligned with the Conservation Commission because it had no budget; “it was not due to lack of intent or effort.”

Clarification

In the February 14 “News Acorns” item about an art show in Wayland, the name of Lincoln artist Dilla Tingley was inadvertently omitted from the list of Lincolnites who are exhibiting. The original post has been corrected.

News acorns

Lincoln Through the Lens updated

The Lincoln Through the Lens page on the Lincoln Squirrel website has been updated to include all photos submitted by readers in 2018. Browse through pictures of people, places and wildlife in Lincoln all year round, or submit a photo of your own.

Events for 8th-graders headed to L-S

All eighth-grade parents in Lincoln and Sudbury are invited to “An Introduction to Music at L-S” on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. to learn more about the L-S Music Department. Join us in the auditorium lobby to meet the L-S music faculty and students without the crowds of L-S parents’ night and tour the music spaces. Learn more about music auditions, music offerings and music electives at the high school. If your student is in chorus, band or orchestra, sings or studies outside of school, or just loves music, we welcome you to attend. For more information or questions, email lsfriendsofmusic@gmail.com, or visit www.lsfom.org.

L-S Eighth-Grade Parents/Guardians Night will be Thursday, March 7 from 7–8:30 p.m. (snow date March 12). The program will begin in the L-S auditorium with an overview of the ninth-grade curriculum and an outline of the scheduling process, followed by an opportunity to visit faculty members of the various departments to ask questions about course selection and curriculum. 

School vacation events for kids at library, deCordova

There is still space in the “Make Some Art” book bag painting event at the Lincoln Public Library on  Thursday, Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. Join Susan from Craft.ed Creative Studio in Concord for a fun afternoon of stenciling and painting a canvas bag to take home! Ages 5+. Registration required; email dleopold@minlib.net or call 781-259-8465 x4.

Click here for other vacation-week kids’ events at the library, and click here for activities at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum.

Five Lincolnites exhibiting in gallery show

Lincoln residents Bernadette Quirk, Sarah Chester, Ellen Milan, Ruth Ann Hendrickson, and Dilla Tingley are among the artists showing work in the gallery exhibition “In Love With Color” at @theW art gallery, a pop-up gallery currently located at 60 Andrew Ave. in Wayland. The exhibit will be up until March 22.

Don’t forget to update your directory info and tell new neighbors

Did you drop your land line in 2018? Did your children move out of town? Did you move across town and forget to let us know? Please update your listing in the the Lincoln Telephone Directory as soon as possible. If you have a new neighbor, please share this with them (new residents sometimes are worried we are a scam). To update your information via email or to learn about volunteering or advertising, email LincolnPhoneBook@gmail.com. The Lincoln directory is mailed free to every household in Lincoln. The deadline for updates is March 1.

Property sales in January

33 Tabor Hill Rd. — Edvaldo Morata to Mark Nebelung and Chantal Bray for $3,400,000 (January 4)

37 Longmeadow Rd. — John O’Laughlin Trust to John and Julia Sullivan for $855,000 (January 7)

47 Farrar Rd. — John Kling to Jean-Pierre and Jennifer Carney for $575,000 (January 29)

4 Cerulean Way — Madeline Osit to Tak K. and Mann-Wen Liu for $3,150,000 (January 30)

 

 

Letter to the editor: say no to MBTA fare increases

To the editor:

I object to MBTA fare increases for the following reasons:

  1. Raising MBTA fares in Massachusetts on basically privatized public transportation that is neglected, decrepit, badly needs massive updating, and has already very costly fares unjustly penalizes those who most need public transportation to get to work and is not good for all the people of the Commonwealth. The people know this and are not happy. Even the MBTA estimates that this fare increase will reduce its ridership by 4.8 million riders annually or 1.3 percent, and thus increase the use of carbon-spewing cars and traffic in Boston in general. Why would this be advisable in light of the global climate catastrophe we are now facing?
  2. In light of this impending catastrophe (see this morning’s sequence on DemocracyNow about this in detail), it would certainly be better to start providing public transportation that is not only free but uses renewable energy (solar, wind) as many other countries like China are already doing.    
  3. Make public transportation free for all to encourage its use, as Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu recently suggested. This is not a “luxurious” choice; it is not something we cannot afford. We cannot afford to not do it now, if we are to even slightly mitigate the sixth extinction we are in the midst of. There is much to be found via Google about cities that have made public transportation free for all and how much it benefits people and businesses as well as the environment.
  4. True leadership that actually represent the people of the Commonwealth would agree with the following: “A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transportation.”

Written comments about the MBTA fare proposal will be accepted through February 28. They can be mailed to: MBTA, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116, attention: Fare Proposal Committee. Comments can also be submitted using the MBTA website, by e-mail at fares@mbta.com, or by phone at 617-222-3200, TTY 617-222-5146. The public hearing will be held on February 27 from 6:30–8:30 p.m. in the MBTA Board Room, State Transportation Building, second floor, 10 Park Plaza, Boston.

Raising MBTA fares is not a good decision. Real, concerned, informed, caring leadership would know this. 

Sincerely,

Jean Palmer
247 Tower Rd., Lincoln

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters 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.

Citizens’ petition calls for reexamining state seal

Resolution to change seal Petition The Massachusetts state seal is a visual reminder of racism and genocide against Native Americans and should be updated, say supporters of a Town Meeting resolution asking for a state commission to study the seal’s design.

As a result of a citizens’ petition submitted by Christine Damon, residents will be asked at Lincoln’s Annual Town Meeting on March 23 to support creation of the commission. Two identical measures before the state legislature (HD.2968 and SD.1495) call for creating the commission. Lincoln’s legislators, Sen. Michael Barrett and Rep. Thomas Stanley, are co-sponsors.

Four other Massachusetts towns (Gill, Orange, Wendell and New Salem) considered similar measures in 2018, though the results could not be confirmed.

Critics of the state seal take issue with the depiction of a European arm brandishing a broadsword above the head of a Native American, who is holding a bow and arrow pointed down in a gesture of peace. 

The seal’s Latin motto, which is usually translated as “By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty,” is also ambiguous and could be taken to mean that Native Americans were a threat to peace. The motto “is most out of place when one knows the later fate reserved for the Algonquins who greeted the Pilgrims,” commented one of the respondents to a 2015 survey by a flag expert. Other respondents disagreed, saying the sword is not being used against the Indian but refers to the leading role that Massachusetts played in the American Revolution.

The survey found that comments on the state seal from all Indians polled as well as non-Indians outside Massachusetts were overwhelmingly negative, though 88 percent of comments from non-Indian Massachusetts residents were favorable.

“It is hard to read it all together as anything but a flag designed by and for the colonial conquerors who made the Bay State, the ones who won the land — with a short timeout for Thanksgiving dinner — by all but eradicating the people who got here first,” Boston Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham wrote in 2015.

An earlier version of the seal used by the Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1629–1692 was more peaceful but also more condescending, depicting a Native American speaking the words “Come over and help us.”

The issue “reiterates why symbols are important in terms of making people feel represented or the opposite,” Damon said. “It seems like a no-brainer that the state of Massachusetts shouldn’t be upholding symbolism like this.”

The move to reexamine the state seal comes in a time of movements to remove the Confederate battle flag from state flags in the South, as well as monuments celebrating Confederate generals. Next year is also the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims’ arrival at Plymouth Rock, an event “which gave rise to the long chain of genocidal wars and deliberate policies of cultural destruction against Native Nations of this continent,” the warrant resolution says.

If approved by the legislature, the state commission would investigate features of the seal and motto “which potentially have been unwittingly harmful to or misunderstood by the citizens of the Commonwealth” and “to ensure that they faithfully reflect and embody the historic and contemporary commitments of the Commonwealth to peace, justice, liberty and equality and to spreading the opportunities and advantages of education.”