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

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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.

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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.

McLean Hospital appeals court decision on Bypass Road property

McLean Hospital has filed a notice of intent to appeal a recent court decision regarding its Bypass Road property, and the town and a group of residents say they will continue to resist the hospital’s efforts to locate an inpatient program in a private home in the neighborhood

In October, the state Land Court denied McLean’s appeal of a 2016 decision by the Zoning Board of Appeals decision saying no to the hospital’s plan to use a single-family house for an outpatient facility for teenage boys and young adults with borderline personality disorder. The court sided with the ZBA, which said this did not constitute an educational use of the property, which would have been permitted under the state’s Dover amendment, although an earlier opinion by town counsel Joel Bard seemed to give McLean the go-ahead.

In response to McLean’s recent filing, selectmen voted to retain the services of attorney Jay Talerman “on an ongoing basis to continue the Town’s vigorous defense in this matter as necessary.” Talerman represented the town in McLean’s initial lawsuit.

“We in the neighborhood are unfortunately not surprised [by McLeans appeal]. And we are concerned about their goal,” said Steven Kanner, a leader of the group of residents who fought McLean’s proposal. The group retained an attorney and petitioned the court to intervene as co-defendants in McLean’s suit against the town.

“From the beginning, McLean has been disingenuous” in characterizing dialectical behavioral therapy or DBT (which McLean planned to use at the Bypass Road facility) as educational rather than medical or therapeutic, Kanner said. DBT “should take place in an acknowledged and legal medical setting (such as McLean Hospital) and not be camouflaged and wordsmithed into an ‘educational’ program to evade common and appropriate zoning restrictions.”

McLean was rebuffed by the ZBA and Land Court, “but they persist. Why?” Kanner said. “Their agenda is not publicly stated, but seeking to get psychiatric treatment facilities placed anywhere with no zoning restrictions would be a goal consistent with their actions. We believe that would be bad public policy, and certainly is not the current policy in the Commonwealth.”

Selectman “declared their intention to oppose any appeal by McLean, and the neighborhood group … will do the same in coordination with the town,” Kanner said.

Earlier this year, the group asked selectmen to add a funding measure based on a citizens’ petition to the Annual Town Meeting warrant to help defray their legal costs. But the board denied that request because the state’s anti-aid amendment prohibits public funding for private individuals and organizations that are not working under town control.

Dr. Philip Levendusky, senior vice president for business development and communications and director of McLean’s Psychology Department, and Diane Tillotson, McLean’s attorney in the case, did not return requests for comment.