The June 23 story headlined “Community center spaces to be named for Desais, Tingleys” mistakenly implied in the text and sketch that the main courtyard space in the new community center will be named for Dilla and Fred Tingley. It is the senior courtyard space, not the main courtyard, that will be name after the Tingleys. The article has been updated.
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A Lincoln alpaca
Learn about large farm animals in Lincoln
The spring issue of the Lincoln Agricultural Commission newsletter focusing on Lincoln’s large animals is now available — click here. Learn more about horses, pigs, cows, sheep, and alpacas that live (today and historically) on Lincoln farms.
Coming up at the library
Family bingo
Monday, June 24 from 6–7 p.m., Tarbell Room
Come one, come all for a fun night of family bingo with prizes for everyone All ages welcome; no registration necessary.
Chess for kids
Tuesday, June 25 and July 2 from 3:30–4:30 p.m., Tarbell Room
Chess players of all ages and abilities are encouraged to come check out the library’s new Chess Club. Members of the L-S Chess Club will be hosting, so come learn if you’re interested or play if you’re ready for a challenge. Bring your own board or play with one of ours. For ages 5+. Click here to register for June 25; click here to register for July 2.
Movie matinee: “The Sandlot”
Wednesday, June 26 from 3:30–5:30 p.m., Tarbell Room
All ages, no registration required.
Virtual Q&A with author of “The Library of Borrowed Hearts”
Wednesday, June 26 from 7–8 p.m., Zoom
The transformative power of books helps us connect with those around us. Author Lucy Gilmore discusses her book The Library of Borrowed Hearts, the follow-up to The Lonely Hearts Book Club. We’ll be chatting about these heartwarming novels about some of our favorite things: friendship, books, and how important it is to find the family you were always meant to have. Register here.
Summer karaoke night
Thursday, June 27 from 6–7:30 p.m., Tarbell Room
You choose the song, you sing along. Impress your friends, show off your favorite song, and dance to the songs of the summer. Light refreshments will be available. Ages 11+, no registration required.
Virtual deepfakes and AI media
Thursday, June 27, 7–8 p.m., Zoom
Join Bard College Film Professor Joshua Glick for a wide-ranging conversation about artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on contemporary media. We’ll talk about how these technologies are shaping the film and TV industry as well as the proliferation of “deepfakes” – AI-enabled videos that depict people doing or saying things they never did or said. Come with your hopes, questions, and concerns about this emerging media landscape. Register here.
Super story time: read, white, and blue
Tuesday, July 2 from 10-11 a.m., Tarbell Room,
Your favorite story time, but bigger! Recommended for ages 0-6. No registration necessary.
Saturday stories
Saturday, July 6 from 10:30–11:30 a.m., Tarbell Room
Families with young children are invited to listen to some stories and learn some songs. No registration required.
Girls’ summer basketball clinic
There will be a summer girls’ basketball clinic on July 15-18 for girl entering grades 2-9 in fall 2024. The program will run daily from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. in Gym 1 at L-S. The program will be run by the coaching staff and members of the L-S basketball program. Cost is $250 per person; click here to register. For questions and/or financial hardship, please contact Howie Landau at howie_landau@lsrhs.net.
Girl Scout recognized at annual meeting
Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts (GSEMA) elected Alexandria Taylor of Lincoln to serve as a girl member of the organization’s Board of Directors during the council’s annual meeting, which was held on May 19. Alexandria is a high school sophomore and has been a Girl Scout since Daisy level. She and several other Girl Scouts earned their Bronze Award by worked together with the Lincoln Council on Aging and Human Services to create a sand-bucket program to prepare senior citizens for winter ice while being mindful of the environmental impacts of salt. She earned her Silver Award by working with her local library to develop a town wide virtual reading buddy program during the covid pandemic and she is currently in the planning stage of her Gold Award.
Alexandria was named to the 2024 U.S. Youth Olympic team and Youth/Junior World Championships Team for biathlon, and she also competes in cross-country skiing and mountain biking. She is a member of her school’s newspaper, biology club, and works as a lifeguard. She plans to pursue a career in both athletics and medicine.
TEDx Walden Pond event in October
The second annual TEDx Walden Pond event, TEDx Walden Pond 2024 “Two to Tell the Truth,” will take place on October 30 at a Lincoln location to be announced. The theme echoes Henry David Thoreau’s quote: “It takes two to speak the truth: one to talk, and one to listen,” so we will be focused on both speaking and listening in our search for compelling truths. There will be 10 speakers, with time in between speakers to discuss the impact of their messages. Refreshments will be served. Watch clips of last year’s event, and reserve tickets at www.tedxwaldenpond.com. Questions? Email info@tedxwaldenpond.com.
Do you have a TEDx talk in you, or do you know someone who does? If so, please nominate that person (whether yourself or someone else) on the website above and with no more than two sentences on what the talk would be about.
Community center spaces to be named for Desais, Tingleys
The future community center will have some familiar Lincoln names attached to it: Desai and Tingley.
After a fundraising campaign to help offset some of the construction cost, the Friends of the Council on Aging announced that a central meeting space in the new building will be named for the Desai family (Moha and her parents Samir and Milima), and the senior courtyard and terrace will be called the Tingley Terrace after Dilla Tingley and her late husband Fred. Dilla is a member of the Community Center Building Committee (CCBC) and chair of the Council on Aging & Human Services board.
“If there’s anyone who deserves [a naming honor], it’s Dilla for all her hard work on this over the years,” said Peter Von Mertens, a CCBC member who helped spearhead the fundraising drive.
“It isn’t meant to be an honor; it’s meant to be a footprint,” Tingley replied at the June 17 Select Board meeting, adding that it reflects her whole family who have lived in Lincoln for more than 60 years.
Von Mertens also lauded two others whose past donations to the FCOA are being used to help pay for the building. Thomas E. Pascoe’s estate gave a total of $535,611 in 2017 and Joseph L. Hurff and his wife Elizabeth gave approximately $300,000 in 1998. However, neither family has relatives in town, and Von Mertens welcomes any information from residents to help locate their families so they can be recognized.
Private donations to the community center raised a total of $351,000 from 103 donors. The FCOA contributed anoehr $1 million and the Ogden Codman Trust has pledged $500,000. The bulk of the $24 million cost will be funded by $15.77 million in bonding, which voters approved at Town Meeting and the ballot box in March.
The building will have a wall of recognition for everyone who has donated, as well as a “buy a brick” campaign in the fall, Von Mertens said. “And if we can work out plans with the landscape architects we would like to create a timeline with tiles or stones summarizing significant events in Lincoln’s history placed appropriately along the walkway.”
The CCBC had looked at including a weight/exercise space in the center, and architect ICON developed an design option for such a room but was not able to fit it into the approved project budget. “We’ll keep the option in mind if our budget capacity changes for some reason at a later time,” the CCBC said in May.
At their meeting, the Selects approved the choice of an owner’s project manager and design contract. A schematic design is now being developed, and construction documents will be prepared starting in December. Bidding is expected to take place in April and May 2025 with construction starting in June 2025.
Lincoln firefighters attack pair of house fires
The rear of the house on Old County Road after the fire. (Photo courtesy Lincoln Fire Department)
Lincoln firefighters helped extinguish two house fires in the area in the past week, including one in Lincoln.
The Lincoln fire started in the early afternoon of Friday, June 21 at 15 Old County Rd. in a home owned by Scott and Angela Kadlec. A passer-by called the Fire Department after seeing smoke in the area, investigating further, and then discovered the house with part of its roof on fire. Because it was caught early, damaged was fairly minimal. The cause is still being investigated but firefighters suspect it was a lightning strike during the thunderstorm storm that ended shortly before the fire. See more photos on the Lincoln Fire Department’s Instagram page.
On Wednesday, June 18, firefighters from Lincoln and 11 other towns responded to a major house fire at 17 Bartkus Farm Rd. in Concord. It quickly became a four-alarm fire. Each alarm brings about four pieces of apparatus with four firefighters on each piece, according to Lincoln Fire Chief Brian Young; normally there would have been fewer firefighters, but more were called in due to the hot weather so they could relieve each other frequently.
According to the Concord Bridge, a neighbor saw the fire, knocked on doors, and then tried to break into the house, fearing the family dog was trapped inside, though it turns out it wasn’t. The owners were not at home because the house was being renovated, the news site said. The fire’s cause and origin is under investigation. See aerial photo on WHDH.com.
Police log for June 6–13, 2024
Several times this week (June 6, 7, 11, and 12), police advised people fishing in the Concord Reservoir on Trapelo Road that fishing there is not allowed and were asked to move on. Lincoln Police Chief Sean Kennedy noted that the reservoir is under the management of the Cambridge Water Department, which prohibits fishing, mainly because people who fish there sometimes leave beer cans and other litter, or throw it into the water.
June 6
Virginia Road (9:16 a.m.) — A caller reported that several cans of paint were left on their property. The DPW was notified.
The Commons of Lincoln (5:08 p.m.) — Officers assisted an outside agency in conducting a well-being check of a resident.
Cambridge Turnpike eastbound (6:20 p.m.) — A caller reported an individual was sitting in the median on Route 2 by Route 95. The area was checked by Lincoln and Massachusetts State Police but nothing was found.
The Commons of Lincoln (7:10 p.m.) — A caller spoke to an officer regarding several possibly stolen items.
June 7
Bedford Road (11:18 a.m.) — Officers conducted a check of the area after the report of several cars that had items removed during the overnight hours (click here for more information).
Todd Pond Road (4:33 p.m.) — An officer served court paperwork in hand to an individual.
June 8
North Great Road (12:45 a.m.) — An officer provided a courtesy transport.
June 9
Lexington Road Cemetery (4:38 p.m.) — Several lost items were reunited with their owner.
June 10
Wells Road (5:20 p.m.) — An individual came to the station to report possible harassment from a neighbor.
Wells Road (8:38 p.m.) — An individual spoke with an officer about being the victim of a possible scam.
June 11
Todd Pond Road (12:28 p.m.) — An attempt to serve court paperwork was unsuccessful.
Winter Street (10:27 p.m.) — A vehicle failed to stop at the stop sign by Old County Road, resulting in a single-vehicle crash. There were no injuries reported. The operator was cited for failure to stop at a stop sign. The vehicle was towed from the scene.
Beaver Pond Road (10:47 p.m.) — A caller reported a dog barking nearby. Officers were unable to respond due to being tied up with a motor vehicle crash.
June 12
Baker Farm Road (11:18 a.m.) — An individual reported that they had been separated from their partner on the trails by Walden Pond. The two were reunited a short time later.
Concord Road (4:10 p.m.) — A caller reported an altercation with another motorist earlier in the day.
MMNHP Hartwell lot (10:09 p.m.) — An officer checked on an occupied vehicle that had briefly pulled off the road.
June 13
Mary’s Way (8:48 p.m.) — A single-vehicle crash occurred on Mary’s Way when a car collided with a guardrail. There were no injuries.
Old Sudbury Road (12:13 p.m.) — A caller reported a malfunction with the railroad gates on Old Sudbury Road. Officers were already on site due to other maintenance work in the area. Keolis was notified.
Lincoln Public Library (3:11 p.m.) — A caller reported a large SUV was parked in a compact vehicle spot. Library staff was advised.
Lincoln Town Hall (11:41 p.m.) — A caller reported seeing several lights on in the Town Hall. An officer checked the area and noted nothing out of the ordinary.
My Turn: A celebration of Lincoln’s historic homes
By Kim Bodnar, Lincoln 250 Chair
On June 5, the Lincoln250 Planning Committee, along with the Lincoln Historical Society and the Historical Commission, hosted a reception for Lincoln’s Historical Homeowners (homes that were built on or before 1776). About 17 private homes in Lincoln qualify, along with public properties in Minute Man National Historical Park, Historic New England (Codman Estate), and Farrington Memorial. Twenty homeowners and representatives from Lincoln’s public properties shared the origin stories of these treasured historic homes.
The meeting began with an introduction of the Lincoln250 Planning Committee, formed by the Select Board in early 2023 to begin planning events, programs, and activities to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord and Lincoln’s role in these early days of the American Revolution. Andrew Glass, chair of the Historical Commission, provided background on Lincoln’s historic districts and the commission’s goal of preserving and protecting places significant to the history of the town. Finally, Sara Mattes, chair of the Historical Commission, offered a fascinating history of the Lincoln militia and Minute Men who lived in these historical homes, as well as the enslaved that were also present in Lincoln in April 1775.
Wiggin, author of Embattled Farmers: Campaigns and Profiles of Revolutionary Soldiers from Lincoln, Massachusetts, 1775-1783, shared the following pieces of information:
- Lincoln’s most prominent citizen of that era, Dr. Charles Russell, was a loyalist and left Lincoln on April 19, 1775, never to return. He was subsequently said to have tended to the British wounded at Bunker Hill.
- There were somewhere between 105 and 115 Lincoln men (militia, Minute Men, and volunteers) who responded to the alarm of April 19. This represents between 13.5% and 15% of Lincoln’s population at the time.
Don Hafner, author of Tales of the Battle Road: April 19, 1775 and an upcoming book-length manuscript on the Black community of Lincoln at the time of the Revolution noted that in 1774, there were 16 enslaved adults in Lincoln. There were also perhaps 12 free Black adults and children. Lincoln’s total white population was about 775.
The reception concluded with a discussion on how we can share the history of these homes and their 1775 residents with all of Lincoln as we approach the 250th anniversary in April 2025. A sincere thank you to all who attended and to our partners, the Lincoln Historical Society and the Lincoln Historical Commission.
To stay up to date on Lincoln250 events and programs, follow us on Facebook or Instagram. We will also be posting event information on LincolnTalk and the Squirrel. If you would like to support Lincoln250’s fundraising efforts, please shop our store or contact Peggy Elder at elderp@lincolntown.org to purchase a Lincoln250 car magnet.
“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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Hannan Health Foods Farm fest on Saturday
Join Hannan Healthy Foods for its annual Farm Fest on Saturday, June 15 from noon–3 p.m. at Umbrello Field (270 South Great Rd). There will be food, farm tours, children’s activities, live music and more! The event is free and open to the public, but requires registration due to parking capacity. See the farm’s website for more information about the farm and CSA shares.
Teen violist plays in the great halls of Europe
Margaux Hemant on stage with the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.
Violist Margaux Hemant of Lincoln, a recent L-S graduate, is now in Europe as part of a two-week tour with the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (BPYO), a tuition-free, 120-member ensemble of musicians age 12-21. The orchestra will perform a program including Schumann’s Cello Concerto and Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in some of Europe’s most famous concert halls: the Stadtcasino in Basel, the Rudolfinum in Prague, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Musikverein in Vienna, and the Philharmonie in Berlin.
Margaux auditioned successfully for the BPYO last year because her grandmother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s, loved Zander’s master classes. “Those recordings brought her through tough times as the illness progressed,” she said.
The young musicians will also have musical and cultural exchanges with local young people and youth orchestras. “It’s going to be fantastic — so many concerts, so many things to see, and enough time to visit museums and experience the culture,” said Margaux, 17, who’s been playing violin and viola since age 6. She joined the group last fall and hopes to continue with them after recently learning that she got into Tufts University.
Register for kids’ triathlon
Lucy Reiner crosses rhe finish line in a previous Splash, Mash, Dash.
Lincoln’s Splash, Mash, Dash Kids’ Triathlon is back on Saturday, June 29 for its 20th year. The race starts at 8:30 a.m. at the Codman Pool. Kids ages 5-14 are invited to participate. Race distances are as follows:
- Ages 5-6: 25m swim (1 length), quarter-mile run (no bike portion)
- Ages 7-8: 25m swim (1 length), one-mile bike ride, half-mile run
- Ages 9-10: 50m swim (2 lengths), two-mile bike; half-mile run
- Ages 11-12: 75m swim (3 lengths), two-bike, 3/4-mile run
- Ages 13-14: 150m swim (6 lengths), four-mile bike, 1 mile run
Racers ages 8 and younger are individually accompanied by a guard in the water. Click here to register ($35 includes a t-shirt and a finisher’s medal). Pick up packets on Friday, June 28 from 12:30–6: p.m. in Hartwell Pod B. Volunteers are also needed during the race; email ginger.reiner@gmail.com if you can help.
Show off your electric vehicle on July 4
Do you have an EV you’d like to show off? CFREE is looking for ambassadors and their cars and trucks to join us on July 4 at the EV car show after the parade. We will be at the Pierce House from 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. but participants must park their cars before the parade to avoid traffic. Lincoln Road is closed during the parade.
Please email Belinda Gingrich at belinda.gingrich@gmail.com if you’re interested in joining us. CFREE (Carbon Free Residential, Everything Electric, a working group of the Lincoln Green Energy Committee) is hoping for one of each model car.
Vander Meulen shares steps to combat Zoom-bombing
“Zoom bombing” is more widespread in Lincoln meetings than indicated in two examples in the June 11 article headlined “Anti-trans sentiment voiced at three board meetings,” but resident Allen Vander Meulen has compiled a list of steps that Zoom hosts can take to manage the problem.
“During my tenure as chair of the Housing Commission, at least four of our monthly meetings were Zoom-bombed, mostly by spammers intent on disrupting the meeting, with no clear agenda beyond that,” said Vander Meulen, a former IT manager. “I suspect most other boards and commissions have had similar level of such experiences. We quickly learned how (for the most part) to prevent Zoom bombings, and how to stop them with a minimum of disruption when they did occur.”
The problem is certainly not unique to Lincoln; meetings in other towns have also been disrupted.
Here are Vander Meulen’s Zoom-bombing prevention steps and countermeasures, which he has also sent to Lincoln officials.
When starting a meeting:
- Always have a host and a co-host. I’d recommend the chair be the co-host and an administrative support person be the host. Ideally, they should not be in the same physical location. The reasons for this are:
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- If either the host or co-host go offline, the meeting will continue without interruption.
- The co-host can run the meeting (monitoring the chat and enabling/disabling screen sharing or other features) while the host records the meeting, pays attention to security settings/issues, and keeps an eye out for potentially malicious behavior.
- To avoid offensive or abusive material being posted in the chat, limit chat postings by not allowing participants to send to everyone — instead, only to the host(s) and co-host(s). There is an option under the three-dot menu at the top of the Chat panel for this.
- Under normal circumstances, participants other than the host and co-host should only be able to mute/unmute and turn their video on/off. All other options on the Security menu should be unchecked. Those needing screen sharing or other features can have them temporarily enabled by the host or co-host, and then disabled when the need no longer exists.
- Consider using the waiting room feature, especially for meetings with lots of participants.
- The host, and preferably also the co-host, should have the Participant and Chat panels visible and quickly accessible.
While managing a meeting, the host and co-host should both know how to quickly:
- “Lock meeting” to prevent new participants from entering — Use the option near the top of the Security menu, also found as an option under the “More” button at the bottom of the Participants panel.
- Block a specific person from a meeting — Use the “Remove” option found in the “More” dropdown menu next to their name in the Participants panel.
- “Hide Profile Pictures” — Use the option found near the top of the Security menu
- “Suspend Participant Activities” — Click the menu item in red at the bottom of the Security menu.
- Disable a participant’s video — Use the “Stop Video” option found in the “More” dropdown menu next to their name in the Participants panel, and also in the top right corner of their Zoom connection’s window in the main screen.
- Mute a participant — the mute button is next to their name in the Participants pane, and also in the top right corner of their Zoom connection’s window in the main screen.
As a general policy, require all participants to use their full name (or phone number, for those dialing in via phone) for their profile name. Also, s a benefit to those who are hearing-impaired, the host should always allow close captioning so that participants can turn on that feature in their own Zoom sessions if needed.
Suspicious activity can include:
- The same name appearing twice — this can happen when one person uses two connections, often because they’re having trouble with one or both. However, it is also how hackers hide themselves by duplicating the name of a known person for their own Zoom session, especially in large meetings.
- A sudden influx of many new names
- Multiple attendees without video, often using out-of-area phone numbers for their profile name
- A person changing their name multiple times
- A silent participant who does not respond to direct requests via chat (or audio)
The menu options described above are for the Mac version of Zoom, version 5.17.5. The locations and names for these options may differ on other platforms, and Zoom also frequently modifies options or adds new ones via software updates.
Lincoln teen swims to fight breast cancer
Zoe Borden (right) with her aquatic physical therapist and Team Making Waves teammate Laura Diamond.
Lincoln resident and recent L-S graduate Zoe Borden will again join Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition (MBCC) at the annual statewide Against the Tide event this weekend to pair her passion for swimming with her commitment to fighting breast cancer.
For Zoe, MBCC’s mission to target and prevent environmental contributors to breast cancer is personal. “This event is all the more meaningful to me as I remember my aunt undergoing [successful] surgery and treatment for breast cancer. The diagnosis was a surprise to us all as she’s a nurse practitioner and has always been so health-conscious and fit. Despite this and without an established family history, she developed breast cancer.”
That unexpected diagnosis fueled Zoe’s passion to support MBCC. She believes that understanding and eliminating environmental causes of this disease will have such an overwhelming impact on the lives of so many people. By participating in Against the Tide, she not only honors her aunt but also actively supports the broader efforts toward cancer prevention while doing something she loves: swimming.
She was first introduced to MBCC by Laura Diamond, her long-time aquatic physical therapist. Every year, Laura and Megan Cohen assemble a fundraising team called Team Making Waves to support Against the Tide and MBCC’s mission. Zoe has a neuromuscular condition called nemaline myopathy and started swimming as a toddler.
The water has always been a place where Zoe has felt strong, happy, and at ease. “I’ve been swimming with Laura since I was three years old, and remember her talking about Against the Tide every year. I was so excited when I was finally strong enough to not only support MBCC but participate myself,” she said. This is the fourth year she’s participated.
Zoe and her team will swim in Against the Tide in Hopkinton on Saturday, June 15. For details about the event, which includes several recreational and competitive swims and walks, click here. The website also has donation pages for Team Making Waves and Zoe herself. Funds raised support community education programs, the MBCC Webinar Series, and the newly expanded student environmental health program, all of which are provided free of charge.
This article was based on a press release from MBCC.
Anti-trans sentiment voiced at three board meetings
Editor’s note: The Lincoln Squirrel initially decided not to cover this issue so as not to publicize what I feel are highly misguided and hurtful views. I decided to write this story after the matter came up at a fourth meeting; I felt that not doing so would amount to sweeping an uncomfortable ongoing issue under the rug. We ignore public statements of this type — especially when they consist of blatant hatred and start to be heard from not just individuals but a statewide political party, as recently happened in Colorado — at our peril.
The LGBTQIA+ community is celebrating Pride Month in June with parades, flags, and in some places (including Lincoln), proclamations of support. But not everyone has been in a celebratory mood — as evidenced when two Lincolnites spoke out in person against transgenderism at public meetings and a third meeting was profanely “Zoom-bombed.”
It all began in the weeks before the Select Board planned to issue its now-annual proclamation that June is Pride Month in Lincoln (see an identical version of the document from 2022 here). Knowing that this was happening in a few weeks, resident Charlotte Trim said at the board’s April 16 meeting that “this Pride proclamation seems to sort of normalize the transgender movement” and asserted that leaked emails from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health revealed that she called “horrifying” findings. Among her claims: that the suicide rate for postoperative transgender people is much higher than that for the rest of the population, and that hormonal therapies for transgender patients cause cancer or sterilization.
“What is being promoted to children in this town that you can choose your gender the way you can choose your career,” Trim said, adding that children being medically treated for gender dysphoria “are going to be sent on a eugenics program” and that “what you are putting forth here is actually a Satanic belief system.” She then asked the board to withdraw its upcoming Pride proclamation.
Resident David Stubblebine also spoke in support of Trim’s sentiments. “The zeitgeist of the age is to embrace pride, embrace LGBT, embrace transgenderism,” he said. “Young children parading around with rainbow flags — not OK, in my opinion… and the transgenderism thing is 10 times worse… it’s promoting in our town a culture of death, in my opinion.”
Chris Eliot, who also happened to be attending the April 16 meeting via Zoom, took issue with those statements. “I feel that trying to equate the LGBT community and the LGBT movement to a Satanic cult was personally offensive,” he said. Trim tried to respond but was prevented from speaking further by the board.
Trim doubled down at the board’s next meeting on April 30. The Bill of Rights says Americans are “protected from having strange religions forced upon us, which is how it feels… what we seem to be doing is worshiping a pagan god,” she said. She claimed that other parents she had spoken to in town “are not very happy, but they don’t want to speak out because we all know if you speak out, you get punished.”
Reached by the Lincoln Squirrel on April 17, Trim said that she had reached out to Stubblebine and other residents before the April 16 meeting. “I asked them, “are you aware of the reality of what’s actually going down? …It makes the medical experiments that the Japanese did to the Chinese look mild.”
But worse was yet to come. At the Select Board’s May 6 meeting, shortly after a discussion of a planned May 29 Lincoln School procession and gathering to mark the start of Pride Month, someone with a Zoom screen identity of Wyatt Prower (perhaps a variant of “white power”) broke into the meeting with racist and anti-gay slurs. A second voice then displayed an antisemitic image and another of feces superimposed on the gay pride flag.
“This is a perfect illustration of why we’re doing what we’re doing,” Town Administrator Tm Higgins said just before the Zoom broadcast was briefly suspended.
This is the second time a Lincoln meeting has been Zoom-bombed. In April 2021, someone broke into an online meeting of the Council on Aging board of directors, leaving members dumbstruck even as one of them — Hope White, who is Black — watched and listened in pain.
After the two April meetings, Select Board Chair Kim Bodnar declined further comment, saying in an email, “Lincoln’s Pride Proclamation aims to provide support for our residents and ensures everyone feels valued and full members of our community.”
Finally, at the board’s June 3 meeting, resident Michelle Barnes read a statement decrying the earlier anti-trans comments as “dehumanizing name-calling.” “This may encourage all of us to choose and ask others to choose to fill our public square not with hate speech, disrespect and bullying but instead to bring our best selves to these discussions,” she said. “If we fill our public square with humility, empathy, the benefit of the doubt, and respect for each other’s human dignity, we will create a much more favorable condition for cooperation and inclusion, especially in the context of dissenting views, creating more favorable conditions for them to be genuinely and thoughtfully considered.
“Although we have First Amendment rights to bring hate speech and bullying to our public square, and bullying is an effective strategy for giving more weight to one person’s or one group’s vote, it doesn’t mean it is right to exercise these rights, because the cost of exercising them in these ways is not only the erosion of our ability to cooperatively govern. The cost is also a fracturing of our shared humanity and community,” Barnes concluded.