Children enjoy the green open space at Farrington Nature Linc.
By Alice C. Waugh
A century-old Lincoln facility originally built to offer rural respite to undernourished city girls has reinvented itself and hopes to expand its programs that connect low-income urban children to the natural world.
[Read more…] about Farrington hopes its nature programming will blossom
Editor’s note: The Planning Commission continued its April 14 hearing for the First Parish Church to April 28 at the request of the church, which still needs approval for its drainage and landscaping plans and the roof material for rebuilding the Stearns Room. It has already won zoning approval for the proposal.
To the editor:
I would like everyone involved with the new Stearns Room to imagine themselves living on the corner of Lincoln Road and Sandy Pond Road, a 1/3-acre lot. Now imagine the proposed Stearns Room replacement right next door: a higher ridge line, a metal roof, the new building extending back many feet beyond what is there now, with added windows overlooking their lot. I would like everyone involved—the Planning Board through site review, the First Parish Building Committee, the congregation—to imagine how profoundly the design will alter the quality of life of those living on the corner.
Since they moved to town, time has not been kind to these neighbors. Traffic has multiplied; their view of the conserved Chapin Field—to which they contributed—has already narrowed, and now there is the threat of a building project that will restrict their property even more. If you lived there, would you want that? Or would you rather work to find compromise, to meet the needs, not just the wants, of both the congregation and the neighbors?
Quality of life is why we live in Lincoln. Let’s keep it.
Sincerely,
Margaret Flint
Lexington Road
Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrel.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 Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.
“Art in the Garden” at StonegateStonegate Gardens (339 South Great Road, Lincoln) will have a representative from the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum at its “Art in the Garden” event on Saturday, April 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Also featured: stone sculpture by Inspired Stones of Concord, screen prints by Rusty & Ingrid Creative Co. of Gloucester, and stone carvings by Kevin Duffy of Arlington.
Calling all fairies, elves, gnomes and other magical creatures! Come to Farrington Nature Linc (291 Cambridge Turnpike) on Saturday, May 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and take an elf training class, create a wizard stick or magic wand, and visit the fairy post office and kitchen. Meet the Fairy Queen and help her make fairy houses in our spruce forest. This event is perfect for children ages 4-10, but younger and older kids are also welcome. Elves and fairies should be accompanied by an adult. Online preregistration is required; tickets are $20 per child-adult pair, plus $5 for each additional child.
Join Sarah Greeley, David Bloom and L-S Connections on Wednesday, April 29 at 7:30 p.m. in the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School cafeteria for a discussion geared towards helping parents plan for the upcoming proms with their children. The event is open to parents of all grades, since you may have a ninth- or tenth-grader who’s planning to attend the Junior or Senior Prom. We’ll be going over key logistics for prom night (bus, limo or car to the prom?) as well as sharing tips and strategies for handling last-minute changes in prom plans. This is an opportunity to brainstorm with other parents how to handle the myriad of issues that come up around prom, such as parties and parked cars. You’ll leave the cafeteria with a Plan B sheet, a list of questions to ask your students and other parents, and the realization that you’re not alone in struggling with these issues.
The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum will unveil Walking Sculpture 1967–2015, an exhibition about the history and practice of walking as a means for questioning social, political, economic and artistic hierarchies, on Saturday, May 9. It will be on view in the galleries and the Sculpture Park through September 13.
Inspired by Michelangelo Pistoletto’s 1967 performance Walking Sculpture, in which the artist rolled a newspaper sphere through city streets in Turin, Italy, Walking Sculpture 1967–2015 features an international selection of artists who engage in walking as an autonomous form of art, as cartography, as an exploration of physical experience and as social practice. Sculpture, video, photography, and performance converge in this exhibition to address the multidisciplinary practice of ambulation through the cityscape and the countryside. The exhibit is accompanied by a robust slate of public programming, including commissioned and artist-led walks in the sculpture park and in surrounding conservation lands in Lincoln and Concord.
The April 2015 issue of School Administrator magazine includes an article written by Dr. Edward A. Bouquillon, Minuteman’s superintendent-director, titled “Career Skills v. Academics: Not an Either/Or Proposition.” Last September, Minuteman High School was featured in a national radio broadcast on American RadioWorks titled “A 21st-Century Vocational High School.” Minuteman is also mentioned in Job U: How to Find Wealth and Success by Developing the Skills Companies Actually Need by Nicholas Wyman, published in paperback in January 2015.
By Alice C. Waugh
Parents have until Friday afternoon to fill out an online survey asking their opinions about various aspects of children’s school, and they’ll have another chance to share their views at a public forum on April 29.
[Read more…] about School district surveys parents, schedules open forum
A graphic in a March 24 Boston Globe article about property taxes reveals that Lincoln has the third-highest average property tax bill in Massachusetts. The only municipalities with higher average bills (for cities and towns where data was available) were Weston and Sherborn. The top 10 were as follows:
| Weston | $18,059 |
| Sherborn | $14,720 |
| Lincoln | $14,367 |
| Dover | $13,715 |
| Wellesley | $13,326 |
| Carlisle | $13,127 |
| Concord | $12,890 |
| Lexington | $12,191 |
| Wayland | $12,049 |
| Sudbury | $11,598 |
| Cohasset | $11,114 |
On the other hand, the pace at which Lincoln’s tax bills have been increasing since 1999 is the lowest among eight area towns, according to data presented by the Finance Commission at Town Meeting last month. Lincoln’s average bill has gone up by 4.5 percent during that time, while Lexington’s has gone up the fastest at 6.3 percent:
Growth in average property tax bills in Lincoln compared to other area towns since 1999 (click to enlarge).
In fiscal 2016, Lincoln’s average tax bill is expected to rise by 3.9 percent (it won’t become official until the town sets the tax rate in July). Most of that increase is due to the appropriations at Town Meeting of $750,000 for a school project feasibility study and $75,000 for a school campus master plan. Without those two items, the average tax bill would have gone up by only 0.8 percent.
Since 2011, the average Lincoln tax bill has risen by an average of 4.26 percent:
| Fiscal year | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | Total 2011-2015 |
| Change in average tax bill in Lincoln |
6.08% | 7.48% | -0.51% | 3.68% | 4.54% | 4.26% |
| Change in average home value in Lincoln |
-1.64% | -3.47% | -3.32% | 2.45% | 6.75% | 0.16% |
Tonight: talk on Revolutionary battlefield“Discovering Parker’s Revenge Battlefield: April 19, 1775″ is the topic of a talk on Tuesday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Bemis Hall. The speaker will be Dr. Meg Watters of PBS’s “Time Team America” and principal investigator for the ongoing Parker’s Revenge Project at Minute Man National Historical Park. She’ll discuss efforts to better understand the Battle Road engagement between the retreating British regulars and the militia and Minute Men of Lexington, Lincoln and surrounding towns on April 19, 1775. The site is on the border of Lincoln and Lexington within the national park.
Dr. Watters received her B.A. in classics from Trinity College, an M.A. in GIS and remote sensing in archaeology from Boston University, and a Ph.D. in new methods for archaeo-geophysical data visualization at the University of Birmingham, where she helped build the IBM Visual and Spatial Technology Centre, where she provided geophysical survey expertise.
The talk is one of several observances of the start of the Revolutionary War. For more information, click on one of the event titles on the Lincoln Minute Men website and battleroad.org.
On Thursday, April 23, the Hanscom Area Towns Committee (HATS) will host Paul Regan, Executive Director of the MBTA Advisory Board. The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Town Office Building.
Regan plans to discuss a broad range of topics related to the current state and future of the MBTA, including general matters raised by the recent winter’s challenges and the recently-issued report of the Governor’s special commission, as well as specific matters of concern to the four HATS communities. Also on the agenda for April 23 are updates on the Route 2 project and a status report from the MassPort/Hanscom Field Community Advisory Committee.
The public is welcome to attend all HATS meetings, which may also be viewed live on Lincoln public access media via lincolntv.pegstream.com, Verizon channel 33, or Comcast channel 8, or beginning several days after the meeting at lincolntv.pegcentral.com or on the local cable channels.
HATS is an alliance among the Selectmen and other officials of the towns of Lincoln, Concord, Lexington and Bedford that focuses on Hanscom Air Force Base, Hanscom Air Field, transportation and other regional matters. HATS recently had discussions with MassPort CEO Tom Glynn regarding MassPort’s strategic plans, various business and government experts helping manage Rt. 128 and related traffic concerns, the Air Force Base’s local commander, and senior representatives of the Governor’s Military Assets Task Force. For more information about HATS and access to agendas, minutes and videos, please visit www.hanscomareatownscommittee.com.
Also on Thursday, April 23, join the Walden Woods Project for a special screening of a new film by Fulcrum Publishing, “Wilderness in America: From Conquest to Conservation.” The 55-minute film chronicles the evolution of wilderness preservation in America over four centuries that ultimately led to the protection of 110 million acres.
The film will be shown at the Walden Woods Project’s Thoreau Institute at 44 Baker Farm Rd. in Lincoln. Free admission. To reserve seats, call (781) 259-4707 or email wwproject@walden.org. A wine and cheese reception, sponsored by the Cheese Shop in Concord will be held at 7 p.m. followed at 7:30 p.m. with remarks by Robert C. Baron, Fulcrum’s founder and president, and the film screening.
The Walden Woods Project is a nonprofit organization that preserves the land, literature and legacy of Henry David Thoreau to foster an ethic of environmental stewardship and social responsibility. Click here for other outdoor springtime activities coming up in Lincoln.
See some of the fascinating and beautiful places and monuments in this amazing historical and nature site on Friday, May 22 with the Council on Aging. After the tour of the cemetery, the group will go to Belmont Center for lunch at Asai. Each person will pay for their own lunch and cash is recommended. The trip is limited to 30 people. The Doherty’s bus will be at Lincoln Mall at 9 a.m. and arrive back in Lincoln around 2 p.m. For more information, contact Donna Rizzo at donna@ecacbed.com or Claire Mount at mounts781@gmail.com.
(Editor’s note: This is Antia’s report on a March 25 “Fireside Chat” with Lincoln Police Chief Kevin Kennedy sponsored by the Council on Aging.)
By Sharon Antia
One of the pressing questions we had was in relation to the police log that appears in most every issue of the Lincoln Journal. There is one entry that finds its way into the log quite frequently that none of us understood, and that is “the box.” [Read more…] about Chief talks about police operations, crime prevention
Farm and third-graders make syrup for charityMatlock Farm is selling maple syrup they made with the help of Lincoln School third-graders and donating the proceeds to charity.
After the children collected sap from trees at the school and did a math/science project on the amount they got. Then Nancy Bergen and Ephraim Flint of Matlock Farm added sap from other trees in town and boiled it in their evaporator. The third-graders chose UNICEF as the charity to receive the proceeds from the sale of syrup. Anyone interested in purchasing some should come to Matlock Farm at 27 Lexington Rd. or call ahead to see if they’re at home (781-259-8402). Quart jars of syrup are $25 and there are a few pint jars that sell for $12.50.
This is the second year of the maple syrup collaboration. Organizers hope to beat last year’s tally of $550 that was donated to Partners in Health.
The Lincoln Minute Men (LMM) invite residents to the following activities in the days before and after Patriots Day. For more information, click on one of the event titles on the Lincoln Minute Men website and battleroad.org. For photos of past events, visit the LMM Facebook page.
Tuesday, April 14
Saturday, April 18
Sunday, April 19
Monday, April 20
Sunday, April 26
Now that spring has sprung, there are lots of nature-related activities coming up in Lincoln.
[Read more…] about Outdoor activities to get you into the swing of spring
A Gulfstream IV jet. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
The fatal plane crash at Hanscom Field last May happened because the pilots didn’t release the gust lock, a mechanism designed to prevent wind damage to the plane when on the ground and freeezes the plane’s rudder and elevators in place, according to an April 8 Boston Globe article.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigation revealed that the Gulfstream IV private jet was on its takeoff run from but could not get airborne because of the locked controls and the pilots weren’t aware of the problem until it was too late, according to the Globe. The plane careened off the end of the runway, hit a lighting rig and antenna, and burst into flames, killing all seven people aboard, including Philadelphia Inquirer owner Lewis Katz, who was flying home from a party at the home of Concord resident Doris Kearns Goodwin.
Forty-six years earlier, there was another fatal plane crash at Hanscom. On May 22, 1968, a C-54 military transport plane crashed just off Route 2A in Lincoln, killing one and injuring three.