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

Ruth Wales, 1927-2018

Ruth J. Wales

A public memorial service will be held at Pierce House in Lincoln on January 26, 2019 at 1 p.m. for Ruth Johnstone Wales. The former Christian Science Monitor page 1 editor and long-time Lincoln Historical District Commission chair passed away shortly before her 91st birthday, on December 2 in Belmont, with two of her daughters by her side.

Ruth was a purposeful planner, meticulous and particular, for whom making contributions to society was extremely important. She was independent and encouraged independence in her children. She had high expectations for herself and others, but was extremely supportive to family and friends.  She was politically liberal but personally conservative — frugal and self-sacrificing, while remaining generous to those she loved. 

Ruth, the daughter of Frederika Ammarell Johnstone and Robert Montgomery Johnstone, was born in Hollis, Queens in New York City on Christmas Day in 1927. Her father was a businessman and her mother was an artist. She was raised a Christian Scientist and remained faithful to her beliefs as a long-time member of the First Church of Christ Scientist in Concord.

After graduating from high school, Ruth won a scholarship to University of Chicago, where she received her bachelor’s degree. Her lifelong love of learning continuing through graduate school at Northeastern University, where she received her master’s degree in education, and after her working career was over, she was an avid participant in the Harvard University Institute for Learning in Retirement.

Ruth met R. Langdon Wales while working at the Christian Science Monitor in Boston after college and married him in Hollis, N.Y., on September 9, 1951. They enjoyed a loving relationship that produced four children: Roland, Rebecca and twins, Amy and Rachel.  Langdon was a mechanical engineer and inventor and his work took them to Reading, Mass., then briefly to East Aurora, N.Y., before settling in Lincoln, where they built their dream home — a mid-century Modern house designed by architects Hoover & Hill on two acres in the Brown’s Wood neighborhood. Amy and Rachel were born there shortly after the family moved there in 1959. For 57 years, Ruth continued living at 18 Moccasin Hill, nestled in the woods above Valley Pond, where she loved to swim, in the home where she and Lang had raised their family.

Ruth’s work life took hold after her younger daughters entered school and she taught grade school at nearby Hanscom Air Force Base. She then became a technical editor for Mitre Corp., making use of her love of words and attention to detail. From there she returned to the Christian Science Monitor as an editor, working her way up to editing the front page of the daily newspaper and later became editor of the international edition. Ruth considered her time at the Monitor to be her dream job and found it enormously exciting and fulfilling. She continued working there until 2001, retiring at age 74.

Ruth and Lang maintained an active social life, taking up Scottish country dancing with a Concord group that held weekly dances, a New Year’s Eve Hogmanay, regional balls in full regalia, weekend dancing retreats in New Hampshire — and even world travel with Scottish Dancing Tours. 

They took their young family on outdoor adventures, frequently canoeing, camping and hiking, climbing a majority of the peaks of New Hampshire’s White Mountains. As the children grew up and left the nest, Ruth began to travel internationally with Lang, which she loved. Taking advantage of Lang’s work in Italy, they also traveled to Germany, Russia, Sweden, England, and Scotland, and also to southern Africa to visit their daughter in the Peace Corps. 

Both made contributions to their community, with Lang active on the Planning Commission and Ruth active with the Lincoln League of Women Voters and representing Lincoln on the Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical High School Committee. Long after her term ended, she referred to “my school” and enjoyed taking her visitors on tours.

Both Ruth and Lang enjoyed early music, and Ruth learned to play the harpsichord that Lang started building in their Lincoln home (it was finished by Peter Watchhorn after Lang’s death). Her time with Lang was cut short in 1989 when he died unexpectedly at age 62. She continued on, working at the Monitor and following her interests with friends and family. She purchased a small condo in the Fenway area of Boston to be closer to the Monitor.

An avid appreciator of the arts, Ruth enjoyed listening to classical music at the nearby Boston Symphony and the Boston Ballet, and going to numerous theater performances with a friend or family member, as she had previously done with Lang. In retirement, she frequently used her condo as home base during the week while attending classes at Harvard.

She continued to travel throughout the United States, visiting her college roommate Sally Raisbeck in Hawaii and going on tours with groups to England, Scotland, Australia, and New Zealand and with her daughter Rebecca to Kenya, Tanzania, Belize, Turkey, Greece, and Italy.

An avid reader, Ruth favored classics, murder mysteries, female authors, biographies, and local history and encouraged all family members to attend college, helping nearly all of her grandchildren, in addition to her own children, earn a bachelor’s degree or greater.

She enhanced the native plants in her landscape and loved the woods of Lincoln. She frequently visited Lincoln Conservation lands as well as Great Meadows in Concord for walks and wildlife.  In addition to her swims at Valley Pond, she loved to eat outdoors in her screen house, rain or shine, temperature permitting.

Ruth with her good friend Lucretia Giese and others were passionate preservers of architectural heritage on the Lincoln Historical District and Lincoln Historical Commission. She and Lang were founding members and advocates for Brown’s Wood preservation, houses, and history.  Her commitment extended to carefully maintaining their home on Moccasin Hill and preserving its original design features with the help of artisan, woodworker, and carpenter Norman Levey, who ran his business out of Lang’s large garage shop for decades.

Ruth’s artistic talents included painting, hooked rugs, sewing, calligraphy, silkscreening, and sketch-booking. She was a collector of art produced by talented friends and acquaintances. An involuntary collector of owls that began with concrete “Howie” (who “lived” outside and looked in through a window next to a door of the house, and was named for Howland Owl of Pogo fame), Ruth found herself identified as a lover of owls. Howie inspired family and friends to search the world for owls to give her, and her collection of owls in all sizes and forms numbered in the hundreds.

Ruth was passionate about family and made a family genealogy book for each of her children with many details about five main branches of the family. She and Lang had traveled to Scotland to learn more family history and later to Schwabendorf, Germany for a 300th anniversary for all descendants. She loved family reunions and encouraged children and their kids to gather every five years in a new special place — Cape Cod cabins, Sturbridge Village, Saddleback Maine cottages, Blue Heron Maple Sugar Farm and Stump Sprouts cross-country ski lodge in Western Mass, Maho Bay Camps on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Wayside Inn in Sudbury, and, naturally, in Lincoln. Thanks to these family gatherings, her six grandchildren from three households are all close friends. A number of her children’s friends and partners looked up to her as a sort of second mom, including Peg Rawson Shealy, Camila Akerlund, and Terri Young, and eagerly befriended adult friends of her children and learned about their lives and welcomed their children.

Ruth is survived by her son Roland and his wife Donna; daughter Rebecca and her partner Chuck; daughter Amy; daughter Rachel; and grandchildren Marissa (with husband Amit), Benjamin, Fenic, Carin, Christopher, and Robert. Also surviving are Ruth’s nephews, children of brother Robert Johnstone and wife Peggy, now deceased: Doug (with wife Karen, son Brian with his wife Dariana, and grandson Avery), and Richard (with wife Kathy and children Danny and Sarah, with her husband Scott and children Cameron and Everett).

Ruth is also survived by lifelong friends, Phyllis Rappaport of Kalamazoo, Mich., and Marie Tegeler of Hingham, who first met because their three mothers were friendly. The three stayed in close touch over many years. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to Massachusetts Audubon Society (click here to donate, or click here to leave remembrances and condolences.

News acorns

Give the Squirrel as a gift!

What do you get the Lincolnite who has everything? A one-year gift subscription to the Lincoln Squirrel for friends, neighbors, relatives, and business associates is the gift that keeps giving all year round, with fresh stories almost every weekday about our always-interesting town of Lincoln. Yearly subscriptions are usually $48, but act before December 24 and get one (or more) for just $39. Call 617-710-5542 or email lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com for details.

CCF’s Hashley profiled

Jennifer Hashley, Pete Lowy, and their son Abraham at Codman Community Farms.

Lincoln’s Jennifer Hashley, director for New Entry Sustainable Farming Project (a Tufts University initiative that works to strengthen local food systems by supporting new farmers) is one four women farmers profiled by Edible Boston in its winter issue (click here for story). She is also advisor to her husband Pete Lowy, the farm manager at Codman Community Farm, where they live with their son.

Library closings

The Lincoln Public Library will be closed for Christmas on Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 24 and 25. It will close at 5 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and will be closed all day on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019.

Lecture series on the 1920s

A six-part lecture series on “The Roaring ’20s: Ford, Flappers and Fitzgerald” with history professor Gary Hylander begins on Sunday, Jan. 6 at 1:30 p.m. at the Lincoln Public Library. The era was known for the booming popularity of movies and the automobile as well as women’s suffrage and Prohibition.

Hylander led an earlier series in Lincoln on FDR’s America last spring. He is a visiting professor at Framingham State University and Boston University School of Education and a frequent lecturer at library forums, historical societies, and professional organizations. The talks are free and open to all; no registration necessary. Subsequent dates are January 27; February 10, 17, and 24; and March 31.

Six-year-old thrilled to win Pierce House raffle

William Kaluzniacki sits proudly next to the Pierce House dollhouse he recently won in a raffle (click to enlarge).

William Kaluzniacki of Lincoln won the Pierce House dollhouse raffle, and he couldn’t be happier—fixing up dollhouses is his thing, even though he’s only six.

“This is perfect—he really loves carpentry, and he’s always creating small-scale furniture at home,” said his mother, Joanna Wills. Her son got interested in carpentry after his older brother took wood shop and made some furniture at Belmont Hill School, and he’s already working on a dollhouse project, His Lincoln School teacher, Siobhan Rooney, let him take her mother’s dollhouse home to make some minor repairs.

The Pierce House dollhouse was originally owned by Barbara Frentz Kurson, an interior designer and decorator who lived in Concord. She commissioned the Pierce House replica dollhouse and decorated it with furniture. After her death, her daughter, Robin Frentz Isaacs of Lincoln, donated it to the Pierce House. The proceeds from the raffle will help fund ongoing maintenance and repairs to the full-size version of the house, which was built in 1900.  

The dollhouse is in pretty good shape overall, and repairs will be a lot easier because it came with all the original documentation, paints and other materials. So far, William has replaced some of the tiny cedar shakes on the roof “and maybe a mullion or two,” and he even made a miniature table saw and ladder to sit outside the house to show it’s under construction. He might even install electric lighting inside, she said.

“It’s given him a little more of a creative outlet,” Wills said. “He looks forward to showing it to everyone who comes to the house.”

Property sales in November

16 Juniper Ridge Rd. — Michael D. Russell to Pablo Acosta-Serafina and Romana Filipi for $935,000 (November 27)

352 Hemlock Circle — Patricia R. Walsh Trust to Christine Wanke for $560,000 (November 15)

37 Bedford Rd. — Edward G. Nardi to Lydia Ogden and Thaddeus Carlson for $1,412,500 (November 13)

25 Greenridge Lane — Andrew Papajohn to Yuan Zhao for $498,000 (November 8)

146 Chestnut Circle — Daniel L. Lynch Jr. to Margaret Hixon Trist for $660,000 (November 1)

 

Former preschool to be repurposed as L-S Academy

The former White House Preschool next to Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School.

By next fall, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School will have a new satellite location for students with social and emotional disabilities.

The building at 420 Lincoln Rd., a stone’s throw from the high school, was the home of the White House Preschool until it closed in 2010. It needs to be renovated to meet current building and safety codes. The L-S Regional School District approved up to $350,000 from excess and deficiency funds to do the renovation.

Use of those funds is restricted to “extraordinary circumstances, one-time needs, and large capital assets, and renovation for LS Academy fits these criteria,” said L-S Principal/Superintendent Bella Wong. The move was supported by the Board of Selectmen, Finance Committees, and the capital planning/improvement committees of both towns.

At least five currently known students may be candidates to enroll in L-S Academy who would otherwise be placed in out-of-district programs, for which the regional district currently pays $25,000 to $90,000 per student each year depending on the placement, Wong said. The annual operating cost for L-S Academy is estimated at $245,000 for an anticipated enrollment of five to 10 students, she added.

L-S Academy is for students with social and emotional disabilities; whether they also has other disabilities would not preclude them from consideration for the program, Wong said. The program will be staffed by two new full-time positions (a special education teacher and a clinical counselor), for which current L-S staff members may apply, she said.

This is not the first plan to reuse the White House preschool. In 2016, Wong proposed a new L-S Hub for Innovation in that space and suggested applying to Sudbury’s Community Committee fund for some of the money needed for renovations, as the building is close to Sudbury’s historic district and was also once the site of the Featherland chicken farm. However, “the School Committee did not resolve to pursue that option,” she said. (The committee approved some minor renovations to ensure the house was wind- and watertight and to address some building code concerns and some deteriorating wood elements.)

Today, the Hub for Innovation “continues in concept,” Wong said. “We continue to have a working group of staff who come together to reflect on their work toward supporting innovation. We’ve also brought in outside speakers to support professional development toward this end.” Last year, several student projects that were supported by stipends paid from a Sudbury Foundation grant, she added.

Girl Scouts spearhead successful donation program for seniors

Girl Scouts collect donations for Lincoln seniors from fellow students at the Lincoln School.

Thanks to a donation drive by the Lincoln Girl Scouts, 28 bags “full to the brim” with donated items will be distributed to needy seniors in Lincoln, said Council on Aging Director Carolyn Bottum.

The Scouts teamed up with the Lincoln Council on Aging to host a holiday gift basket drive during the weeks before Thanksgiving to benefit homebound, frail, and economically disadvantaged seniors living in Lincoln. The Scouts collected donations of toiletries, cleaning supplies, socks, and helpful household items that COA staff will deliver on home visits. Many other Lincoln residents donated items to the COA as well.

For two weeks, the girls stood in the foyer of the Lincoln School during arrival time to greet and solicit participation from their peers,. They also made morning announcements on the PA system to the school and even spent an afternoon outside Donelan’s getting the word out to local residents.

The hands-on, goal-oriented project taught Scouts marketing and social skills even as they learned about the importance of giving back—and they were impressed by the amount of donations they collected. During the “sorting party,” one girl exclaimed “We did this! Because of us, over 40 homes will get a beautiful gift basket with all this stuff!”

This was the second year that the COA has assembled gift bags but the first in which the Girl Scouts played a leading role. Girl Scout troop leader Tomasina Lucchese noted that the group is thankful to the entire community and especially the COA “for all the wonderful work they do all year round.”

Pierce House needs help with First Day 2019

Lincoln residents and their guests are invited to First Day 2019 on January 1, 2019 from 1–5 p.m. at the Pierce House—and organizers need help in making the annual event happen.

The drop-in event celebration, which is a great way to meet neighbors and fellow Lincolnites, features food, desserts, refreshments, children’s activities, and music by the Ancient Mariners. Last year’s event, initially threatened by a lack of funding, came together with the support of town organizations, private citizens, and volunteers; this year, more volunteers are needed for setup, serving, and cleanup. Though the actual event runs from 1–5 p.m., organizers need hands to help from 10 a.m–7 p.m. Please click this volunteer signup form to pick a task and time slot.

Financial contributions are also needed; if you can donate to the celebration, please contact Nancy Beach at nancy@piercehouse.com or 781-259-9757.

Town nurse keeps her finger on the pulse of Lincolnites’ health

Public health nurse Tricia McGean in Bemis Hall.

Tricia McGean, R.N., has been in her Lincoln home for years, but now she’s getting into other residents’ homes as the town’s new public health nurse.

In this new part-time position, McGean wears many hats. A big part of the job is making home health visits to seniors as well as doing one-on-one consultations in Bemis Hall. She’ll also serve as a liaison with Elder Services and Lincoln emergency personnel in cases where a resident may be suffering abuse or neglect.

When a family member or Council on Aging staff member believes a Lincoln senior needs a home health visit, in steps McGean, who has done this sort of thing for more than 20 years as a home care nurse for Emerson Hospital Home Care (a role she will continue on a part-time basis).

“I’m very comfortable going into someone’s house, assessing their safety needs and their mental and physical status,” she said. “Often it’s people that are having falls or just not quite making it themselves any more and needing some support. I can call providers and patients, see how they’re doing, answer questions and just kind of close the loop. All the people I’ve seen have been very appreciative and happy about this new position.”

Many Lincoln seniors are already familiar with McGean, who for several years has supervised monthly blood pressure clinics and wellness clinics for all ages at Lincoln Woods. At both clinics, she’s answered questions about medications, offer caregiver support, provide nutritional counseling and obtain mental health support.

“The clinics have given me the opportunity to meet many Lincolnites and establish numerous personal and professional relationships, but they’ve also opened my eyes to the growing need of residents in Lincoln who may not be able to obtain the care they need,” she said. “From my five years on the COA board, I became acutely aware of the unmet physical and mental needs of our residents.”

Also on McGean’s plate is doing follow-up investigative work in Lincoln for the state Department of Public Health on issues such as contagious diseases and tick- and food-borne illnesses in conjunction with the town’s Board of Health (work she already does for Concord, Carlisle, and Maynard). In that role, she succeeds the recently retired Maureen Richichi, who was also the Lincoln School nurse.

McGean and her husband Geoff, executive director of the Rural Land Foundation and Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, have lived in Lincoln for 25 years. With her expanded health role in town, she revived the flu-shot clinic for seniors in October and will lead educational sessions for seniors on topics such as dementia and foot care. She also hopes to start “memory cafe” sessions for residents of The Commons early next year.

“This position has just been my dream,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to be the town nurse, and it sort of fell into my lap, and I couldn’t be more happy.”

New climate justice program for teens at Drumlin Farm

A new Youth Leaders for Climate Justice program announced by Mass Audubon’s Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary aims to engage youth in grades 9-12 to create and implement local climate action projects.

This program, stressing commitment to community through a lens of climate action, begins with a Climate Learning Intensive Program on January 26, 2019 at Drumlin Farm for leadership and education workshops. Working alongside Mass Audubon’s climate professionals and local climate activists, each team of 3-12 students will create and implement a unique action project in their communities and will present the project at a Climate Summit on May 18, 2019.

To apply, student teams need not have determined what their project will be; all they need is an adult sponsor and an interest in climate justice. Click here for more information and an online application. The deadline for submissions is Friday, Dec. 21. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. The fee for accepted teams is $300. Mass Audubon will work with any team that needs assistance funding the participation fee.

This program is made possible by grants from the Foundation for MetroWest and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

News acorns

Donate children’s clothing by Friday

The deadline to drop off donations of children’s gently used clothing at the Liepert home at 108 Trapelo Rd. in Lincoln (leave bags by garage door) for Cradles to Crayons has bene extended to Friday, Dec. 7. Sizes infant through adult small. Most-needed items include sweaters and sweatshirts, but children’s clothing/shoes for any season are welcome. For a full list of accepted items, visit Cradlestocrayons.org. Email sarahliepert@me.com with any questions.

Give L-S apparel for the holidays

For purchase of L-S apparel, the L-S store will have special evening hours on Thursday, Dec. 6 from 6–7:30 p.m. (regular store hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m.). You can also order online here—holiday orders must be placed by Wednesday, Dec. 12.

Puzzle swap at this week’s book sale

On Saturday, Dec. 8 from 9 a.m.–noon in Bemis Hall, the monthly Friends of the Lincoln Library will offer a jigsaw puzzle swap during its monthly book sale. People can take a puzzle when exchanging it for another complete puzzle (no missing pieces). As usual, there will also be plenty of children’s, young adult and adult books, DVDs, and CDs. All purchases at the book sale support Lincoln Public Library programs for children and adults.

Workshops, artist talk at deCordova

The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum will host a holiday ornament clay sculpture workshop on Saturday, Dec. 8 from 10 a.m.–12:30 p.m., and a mosaic jewelry workshop on Tuesday, Dec. 11 from 6:30–9 p.m. Working with a variety of materials, you will make a pendant or pair of earrings that tells a story through color. No experience necessary for either session. Sign up here for the ornament workshop and sign up here for the mosaic jewelry workshop.

Also coming up: Larry Fink, whose photographs are on view at deCordova in Larry Fink: Primal Empathy, will discuss his approach to photography and his decades-long interest in empathy in an artists’ talk on Wednesday, Dec. 12 from 6:30–7:30 p.m. Free admission; registration requested.