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

Ms. G predicts six more weeks of winter

Ms. G clambered aboard her stump in 2013 as she prepared to make her prediction.

Ms. G clambered aboard her stump in 2013 as she prepared to make her prediction. (Photo: Alice Waugh)

Ms. G, the Massachusetts State Groundhog residing at Drumlin Farm, saw her shadow this morning, meaning there will be six more weeks of winter—though if it’s anything like this week, no one will mind except the skiers.

Ms. G began her Groundhog Day meteorology career at Drumlin in 2008. Organizers began collecting signatures (mostly from underage voters) in 2010 to get the state legislature to designate Ms. G as the official state groundhog. State Rep. Alice Peisch filed a bill in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 2013 and after winding its way through the legislative process, the bill was signed by Gov. Deval Patrick in July 2014.

Ironically, Ms. G’s public prognostication was snowed out a year ago, but she did a private forecast for her naturalist handler and predicted an early spring. Despite the record snow last February, she was right.

This year also marks the debut of a children’s book about the groundhog’s political odyssey—Ms. G’s Shadowy Road to Fame by meteorologist Mish Michaels, Ms. G’s campaign manager. The new Ms. G website also features a history of the rodent’s forecasts (with an accuracy rate reportedly double that of the more famous Punxsutawny Phil) and her story in video form.

Burney dives into Lincoln planning and land use

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Jennifer Burney

By Alice Waugh

Jennifer Burney’s opinion after a week in Lincoln? “I love it!”

Burney is starting her second week as Lincoln’s new director of planning and land use, was director of planning in Southborough for three years. Before that, she held the same post in Bolton for six years, and assistant town planner and director of community development in Sudbury from 2006-07. Burney succeeds Chris Reilly, who held the position for five years until becoming planning director in Billerica in late 2015.

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News acorns

ballotSpots still open on town ballot

There are still two offices on the Town Election ballot without any candidates: one for a three-year seat on the Planning Board and the other for a three-year seat as a Bemis Trustee. Please call the Town Clerk’s office at 781-259-2607 for further information.

Cardboard Ox at next LOMA

The next LOMA (Lincoln Open-Mike Acoustic) will be on Monday, Feb. 8 from 7-10 p.m. at the Lincoln Public Library. Cardboard Ox (Tracie Potochnik and Steve Allain) will perform a half-hour set starting around 8:30 p.m. Combining forces in 2014, Tracie and Steve have become well know for sweet harmonies and delicately crafted storytelling. They’ve opened for Cherl Wheeler and other well-known folk musicians. Their debut EP, a collection of six original songs was recently released just three months ago.

LOMA is a monthly event sponsored by Friends of the Lincoln Library. For more information, see the library’s open-mike web page. Upcoming performers: Dawn Kenney (March 14), Andrew McKnight (April  Mike Laureanno (May 9), Amy Herrera (June 13).

Donate Valentine’s Day gifts to domestic violence program

Each year the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable (DVR) sponsors a Valentine’s Day Gift Drive to help make the day brighter for families who are not safe in their own homes. The families reside in shelters and transitional housing programs of three area domestic violence organizations: REACH Beyond Domestic Violence, The Second Step, and Voices Against Violence. The DVR gives each family member a bag of age-appropriate gifts to remind recipients that people care about them and support their decision to end abuse in their lives. A list of recommended donations can be found on the this Roundtable web page. There will be a basket for donations at the Wayland Public Safety Building (38 Cochituate Road at the intersection of Routes 20 and 27) from February 1-9.

Volunteers are welcome to join Roundtable members as they assemble the gift bags on Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 3 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room of the Wayland Public Safety Building. For further information, please email the DVR at infodvrt@gmail.com.

¿Como se llama? (Lincoln Through the Lens)

This llama, who is often seen by drivers on Old Sudbury Road, lives at Ellen Raja's sheep farm...

Henry the llama* is one of the collection of livestock at Ellen Raja’s farm on Old Sudbury Road. Henry has taken full charge of the flock, being as Raja describes him “large, smelly and protective.” He is often rude to humans and hates dogs (though he tolerates Raja and her sheepdogs). Fortunately, though he gets along with sheep, he is also full of rancor and aggression toward other members of the dog family, including foxes and coyotes. “Earn his keep? You bet he does,” Raja says. Photo: Harold McAleer

* “L-L-A-M-A,” as most people know, is one of only three ways to spell this word. A “one-L” lama is a teacher of Tibetan Buddhism; a “two-L” llama is the creature resembling an alpaca; and a “three-L” lllama is a wicked big fire in Summahville.

Readers may submit photos for consideration for Lincoln Through the Lens by emailing them to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. If your photo is published, you’ll receive credit in the Squirrel. Photos must be taken in Lincoln and include the date, location, and names of any people who are identifiable in the photo. Previously published photos can be viewed on the Lincoln Through the Lens page of the Lincoln Squirrel.

Grant boosts aid to needy from St. Joseph’s

St. Vincent de Paul volunteers pack bags of groceries on January 26 at St. Joseph Church.

St. Vincent de Paul volunteers pack bags of groceries on January 26 at St. Joseph Church.

By Alice Waugh

Lincoln’s only food pantry recently got a boost for the Lincoln families it serves—a $20,000 grant from the Ogden Codman Trust.

The St. Vincent de Paul, St. Joseph’s Conference (SVdP) operates a food pantry at St. Joseph Church and also offers emergency financial help to clients who live or work in Lincoln or Weston. It’s run by the St. Julia Parish in Weston, of which St. Joseph’s is a part. The grant money is earmarked for Lincoln residents, and most of it will be used for helping clients with sudden financial needs such as rent or utility payments, heating oil, car repairs, medications and other expenses.

“Many of our clients work hard to support themselves and their families. They manage to do that until some unexpected event such as illness, job loss, car trouble, extra-cold weather requiring more heating oil, or other unforeseen expense makes it impossible for them to cover all their bills,” said Christine Brandt, vice president of SVdP. “By supporting them temporarily, we make it possible for them to stay in their apartments and to recover their independence.”

SVdP currently serves 44 clients (tied for its most ever) in 24 households. Even though the Great Recession is over, “it’s not getting better—there definitely is a strong need at the moment,” said Ursula Nowak, SVdP president.

In addition to the strong support within their own parish, the organization receives cash and grocery donations from many sources, including parishioners of St. Anne’s and the First Parish Church in Lincoln; Donelan’s, which donates day-old bread; Hope and Comfort, a Newton nonprofit that contributes personal hygiene products; and Land’s Sake farm in Weston, a source of fresh produce during the growing season. More than half the food it distributes comes from the Greater Boston Food Bank, which provides pantries with food at little or no cost.

When clients visit the food pantry (which is open once a month), each household gets one bag of groceries per family member as well as paper towels, toilet paper and other household and toiletry items. Clients also receive food for a Thanksgiving meal and grocery store gift cards at Christmas and Easter so they can buy the ingredients for a meal of their choice. St. Vincent de Paul also tries to connect clients with other resources—for example, a local summer camp each year offers one summer “campership” for a child from client families.

Anyone who would like to contribute may send a check to SVdP, P.O. Box 324, Lincoln MA 01773. If you would like to drop off non-perishable food items, please enter St. Joseph Church at the side entrance by the ramp and leave them in the basket near the door. Please make sure to check the “best by” dates, as the organization is not allowed to distribute outdated food. For further information, contact Nowak at unowak@stjulia.org or 781-259-4297. If you or someone you know is in need of help, please call St. Julia Parish at 781-899-2611.

The Ogden Codman Trust, the First Parish Church and individual donations also fund the Lincoln Emergency Assistance Fund (LEAF) and the Small Necessities Project, which are administered by the Council on Aging along with the state’s Fuel Assistance Program. LEAF provides assistance of up to $700 per year or $1,000 per lifetime in those situations where that amount will allow someone to stay in the community. The Small Necessities Project can provide immediate help if a resident has no food in the house, needs emergency medication, needs a night or two of lodging due to a fire or flood, or has a similar crisis. For more information or to ask for assistance from either program, call Pam Mizrahi at the COA at 781-259-8811.

Top of the Town

See a slide show of photos by Harold McAleer from Top of the Town, a cocktail party for seniors hosted by the Friends of the Lincoln Council on Aging on January 23, 2016.

Letter to the editor: Barrett’s carbon tax is a bad idea

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Editor’s note: This letter is in response to a Dec. 6, 2015 letter by Democratic Town Committee chair Gary Davis about the DTC’s endorsement of a bill proposed by Sen. Michael Barrett.

To the editor:

Lincoln’s state senator, Michael Barrett, has proposed a bill to impose a carbon tax to combat climate change. The tax will have no discernible effect on carbon emissions or climate change, but will substantially increase the cost of living and doing business in Massachusetts.

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Letter to the editor: Minuteman district governance at issue

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Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of letters about Minuteman High School from Sharon Antia, Lincoln’s representative on the Minuteman School Committee. The previous letters were published on January 4 and January 14. She invites readers with questions to email her at Sharon.antia@gmail.com.

To the editor:

On February 23, Lincoln will hold a Special Town Meeting at which we will be asked to vote on two things: whether to approve the amended Minuteman school district’s regional agreement, and whether to withdraw form the Minuteman school district. The new Minuteman regional agreement, which all 16 towns in the district must vote on, has two important changes to the district’s governance.

1) Voting mechanism for school committee members—Under the current structure, each of the 16 towns in the district has one school committee representative, and each representative has one full vote. Some towns send many students and some only send a couple, yet each representative’s vote holds equal value.

With the new amendment, 50 percent of a town’s voting strength will be shared equally among members and 50 percent will be based on that town’s four-year rolling average enrollment. Recognizing that some towns may withdraw from the district and that Lincoln sends only a few students to this high school, it is difficult to determine exactly how this change will impact Lincoln, but it is likely that the value of our vote will be diminished.

At least as important as the actual vote is having a seat at the table and being part of the conversation in the district. As history has shown, we expect that some of our students will want to attend this high school, and the new school will be built in our town. The ability of the Lincoln Planning Board to manage building size, scale, and impact on abutters is constrained by state statute. However, as long as we are part of the district, our representative to the Minuteman School Committee has the ability to question program-driven design such as the proposed new theater.

2) Selection of school committee members—Unlike our K-12 system in which citizens elect school committee members, Minuteman School Committee representatives are appointed by town moderators. One of the proposed amendments will move this appointing power to the Board of Selectmen in each member town (or by the mayor in the case of a city), unless the community provides otherwise by bylaw or charter.

Minuteman School Committee members act, as do K-12 School Committee members, as advocates for public education in their respective schools. Without an election process for a Minuteman School Committee representative, an appointment by the town moderator has provided a balanced alternative to select strong advocates for education.

Minuteman High School has been part of Lincoln’s educational system since its inception in 1971. We have expected its School Committee, just as we expect our K-8 and L-S school committees, to be strong advocates for investments in quality education. This must be part of the conversation as we consider change.

Sincerely,

Sharon Antia, Minuteman School Committee
165 S. 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 must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, 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.

Council on Aging activities for February

bemisSeniorSpeak theater performance
February 1 at 12:30 p.m.
Join the SeniorSpeak group for a theatre performance on Monday, Feb. 1 at 12:30 p.m. in Bemis Hall. The performance is an outgrowth of the work participants were engaged in as they rediscovered their voice as older adults. Drawing upon memories, feelings, and life lessons, participants have created a performance piece that incorporates turning points and events that shaped their lives both as individuals and as a group. The piece uses scenes and music as tools to capture key moments. After the performance, all are invited to join a discussion with the performers about the development of the theatre piece and the insights gained in the process.

Meet with an aide to Congresswoman Clark
February 3 at 1 p.m.
You are invited to Bemis Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 3 at 1 p.m. to meet with Anthony Moreschi, Constituent Service Representative for Congresswoman Katherine Clark. He will be available to assist residents with Social Security, Medicare, and MassHealth/Medicaid. You are also welcome to discuss other matters with him that he may be able to help with. [Read more…] about Council on Aging activities for February