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

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Plastic bag/bottle ban approved in Sudbury

Sudbury voters approved a ban on the sale of plastic grocery bags and single-serving plastic water bottles at their Annual Town Meeting on May 2, according to the MetroWest Daily News. The measure, sponsored by members of Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School’s Environmental Club, was the same as one proposed for Lincoln’s Annual Town Meeting in March. That measure was passed over amid concerns about enforcement and objections from the owners of Donelan’s and Lincoln’s two new restaurants.

Correction

The May 2 letter to the editor by Valerie Fox about the Sophia Adams sampler misstated Fox’s title. She is the deputy town clerk. The article also had a typographical error stating the amount of money Adam’s father left. The correct amount is $2,133.73.

Garlic mustard pull

Lincoln’s annual garlic mustard pull is underway. Free paper bags for the collection of this invasive plant will be distributed to residents at the transfer station on Saturday, May 6 from 9 a.m. to noon, courtesy of the Lincoln Garden Club. The Department of Public Works has a designated area near the cell tower at its Lewis Street facility for residents to drop off bags of garlic mustard. Additionally, the Conservation Department will pick up full bags in neighborhoods through May 31 if you contact them beforehand at 781-259-2612 or trails@lincolntown.org  The DPW and the Conservation Department ask that you not put any wall lettuce in your bags. For more information about garlic mustard, click here.

Lincoln Directory on the way

In the library’s Tarbell Room are Lincoln Directory volunteers Graham Walker, Tucker Smith, Kim Bodnar, Kelley Raghavan, Barbara Low, Agnes Wiggin, Julie Brogan, Belinda Gingrich, and (front row) Kathleen Nichols and Elinor Nichols. Not shown: Cathy Moritz, Carole Kasper, Lindsay Clemens, Bryn Gingrich, Ian Gingrich, Paul Gingrich, Patience Sandrof, Mark Sandrof, Margaret Flint, Connie Olsen, and Susan Pease. (click to enlarge)

Each household in Lincoln will be receiving a copy of the 2017 Lincoln Directory in the mail this week. This biannual Lincoln resource produced by the Friends of the Lincoln Library contains a plethora of Lincoln information. The publication is produced by Lincolnites who raise funds, edit, design, put the booklets in envelopes and deliver them to the post office. It’s funded by advertisements, so be sure to let our businesses know you appreciate their contributions. Additional copies can be purchased at the Old Town Hall Exchange and at the library.

PMC kids ride to benefit cancer research

The Lincoln PMC Kids Ride for children ages 3-15 takes place on Sunday, May 21 on the Lincoln School campus. Kids can ride by themselves or get a team together to compete against other groups. All money raised goes directly to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. The three rides (a loop in the Hartwell parking lot for parentally supervised riders on tricycles, bikes with training wheels, and balance bikes; a quarter-mile loop around center field; or a two-mile loop through the school campus) are from 8:30–9:30 a.m. followed by festivities including music, dancing with a DJ, a bouncy house, a mechanical bull, arts and crafts, and an ice cream truck. Pre-registration fee is $20 ($25 on the day of the event: $25). Fundraising required minimum: $25. Click here to register.

Lincoln Tree Tour, photo contest on June 4

The Lincoln Garden Club reminds residents that the entry deadline for its tree photo contest is Sunday, May 21. Contestants may submit up to four photos of trees, located anywhere in the world. Pictures don’t need to be recent as long as they were taken by the submitter. Please read the photo contest rules.

Photos will be displayed at the Pierce House on Sunday, June 4 from 5-7 p.m. during a champagne reception to celebrate the launch of the Lincoln Tree Tour. The tour, which takes place from 1–5 p.m., includes directions to five special tree sites together with self-guiding information regarding distinctive features, history and botany. Children are welcome on the tree tour, but the champagne reception from 5–7 p.m. is an adult-only event. Questions? Contact Daniela Caride at danielacaride@gmail.com or 262-416-1616.

Run in ugly bridesmaid dresses to benefit Lovelane

Joanna Schmergel models her running gear.

Lincoln resident Joanna Schmergel is spearheading Runaway Bridesmaids, a fundraising running team that will be part of Run for Lovelane, which will benefit the Lovelane Special Needs Therapeutic Horseback Riding in Lincoln. It involves a team of women running the annual Run for Love 5K charity road race honoring Susan McDaniel. The race is on Sunday, June 11 at 11 a.m. in Weston. Runaway Bridesmaids will run in poofy, dated, and/or ridiculous bridesmaids dresses. Anyone who would like to join the team or has a dress to donate may contact Schmergel (617-645-9059 or owenjoanna@yahoo.com) to arrange for pickup. You can also stuff them in a trash bag and leave them at her house at 18 Cerulean Way. Runaway Bridesmaids are going to run at a very slow pace, and all team members who are willing to raise just $50 each and run the race in costume can be part of a group picture (in full garb) with one of the horses at Lovelane. Click here to donate or join to the Runaway Bridesmaids. To register for the race or start your own fundraising page, click here.

CSAs are up and running

Distribution of produce from Lincoln’s three CSA food share programs begins soon. The Food Project’s CSA farm share starts on Tuesday, June 6, while Drumlin Farm’s CSA begins June 14 and the Lindentree Farm CSA begins around the same time. The Food Project and Drumlin Farm also offer pick-your-own CSAs.

Lincoln School kids select two area nonprofits for grants

Lincoln School students with representatives of Youth in Philanthropy. Left to right: board member Laurie Cote, Director of Programs and Marketing Jackie Walker, and students Emilie Auger, Esther Adetoye, Amelia Pillar, Zaynab Azzouz, Sarah Lammert, Sonya Carson, Andreas Muzila, and Will Levy (click to enlarge).

Ten seventh- and eighth-graders from the Lincoln School involved with Youth in Philanthropy (YIP) presented $5,000 grants to Save a Dog and Lucy’s Love Bus after learning about several area nonprofits.

YIP is a program offered by the Foundation for MetroWest designed for middle and high school students interested in learning more about running a nonprofit, how donations are used, and what needs exist in their communities through a hands-on experience. For 15 weeks, the students (helped by social studies teacher Keith Johnson) learned about philanthropy, researched local nonprofits, reviewed their grant applications, conducted site visits to three nonprofits, and voted on the final grant recipients.

Although the students chose the nonprofits themselves, the money was actually donated by Lincoln’s Ogden Codman Trust, which funded a three-year program for students who live and/or learn in Lincoln. High school students who participate in YIP raise money themselves (Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School as well as schools in Concord, Wellesley, Hopkinton, and Natick have chapters). Since YIP’s inception, 1,100 area students have raised more than $1 million for the causes they’ve chosen. YIP also runs a four-day Summer Institute for Youth Leadership in Framingham in late June for middle and high school students.

For nearly 20 years, the Sudbury-based Save A Dog has rescued and re-homed abandoned dogs. “What we really liked about it is that it’s not just a kennel situation. They had a foster program as well, so people could see what [the dogs] were like,” said eight-grader Sonya Carson.

“This will greatly enhance our summer program for teens and allow us to keep the current teen coordinator as well as bring in an additional helper, who started at Save a Dog several years ago as a freshman volunteer,” said Shirley Moore, president and founder. “These teens will inspire others to continue volunteering in this program, providing enrichment for shelter dogs, and helping us find permanent homes for abandoned animals. We want to thank the Foundation for MetroWest and the Youth in Philanthropy students at the Lincoln School for allowing us this tremendous opportunity to enrich the lives of both young people and homeless dogs.”

Lucy’s Love Bus works to deliver comfort and quality of life to pediatric cancer patients by providing funds for free integrative therapies. It’s named for Lucy Grogan, who died of complications from leukemia at age 12. During her illness, friends and family raised money to help pay for therapies such as massage, acupuncture, art therapy, and therapeutic horseback riding. She dreamed of starting a program that would provide free integrative therapies to all children with cancer to help manage the side effects and late effects of traditional cancer treatment.

“It’s an honor to have been chosen by the Youth in Philanthropy students at the Lincoln School to receive this gift. I would like to thank them for their vision and generosity that will allow Lucy’s Love Bus to provide gentle integrative therapies to children who are coping with cancer in our region,” said Beecher Grogan, executive director and founder.

In addition to the grant giving ceremony at The Lincoln School, students involved in YIP programs at schools and communities across MetroWest are also making a positive impact on the region. Read more about the YIP program and their efforts here.

“It showed us you don’t have to be an adult to help; you can make a big difference even in middle school,” one of the students said.

News acorns

Cycling Safety Advisory Committee hosts coffee

The Lincoln Cycling Safety Advisory Committee invites residents to a coffee and chat on Saturday, May 6 at Trail’s End at 10:45 a.m. to learn more about how we are trying to make the town’s roads safer for all. The event will feature a safety talk by Ian Spencer of the Lincoln Police Department, some information on the new committee, and free coffee provided by the Lincoln Police Association. It will be run in conjunction with the local cycling club “The Monsters in the Basement” opening day activities. For those up for a longer ride at a modest pace (15-16 m.p.h.), the group will leave Fern’s in Carlisle Center at 9:30 a.m. using this route to arrive at Trail’s End by 10:45.

Brennan Srisirikul at First Parish

Brennan Srisirikul

The First Parish in Lincoln (FPL) will host Brennan Srisirikul at its service on Sunday, May 7 at 10 a.m. in the Parish House Auditorium (14 Bedford Road). He will speak along with Rev. Manish Mishra-Marzetti, FPL’s senior minister, and after sharing some of his life journey, he’ll will participate in a public question-and-answer session at 11:30 a.m. Diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth, Mr. Sirisirikul is an actor who wrote a one-man show, “In My Own Little Corner,” seen at the Metropolitan Room in New York City. He recently gave the keynote address at the Massachusetts Federation for Children with Special Needs annual conference.

Sara Lewis to give talk on fireflies

Sara Lewis

Lincoln resident Sara Lewis, a professor of biology at Tufts University, will dive into the mysterious world of fireflies and reveal the most up-to-date discoveries about these charismatic insects in the first annual Chuck Roth Memorial Lecture on Thursday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m in the Morrison Theater at Newbury Court (100 Newbury Court, Concord). Roth, a Lincoln resident for more than 30 years, was credited as being the father of environmental literacy, an internationally recognized environmental educator and Mass Audubon’s first director of education. The lecture is co-sponsored by Newbury Court and by the Littleton Land Conservation Trust, where Roth served as director for many years.

Letter to the editor: Town Meeting funding preserves a piece of Lincoln history

letterTo the editor:

The residents of Lincoln approved a Community Preservation grant at the 2017 Annual Town Meeting to restore an important Lincoln sampler to its finest glory and prepare it for public display at Town Offices, including framing it with museum-quality UV filtering glass or acrylic. This is truly a beautiful piece of art, made by young Sophia Adams during her youth on Lincoln’s historic Battle Road in 1826.

The town of Lincoln has had the good fortune to have this beautiful 19th-century sampler donated to it by Cynthia Williams. She recently decided to move from Lincoln to be near her children, but she felt the sampler was created in Lincoln, and it should remain in Lincoln. It was wrought by her late husband’s great-grandmother, Sophia Adams, at 13 years of age. When she made it, this young teenager lived in Lincoln on Route 2A, the Battle Road. Then popularly known as Foster’s farm, her home was very close to the Paul Revere capture site. It had once been part of the property owned by William Smith, captain of the Lincoln Minute Men, who fought the British on April 19, 1775.

A sampler is a piece of embroidery worked in various stitches, commonly created by girls and young ladies as a specimen of skill and a testament to perseverance. Many samplers are family registers, recording births, marriages and deaths in a person’s life.

This sampler was a family register of Joseph Adams, created in 1826 by his daughter Sophia. Douglas Stinson, a local appraiser of antiques, estimated its value to be $10,000. At 31.5 inches x 21.5 inches, it is particularly significant because it is quite large compared to other samplers of its time. The textile curator at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston recommended a reputable restoration conservator to assess this complex, fragile and significant piece.

The Sophia Adams sampler (click to enlarge).

The stitching was embroidered onto a particularly fine plain weave fabric and has a plain weave cotton backing. The yarn used was plied and unplied silk, and the stitching includes cross, satin, split stem and French knot stitches. Due to the fineness of the backing—unlike the coarser linen backing used on many samplers—this exquisite work would have been especially challenging for the 13-year-old to stitch. The register records the birth, four marriages and death of Joseph Adams, born March 10, 1759, to John and Abigail Adams of Milton, Mass. He was a distant cousin of President John Adams.

The sampler gives us an interesting insight into Joseph’s life. It lists his first marriage to Betsey Davis and each of the five children that marriage produced. Betsey died at age 34, less than two weeks after her youngest son’s birth. Ben was born August 7, 1799, and Betsey died on August 18. Having five young children to raise, Joseph married Rebecca Patch just over two years later. This was short-lived as Rebecca died within nine months. The sampler records that he then married Mehitable Hildreth, who bore him three children, the youngest being Sophia, who created the sampler. Mehitable died when Sophia was six.

Joseph married for the last time in 1821. He wed Lincoln widow Lydia Winship, née Wheeler, who may have taught Sophia to sew. Lydia owned the Foster property, which had been left to her on the death of her first husband, Benjamin Winship, in 1819. Winship had originally purchased this land from widow Catherine Louisa Smith, whose husband Captain William Smith was a younger brother of Abigail Adams, wife of the second President. Benjamin and Lydia Winship had only one daughter, also named Lydia, who died at age 16. All three of them have their final resting place at Meeting House Burial Ground behind Bemis Hall.

Joseph Adams moved to Lincoln with his family when he married Lydia Winship. Interestingly, Lydia wrote an agreement—with her husband’s consent—that the land would not become Joseph’s, as was tradition, but it remained in Lydia’s name. Just before Lydia Adams’s death in 1825, she leased the property to her dear friend Susan Brooks with conditions, engaging her friend to lease it back to her husband Joseph, “to hold to him the said Adams for and during the term of his natural life provided the said Joseph does not again get married.” Lydia provided that if Joseph remarried, he would lose the option to lease the property.

This agreement was very unusual during a period when a wife’s holdings normally become the husband’s property to control. Perhaps this was due to a lesson learned from the previous owner of the land, Catherine Louisa (Salmon) Smith. Catherine Louisa had received the land from her stepfather, but upon her marriage to William Smith, it became the property of her husband. William Smith had financial difficulties, so the farm was mortgaged to Catherine Louisa’s father-in-law a number of times, but he eventually returned it to her and her children. There were two houses on the Smith property: one where the Smiths lived, which is still standing across from the end of Bedford Road; the other was a rental that became the Foster-Winship-Adams residence where Sophia worked on her sampler. While her home is no longer standing, the site is now part of Minute Man National Historical Park.

Sophia’s father was a housewright by trade, more commonly known today as a builder, and he likely built some of Lincoln’s early houses during his years living here. In 1827, for $500, he sold his right to lease the 90-acre farm. Joseph died in Concord in 1830, leaving notes in hand (cash assets) to the value of $2,133.73 and $178.18 worth in furnishings and tools. Sophia herself later married and had two sons and a daughter.

Lincoln is very fortunate to now have Sophia’s sampler as a permanent reminder of our community’s historic roots and of the fabric of families who once called Lincoln home.

Sincerely,

Valerie Fox, Deputy Town Clerk
250 South Great Rd.

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

South Lincoln hydration station stages ribbon-cutting

The Lincoln Garden Club is having a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Station Park on Saturday, May 6 at 10 a.m. to celebrate the opening of its latest project: the installation of a granite water fountain for the town of Lincoln. The park is located across the Lincoln Mall at 145 Lincoln Road.

The native-plant flower bed at Station Park installed in 2015.

The Garden Club decided to have the water fountain built at the Park it has been maintaining since 1972, inspired by last year’s warrant article, sponsored by the Lincoln School eighth grade, to install a hydration station at the school gym. DPW Superintendent Chris Bibbo and his staff, as well as the Lincoln Water Department, were key in designing and installing the fountain, which can be used by bicyclists and walkers to fill water bottles and get a drink of water.

Station Park was created by the town in May 1970 and has been maintained by the Lincoln Garden Club since 1972. In the fall of 2015, the Garden Club installed a native plant bed, designed by the New England Wildflower Society. Like the water fountain project, the installation of the native bed was funded by the Lincoln Garden Club and encompasses approximately 300 native plants.

Lincolnites join forces with crowd at climate rally

Eighteen Lincolnites armed with posters, good spirits, hats, and sunscreen participated in the Boston People’s Climate Mobilization on Boston Common on Saturday, April 29. A Doherty’s bus, organized by the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee, conveyed the group to and from the rally.

Sponsored by a wide array of environmental organizations, the rally offered workshops, teach-ins, music, and speakers focusing on jobs, economic and environmental justice, and ideas for promoting job growth and diminishing the ill effects of climate change.

“The activities were informative and often inspiring and the mood was buoyant, as it was a perfectly beautiful spring day in Boston with participants, along with their children and their dogs, enjoying the warm sunshine and the flowering trees, shrubs and tulips in the Public Garden,” said participant Barbara Slayter, who provided the photos below (click any image to enlarge).

Gwyn Loud, Nancy Soulette, and Elizabaeth Cherniack on the bus to Boston Common.

Barbara Slayter behind her Maura Healy sign.

The Lincolnites get themselves organized before heading onto Boston Common.

 

Jillian Darling displays her poster.

Kate Dahmen and Staci Montori, whose sign calls attention to unrepaired natural gas leaks.

Leslie Hallowell and Sherry Haydock.

Lia Darling.

 

Nancy Soulette’s sign.

News acorns

Parent discussion on life at L-S for incoming freshmen

All Lincoln parents of eighth-graders (regardless of where they’re enrolled) who will be going to Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School in the fall are invited to “Life at L-S” on Thursday, May 4 from 7–8:30 p.m. Lincoln School parent alums will offer information and support for the transition to L-S life. Because orientation to L-S so far has focused almost exclusively on academics, this session will touch on other aspects of L-S life such as sports, clubs and activities, social life, time management, and Boston family experiences. The event will be facilitated by Lincoln residents Nancy Marshall (member of the L-S School Committee) and Carole Kasper, parent volunteer and former PTO chair, as well as middle school Principal Sharon Hobbs.

Jewelry trunk show at Old Town Hall Exchange

The Old Town Hall Exchange is hosting a jewelry trunk show on Saturday, May 6 from 1–5 p.m. Enjoy browsing local artisans’ work on the weekend before Mother’s Day. Lincoln artists include Ji Hwang Jewelry, Shing Jewels, and L. Alexandra Designs, with other local jewelers Susan Warren Jewelry and CB Miller Metals. The Exchange will be also open for business with cards, stationery, soaps, candles, pottery, and more.

Historical Society hosts event

The Lincoln Historical Society invites residents to “Our Unhappy Connection: The ‘Lost Letters’ of Abigail Adams and Her Brother, Captain William Smith”—a fictional exchange based on history on Sunday, May 7 at 2 p.m. in Bemis Hall. Special guests the Lincoln Minute Men will salute their captains past and present.

Page Turners at next LOMA night

The Page Turners (Carolyn Kendrick and Jake Howard) are the featured performer at the next LOMA (Lincoln Open-Mike Acoustic) night on Monday, May 8 at the Lincoln Public Library. The event runs from 7-10 p.m., and the Page Turners will perform a half-hour set starting around 8:30. Their rustic vocal harmonies are complemented instrumentally by Carolyn’s fiddle and Jake’s mandolin and guitar. LOMA is a monthly event. Admission is free and refreshments are provided.Performers can sign up at the event or email Rich Eilbert at loma3re@gmail.com for a slot. There is a sound system with mikes and instrumental pickups suitable for individuals or small groups.

L-S invites singers to join Vivaldi performance

The L-S Concert Choir invites residents who enjoy singing to participate in their annual Community Sing on May 11, where they will perform Vivaldi’s Gloria for their May concert. The choir’s tradition for its May concert  is to learn and perform a longer work for choir and orchestra and to invite L-S staff, choir alumni and community members to sing the piece with them. The time commitment is minimal: dress rehearsal is Monday, May 8 from 7–8:30 p.m. and the concert is on Thursday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m. There are audio practice files online for each part (soprano, alto, tenor, bass), as well as scores available to borrow. Anyone interested may contact L-S Choral Director Mike Bunting (Michael_Bunting@lsrhs.net or 781-259-9527, ext 2210).

Beach hopes to bring more events to Pierce House

Nancy Beach reflects on her new role as Pierce house events manager.

The new live-in event manager of the Pierce House hopes to expand the historic building’s beyond summer weddings to widen its appeal and help pay for more improvements.

Nancy Beach was hired in January after managers Richard and Susan Silver retired after 22 years. She’s taken over the job of booking rentals, managing contracts and overseeing upkeep of the house along with town facilities staff. “We’re here to guide her and support her, but she’s in charge,” said Virginia Rundell, chair of the Pierce House Committee, which proposes the annual budget and general oversight.

Much of that budget comes from fees paid for use of the house by those who rent it for weddings and other events. Summer Saturdays are fully booked for that purpose, but Beach plans to market the house for other uses such as weekday corporate retreats and meetings as well as wintertime events. The Pierce House played host to a wedding reception on a snowy evening in January, and “they had a lovely time—it was so beautiful with all four fireplaces going,” Beach said.

Beach, who grew up in Concord, started her career as a wedding planner in the 1980s and was later in charge of worldwide training and customer entertainment events at Hewlett-Packard. Four days after moving into the refurbished manager’s apartment in January, she organized a separate bridal show in another town and got dozens of leads for future bookings.

More income could help Beach pay for better period decor and other interior upgrades. “If I can bring in enough money to put back into house, then we can improve it,” she said.

Additional events for Lincoln residents are also a goal. “The committee did some soul-searching last year and talked about our mission, and we’d like to do more events that bring Lincolnites into the house,” Rundell said. Past shindigs have included the Downton Abbey viewing party in 2014 and a welcome event for new Lincoln residents; organizations such as the Lincoln Family Association and the Council on Aging periodically make use of the house, and Beach envisions other local social groups and families coming in as well (Lincoln residents and groups get discounts on the rental fees, Rundell noted).

“It’s a little corny, but I think of the Pierce House being a part of Lincolnites’ lives” for everything from baby showers to weddings and post-funeral gatherings, Rundell said. “It’s so iconic.”

Camuti convicted of killing Rakes and dumping body in Lincoln

The approximate location where Stephen Rakes’ body was found in Lincoln on July 17, 2013 (click to enlarge).

William Camuti, 72, of Sudbury was convicted of first-degree murder today by a Middlesex Superior Court jury in connection with the 2013 death of Stephen Rakes, 59, of Quincy, whose body he dumped on Mill Street in Lincoln after poisoning him in 2013. The jury also found the defendant guilty of improper disposal of human remains and two counts of misleading a police officer. Judge Bruce Henry scheduled sentencing for Thursday, April 27.

The following account is from a press release from the office of Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan. Scroll down for links to Lincoln Squirrel articles from 2013.

William Camuti, 72, of Sudbury, was convicted of first-degree murder today by a Middlesex Superior Court jury in connection with the 2013 death of Stephen Rakes, 59, of Quincy. The jury also found the defendant guilty of improper disposal of human remains and two counts of misleading a police officer. Judge Bruce Henry scheduled sentencing for Thursday, April 27 at 10 a.m.

“Deeply in debt to his long-time business partner Stephen Rakes, William Camuti offered to meet the victim to discuss financial matters over coffee,” said District Attorney Ryan. “Unbeknownst to the victim, the defendant had laced the victim’s coffee with potassium cyanide to avoid paying the $100,000 he owed the victim. The defendant then waited for his so-called friend to die before leaving the victim in the woods in Lincoln. When questioned by authorities, the defendant made a concerted and deliberate effort to mislead Massachusetts State Police and Lincoln Police. Thanks to the diligent work of these two law enforcement agencies and the prosecutors assigned to this case, today the jury found the defendant guilty of his crimes.”

Lincoln Chief of Police Kevin Kennedy added, “Thank you to my officers in the Lincoln Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police and the prosecutors who worked tirelessly to investigate and prosecute this case. Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of Stephen Rakes and we hope that today’s verdict will bring them closure.”

On Wednesday, July 17, 2013, at approximately 1:30 p.m., a jogger running past a wooded area on Mill Street in Lincoln discovered the body of Stephen Rakes. Lincoln Police and Massachusetts State Police responded and immediately began an investigation.

Surveillance video showed Rakes leaving the Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse, where he had been regularly attending the trial of Whitey Bulger, on the afternoon of July 16, 2013. He was wearing the same clothing when his body was discovered; however, the victim did not have a phone, keys or identification on his person.

Authorities learned that Camuti arranged to meet the victim around 1:45 p.m. at McDonald’s in Waltham on July 16 under the guise of discussing a real estate deal in Wilmington. The defendant purchased two iced coffees, one of which he mixed with two teaspoons of potassium cyanide. He gave the laced drink to the victim, who drank it.

The defendant then drove around Waltham, Woburn, Burlington, and Lincoln for several hours with the victim in the vehicle. He later dumped the body of Rakes in the wooded area in Lincoln where it was found the next day.

In the course of the investigation, authorities discovered Internet searches on the defendant’s computer including ways to purchase cyanide and queries such as, “Will the taste of coffee change if it is mixed with sodium or potassium cyanide?” Authorities also learned that the defendant was deeply in debt to the victim at the time of the murder.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner would later determine the cause of death to be acute potassium cyanide poisoning. Camuti was arrested on August 2, 2013.

This case was investigated by Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and the Lincoln Police Department. 

Lincoln Squirrel stories from 2013:

New group invites residents to ‘tag’ gas leaks

Lincoln Mothers Out Front Gas Circle members (left to right) Staci Montori, Kate Dahmen, Trish O’Hagan, Sue Michener, Carol Michener Card. Missing from photo: Emily Haslett, DJ Mitchell, Jackie Lenth and Stacey Parks. (Photo from Mothers Out Front – Lincoln)

As one of its first actions to take on local and global environmental challenges, the new Lincoln chapter of the group Mothers Out Front invites residents to a rally and artistic event on Sunday, May 7 to raise awareness of natural gas leaks in town.

The event starts at 1 p.m. at the Lincoln Town Office Building with a welcome address and kickoff rally. Teams of “taggers” will then disperse to mark over 45 known gas leaks throughout Lincoln and hang doorknob information sheets to alert neighbors about the harmful and costly effects of leaking natural gas. Anyone interested in joining is welcome; please email LincolnMOF@gmail.com to sign up for a tagging team.

Natural gas is 95 percent methane, a potent greenhouse gas that speeds up climate change, harms trees, and is linked to health issues including asthma. The Cambridge nonprofit Home Energy Efficiency Team maps gas leaks in more than 200 Massachusetts cities and towns. There are more than 20,000 gas leaks in Massachusetts;Mothers Out front cites a recent Boston University survey of 100 of those leaks that were identified seven as “super-emitters” and 15 as potentially explosive.

Utilities charge consumers for the leaked gas they never use, and the Lincoln campaign is part of a statewide movement to enact gas leaks legislation. A law signed in 2016 requires gas companies to address “environmentally significant” leaks, or the ones leaking the most gas, while other pending legislation would pass the cost of lost gas from consumer bills to the utilities over a period of time. Senate Bill 1845 is currently before the state legislature’s Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy co-chaired by Lincoln’s state senator, Michael Barrett.