A News Acorn published on September 13 incorrectly stated that the Board of Selectmen would meet on September 28 at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum cafe. The meeting is actually on Monday, Sept. 25. The original article has been corrected.
News acorns
Selectmen’s Sept. 25 meeting at deCordova
The Board of Selectmen will hold its regular meeting on Monday, Sept. 25 in the new café at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. The meeting begins at 7 p.m., and as always, it’s open to the public and will be taped for later broadcast. Items on the agenda will include:
- An update from the deCordova
- Roadways & Traffic Committee (RTC) recommendation on Old Winter Street
- South Lincoln Planning & Implementation Committee (SLPIC) recommendations
- A status update from the newly formed Housing Options Working Group (HOW)
At future meetings this fall, selectmen expect to:
- Receive regular updates from the Community Center Planning & Preliminary Design Committee (PPDC) and the School Building Committee (SBC)
- Form a group to understand the implication of the recreational marijuana law and study the town’s choices for implementation
- Plan for the November 4 State of the Town Meeting, which will include reports form the PPDC and SBC as well as previews of Town Meeting by-law proposals and citizens’ petitions
The board will also be scheduling twice-monthly listening sessions at different locations around Lincoln. These will be opportunities for residents to meet with a selectman to ask questions and share ideas. Dates and locations TBA.
Submit nature photos for LLCT calendar
The Lincoln Land Conservation Trust is looking for high-resolution nature photos from the trails and fields of Lincoln for consideration for use in its annual Open Spaces of Lincoln Calendar and note card series. Funds raised from the sale of the calendar help fund educational and conservation efforts of LLCT and the Rural Land Foundation. Photos may be submitted through Monday, Sept. 18. Email submissions to llct@lincolnconservation.org, or mail a CD or flash drive to Lincoln Land Conservation Trust (Attn: Calendar Photos), P.O. Box 10, Lincoln MA 01773 (mailed submissions will not be returned unless by special request.)
For a complete list of directions on style, format, usage and notification procedures, see the LLCT project guidelines. Photographers of all ages and abilities are encouraged to participate!.
Tret Fure at First Parish
Tret Fure
Acclaimed folk singer-songwriter Tret Fure will perform on Sunday, Sept. 24 at the First Parish in Lincoln during the 10 a.m. worship in the Parish House (14 Bedford Road). The service is open to the public and refreshments will be provided. Fure has 15 albums to her credit and has won the South Florida Folk Festival Singer/Songwriter competition in two out of three categories, as well as the prestigious Jane Schliessman award for outstanding contributions to women’s music.
Codman Harvest Weekend coming up
Codman Community Farms’ annual Harvest Weekend kicks off on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 5 p.m. in the Codman barn with a farm feast catered by Blue Ribbon Barbecue with beer, wine and lemonade followed by a barn dance for all ages. Tickets ($40 for adults, $15 for children (12 and under) must be purchased in advance at the farm or online at www.codmanfarm.org. The CCF Harvest Fair takes place on Sunday, Sept. 24 from 1–4 p.m. with games for children and families, hay rides, a petting zoo and a rooster run. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children (free for CCF members). For more information, call 781-259-0456 or email info@codmanfarm.org.
Apply to show your art in the library
Applications for 2018 shows in the Lincoln Public Library’s main art gallery are now available and will be accepted until September 30. Copies of the application and art exhibitor agreement form can be found here. Copies are also available at the Reference Desk.
Adult ed classes at L-S
Lincoln-Sudbury Adult Education’s fall program is underway, with new classes including Social Media Marketing, Make an iPhone App, Learn to Draw, Container Gardening, Men’s Pick-up Basketball, Zumba and Yoga. Click here to see the brochure and registration information.
Auction attracts dolls and dollars for Lincoln METCO group
A Marilyn Monroe doll poses for her eBay portrait in Joanna Schmergel’s home (click to enlarge).
An unusual but generous donation of vintage dolls will benefit enrichment and recreational programs for the Lincoln School’s Boston-based students via the Lincoln’s METCO Coordinating Committee (MCC).
The MCC organizes and funds academic and social activities outside of school for Boston and Lincoln students in grades K-8. Lincoln is one of 35 suburban school districts that participates in METCO, the voluntary Boston school desegregation program begun in 1966.
The windfall came about when Lincoln resident Seth Rosen was looking to donate his late mother’s large doll collection. His friend Joanna Schmergel—who volunteers in the MCC’s after-school kindergarten reading program that connects adult readers from Lincoln with pairs of students—offered to sell the dolls on eBay to raise money for the MCC. After researching each doll’s history and value, she posed them artfully in various spots in her house to photograph them.
Rosen’s mother collected the dolls over about 20 years. Most are from the Franklin Mint, although there are also some older antique dolls and random doll-related or doll-house-related items. “I bought her a doll once for her birthday, and that’s what caused her to have an interest in them,” he said. “She always loved her dollhouse as a little girl, so I think somehow this struck a nerve and she enjoyed it.”
The items are listed on Schmergel’s eBay store. As of September 9, 20 dolls had been sold for a total $998.91 and shipped to buyers in seven states as well as France, Poland and Great Britain, she reported. She hopes to clear $3,000 if the other 40 dolls still on the site are sold.
In addition to Rosen’s dolls, Schmergel is seeking donations of American Girl dolls in good condition for her eBay auction, because they have a a high resale value and are less costly to package than porcelain.
The MCC’s annual budget has grown from about $9,000 in 2014-15 to $13,000 in 2016-17, according to MCC liaison Pilar Doughty. This summer, the MCC collaborated with the METCO office, the Parks and Recreation Department, and the Codman Trust to provide almost full scholarships to Lincoln Summer Day Camp for 29 Boston-based children. During the school year, the MCC also helps pay for bus transportation for METCO kids who want to participate in the Lincoln After-school Activities Program (LEAP).
In addition, the organization partnered last year with the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, Stonegate Gardens and the PTO to get kids involved in community activities such as fall bulb-planting in Lincoln’s pollinator meadow and a day of scarecrow-making in October.
The MCC’s biggest non-monetary need is volunteers to help run programs and chaperone events. “Without committed volunteers who can take a leadership role, we can’t continue to offer the diverse programs and social engagement opportunities that we were able to offer last year,” Doughty said.
Later this year, the MCC—which is now a registered nonprofit that can accept tax-deductible donations—hopes to hold a fund-raising event. And the dolls definitely help.
“Much as I would love to take credit for any of this, the reality is that it was 100% Joanna’s effort, ideas, and energy that caused this to happen,” Rosen said. “I was simply looking to part with these dolls, and she turned it into an awesome opportunity to do something helpful and kind for our extended community.”
Workshops on school campus scheduled
There will be two community workshops on October 3 where residents can learn about and discuss options for the Ballfield Road campus.
Residents are invited to part or all of two “Developing a Shared Vision for our Campus” workshops on Tuesday, Oct. 3 from 8–10 a.m. and 7–9 p.m. Both will be in the Reed Gym. Children are welcome and refreshments will be served.
The Lincoln School and the Ballfield Road campus grew over time between 1948 and 1994 as parcels of land were added and building projects completed. The last major addition to the campus occurred in 1994, when a school project connected the Smith and Brooks buildings, creating a unified K-8 school.
Now, as a community, Lincolnites have the opportunity to create a holistic plan for the campus. Between the work of the School Building Committee (SBC) and the Community Center Preliminary Planning & Design Committee (PPDC), every aspect of the campus is under consideration: the Lincoln School, preschool programs, after-school programs, a potential community center for the Parks & Recreation Department and the Council on Aging, playing fields, roadways, walking and bike paths, and parking lots. This workshop is designed to begin thinking about the space needed for all these pieces and where they fit on the campus.
A brief history of the campus can be found on the new SBC website, which aims to document and detail every aspect of the school project. To subscribe for automatic email updates from the site:
- Visit lincolnsbc.org
- Scroll down to “Subscribe to SBC Updates” in the white box on the left
- Type your email address where indicated and hit “subscribe”
You’ll then receive an email from the Lincoln School Building Project asking you to confirm your subscription; please click on “Confirm Follow.”
Anyone questions or comments may email SBC@lincnet.org.
Group aims to keep two building project committees aligned
The Campus Coordinating Group (CCG), which met for the first time on September 7, will begin work on an overarching timeline that lays out joint milestones and public workshops and charrettes for the Community Center Preliminary Planning & Design Committee (PPDC) and the School Building Committee (SBC).
The CCG was formed so the members of the two groups working on planning for a school project and a community center can keep each other up to date on their progress. It includes three members of the SBC (Superintendent Becky McFall; Chris Fasciano, chair; and Craig Nicholson) and three members of the PPDC (Tim Higgins, town administrator; Ellen Meyer Shorb, chair; and Owen Beenhouwer).
The next meeting of the CCG is Thursday, Sept. 14 at 7:30 a.m. in McFall’s office (second floor of the Hartwell building). After that, the group will meet at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday mornings every other week. All meetings are open to the public.
Food project workers grow food justice awareness along with crops
Ben S. of Winchester and Mariell A. of Roslindale pick carrots. (Photo by Alice Waugh)
They say you reap what you sow, but few people take it to heart more than the Food Project‘s Seed Crew.
The group of 26 youths aged 14-17 spent more than six weeks in July and August getting their hands dirty in Lincoln doing the hard work of farming. They were paid a stipend but also earned valuable knowledge about sustainable food systems, personal development, and serving at hunger relief organizations.
The Food Project hires teens from diverse cultural, racial, economic, and geographic backgrounds to work on Seed Crews at their farms in Lincoln, Boston, Beverly, Wenham, and Lynn. The crews work in the fields and take part in workshops on issues including sustainable agriculture, food access, and social justice. The teenagers also spend one day a week at a local hunger relief organization preparing and serving the produce they’re grown.
Seed Crew members can progress after their first summer to the Dirt Crew, which designs and executes a self-directed project to address food access issues in a community during the academic year. Root Crew members have more responsibility running the Food Project’s farms and markets in a yearlong program where they also serve as peer leaders for the Seed Crew and teach others in the community about food justice and food systems. They play important roles in the organization’s mission to promote access to fresh and affordable produce by building raised-bed gardens for residents and organizations, offering garden-based educational programming, and providing opportunities for people to use SNAP/EBT benefits to purchase fresh food.
Ezekiel Mercer-McDowall (left), who is in his 10th year at the Food Project, harvests beets with second-year worker Brendan Murtha of Watertown. (Photo by Alice Waugh)
On a midweek day in August, workers in bright green Seed Crew T-shirts were harvesting bright orange carrots from the brown soil in one section of the Food Project’s 30-acre site near Route 126 and Baker Bridge Road. Nearby, a melon patch was protected by flash tape (twisted Mylar tape that flashes silver and red in the breeze to scare off birds).
Another weedy patch of land nearby was lying fallow. Last summer, it held a potato crop that was devastated by Colorado potato beetles. Because the Food Project uses only organic farming methods, pesticides are not an option, so Seed Crew workers are sometimes assigned to don gloves, pick the beetles off the plants and squash them, explained supervisor Angel Araiza. Crew members undoubtedly find digging up bright orange carrots of all shapes and sizes more satisfying.
“I like the outdoors and gardening and also social justice—both of those things brought me out here,” said Seed Drew member Ben S. of Winchester (the Food Project does not release the last names of teenage volunteers to protect their privacy).
The field work is not easy. Seed Crews weed, harvest and do other outdoor tasks even if it’s raining. Very hot days are tough on the crops as well as the workers because they have move fast to wash, transport and and store the fruits and vegetables in a walk-in cooler.
“On hot days, we have a lot of moving parts—we have to get the field heat out of the crops as fast as possible,” Araiza explained on an unusually cool August morning. “Any time we can get a day like this, it’s a blessing.”
Elizabeth Warren speaks to overflow crowd in Concord
Sen Elizabeth Warren speaks to the media and overflow crowd at the town hall event in Concord (click to enlarge).
By Gary Davis
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren criticized the failed health care bills as well as growing income inequality in the U.S. at a town hall event that drew an overflow crowd of more than 1,500 area residents to Concord-Carlisle High School on August 25.
Preceding Warren were state Rep. Cory Atkins (D–14th Middlesex) and State Sen. Michael Barrett (D–3rd Middlesex), who opened by discussing some of the critical legislative issues facing Massachusetts residents. He mentioned two pending state bills he authored, one to counteract the effects of carbon dioxide and climate change and another to require presidential candidates to submit their tax returns to qualify for the ballots in the primary and general elections.
Click here to see a video of the August 25 town hall
When Barrett introduced Warren, the audience greeted her with a standing ovation. She began by thanking grassroots organizations and individuals for saving the Affordable Care Act by speaking up at Town Hall meetings, and visiting legislators’ offices as well as calling and emailing to express their opposition.
The health care bills presented in the House and Senate would have created tax benefits for the wealthy and health insurance companies that would come from cuts to Medicaid and reduction of essential services for millions of Americans, Warren said. “Those bills did not represent our values,” she said. “They were not who we are as a country. We believe that health care is a basic human right, and we will get out there and fight for it.”
State Rep. Michael Barrett and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Addressing income inequality, Warren said that from 1935 to 1980, the GDP rose 70 percent, with 90 percent of the benefits going to the middle class through basic income growth, new protective financial regulations, a new progressive income tax, investment in education to provide an equal and better future, and investment in infrastructure. However, starting in the 1980s, the economy focused on tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations; between 1979 and 2012, the income of the top 10 percent of earners grew about 76 percent, while income of the bottom 90 percent decreased by about 9 percent even though the GDP rose, according to the World Wealth and Income Database, she said.
Answering questions from the audience for over an hour, Warren spoke of the need to respect and honor our transgender troops, strongly condemned neo-Nazis and white supremacists, and encouraged the audience to make a commitment to work for a Democratic and accountable government based on shared prosperity and equal opportunity.
News acorns
Explore Lincoln’s pollinator meadow on Sunday
Meet the creatures that populate Lincoln’s People for People for Pollinators and learn how to observe them scientifically at a two-part event on Sunday, Sept. 10 from 1–2 p.m. at the meadow next to the Smith School parking lot off Ballfield Road. Begin by walking the meadow with Tom Gumbart, conservation director for the Lincoln Conservation Department, to observe the bees, butterflies, dragonflies, and other pollinating wildlife that visit the meadow in September.
In the second half, learn how to record your observations at iNaturalist on your mobile device for scientific study. Before the walk, download the app onto your smartphone or tablet by going to inaturalist.org and scroll down until you see the section about installation on mobile devices. The project name is “People for Pollinators.”
Wear sturdy shoes, dress for weather conditions, and protect yourself from sun, ticks, and mosquitoes. If you are allergic to bees or other insects, please be aware that while most of the pollinating insects and wildlife are gentle, we cannot guarantee stings or bites won’t occur. Free; all are welcome. The event will be cancelled if it’s raining.
The Lincoln Land Conservation Trust and the Conservation Commission are collaborating partners of the People for Pollinators project.
Youth soccer begins next weekend
The Lincoln Youth Soccer In-Town Soccer Program starts on Saturday, Sept. 16 at Smith Field, with pre-K and kindergarteners beginning at 8 a.m. and kids in grades 1–2 at 9 a.m. Practices are approximately 55 minutes. Parent volunteers are responsible for coaching the teams with the help of two instructors from the Revolution Academy soccer program, who will assist with practice plans and coaching guidance. Any parents, even those without soccer experience, who are interested in volunteering should contact coordinator Deepak Dibya at 515-203-5986 or dibyadeepak@gmail.com.
First Parish church school beginning
The First Parish in Lincoln has opened registration for its church school, which begins Sunday, Sept. 17. The school is free, but parents must complete this online registration form. School takes place each Sunday at 10 a.m. in the Parish House at 14 Bedford Road, except during school vacations. Children in grades K–3 enjoy “Spirit Play,” grades 4–5 follow the “SHINE: Living in God’s Light” curriculum, and grades 6–7 study “Neighboring Faiths.”
Our Whole Lives (OWL) for eighth-graders is a comprehensive sexuality education program taught by trained facilitators. It’s open to all eighth-graders, including those whose families do not attend First Parish. Parents of OWL students are required to attend an Orientation on Wednesday, Oct. 4 from 7–9 p.m. OWL will meet approximately twice a month on Sundays from 7–8:30 p.m. beginning October 15.
Date change for quilters’ auction closing
The closing reception for the quilters’ exhibit and auction has been changed from September 30 to Thursday, Sept. 28 from 5–8 p.m. in the Lincoln Public Library.
Talking turkey (Lincoln Through the Lens)
News acorns
“Mrs. Ship” by Catherine McCarthy, one of the works in the Clark Gallery’s “Paperwork” exhibit.
Artists’ reception
The Clark Gallery will host an artists’ reception with 17 artists to mark the opening of its Paperwork exhibit on Saturday, Sept. 9 from 4–6 p.m.
Used book sale
The Friends of the Lincoln Library resume their monthly used book sale on Saturday, Sept. 9 from 9 a.m.–noon in Bemis Hall. Support the Lincoln Library by picking up gently used books, DVDs and CDs. Leave donated materials in the box in the Bemis Hall foyer.
Quilters exhibit their work
The Lincoln Quilters will display the results of several years of creative shared-quilt construction at the Lincoln Public Library art gallery starting on Friday, Sept. 8 and running through Saturday, Sept. 30. All quilts will be auctioned to benefit the charity of choice of the successful bidder. Bids will be closed out at the closing reception on Saturday, Sept. 30 from 3–5 p.m. at the library. Members of the Lincoln Quilters are Anne Crosby, Nancy Constable, Tricia Deck, Linda MacNeil, Margaret Olson, Lucy Sachs, Kate Sacknoff, Jane Solar, and Dilla Tingley.
Forum on Lincoln as a sanctuary
The Lincoln Sanctuary Town Committee is holding a forum titled “Lincoln Explores Sanctuary” on Sunday, Sept. 24 from 4–6 p.m. in Bemis Hall. The forum will be moderated by Steven Perlmutter and will include panelists Akuot Leek, a former Sudanese refugee and Lincoln resident; Andrea Hewitt and Sharon Carlson of Dignity in Asylum; Vince Amoroso, Boxborough city councilman; and state Senator James Eldridge of the Middlesex and Worcester District.
Sunday School registration, evening meditation at St. Anne’s
St. Anne’s in-the-Fields Episcopal Church will hold its annual Sunday School open house and registration on Sunday, Sept. 17 at 9 a.m. There will be snacks and activities for kids. At the 10 a.m. service, there will be a special blessing for the new school year—bring your backpack to have it blessed.
St. Anne’s is also hosting an evening mediation series this fall, “Let Go and Know.” The group will meet Mondays from 7–8 p.m. beginning September 18. Cushions and chairs will be available for sitting, or feel free to bring your own favorite. To learn more, contact Nanri Tenney Nanri at nanritenney@gmail.com.
Bemis Lecture clarification
The Bemis Free lecture on “Philanthropy Shaping Lincoln: The Ogden Codman Trust” on September 27 will run from 7–9 p.m., not ending at 8:30 p.m. as previously listed in News Acorns and the calendar.