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

News acorns

September 5, 2015

Codman arts and crafts festival on Sept. 12

The Codman Estate’s Fine Arts and Crafts Festival will be Saturday, Sept. 12 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine. This annual event features the work of more than 100 artisans, including painting, pottery, photography, jewelry, glass, fiber art, metalworking, woodworking, clothing, food wares, and folk art. Visitors can enjoy live entertainment, food vendors, and Codman Estate tours. Free for Historic New England members and kids under 12, $5 for nonmembers.

Library news notes

Saturday hours at the library resume on September 12.
Lincoln residents can now instantly borrow free digital music, audiobooks, movie, TV and books, 24/7 from the Lincoln Public Library. No waiting and no late fees. Items may be streamed or downloaded, and new content is added every week. Visit hoopladigital.com, log in with your library card, and start borrowing. See this library web page for details.

L-S Class of ’17 sponsors 5K Color Run

During this event over the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School cross-country course on Saturday, Sept. 19, runners wear white “L-S Color Run” T-shirts and when passing color stations, they get “decorated” with non-toxic colored powder thrown onto the T-shirts. Color Runs are some of the fastest-growing 5K events and fun for the entire family. Registration starts at 8:30 a.m. and the race begins at 10 a.m. Meet in the L-S parking lot. All ages are welcome for this run/walk—go at your own pace. Proceeds benefit the Class of 2017. Those who sign up in advance online for $35 receive a T-shirt and color bag. Participants can also sign up on the say of the race for $40, but T-shirts may not be available. Checks should be made out to LSRHS Class of 2017 with forms turned into West House or South House at L-S.

St. Anne’s in-the-Fields returns to two services

On Sunday, September 13, St. Anne’s in-the-Fields returns to its two-service schedule with Holy Eucharist at 8:00 a.m. and Holy Eucharist with Choir at 10:00 a.m. For more information, visit www.stanneslincoln.org or call (781) 259-8834.

Two library programs on Isabella Stewart Gardner

September 4, 2015

Jessa Piaia performs in period attire.

The Friends of the Lincoln Public Library are offering a special two-part program on the life and legacy of Isabella Stewart Gardner.

On Saturday, Oct. 24 at 2 p.m. in the library’s Tarbell Room, character re-enactor Jessa Piaia will present a dramatic portrayal of Gardner in “A Visit with Isabella Stewart Gardner: America’s First Patroness of the Arts.” The drama is set in 1910, seven years after the opening of Fenway Court, the house-museum which Mrs. Gardner designed and built for her extensive art collection, and willed to the City of Boston upon her demise. A recognized leader of Boston’s emerging salon scene, Gardner, with characteristic verve and candor, relates episodes about her luminous circle of family and friends, relives journeys to exotic lands, and shares other potentially scandalous encounters. The portrayal runs approximately 50 minutes, with an informal Q&A to follow. Free and open to all.

On Saturday, Nov. 7, a guided tour of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum with reduced price admission and bus transportation from the Lincoln Library to the museum is being sponsored by the Friends of the Lincoln Public Library. The bus will leave the library at 12:30 p.m. The tour is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. and the bus will leave the museum at 4 p.m., returning to Lincoln by 5 p.m. Total cost is $25 per person payable by check to the Friends of the Lincoln Public Library or in cash. Signup at the Library will begin the first week in September. The trip is limited to the first 20 people who sign up.

Campus Master Plan group invites public to sessions

August 29, 2015

school The Lincoln Campus Master Planning Committee (CMPC), which will complete its work by December 31, invites the public to attend of their meetings and public forums this fall.

The CMPC is is charged with studying the basic infrastructure and physical layout of the Ballfield Road campus and informing the planning for the contemplated school building and community center projects. There are three at-large representatives as well as representatives from the Lincoln Public Schools, Board of Selectmen, Conservation Committee, Council on Aging, Parks & Recreation, the Planning Board, and Roadway and Traffic.

“The community’s awareness and involvement in this project is critically important,” said Committee Chair Carole Kasper. “The Campus Master Planning Study represents a unique opportunity for Lincoln residents to look at the Ballfield Road campus in a truly holistic manner—to examine the different ways in which we use the schools, other Ballfield Road buildings and recreational facilities and determine how we can serve our community better. We welcome the community’s attendance at any of our regularly scheduled committee meetings and also encourage residents to attend one of the public forums.”

The CMPC’s full schedule of meetings and public forums is listed below. All meetings will take place in the Hartwell Multipurpose Room unless otherwise noted.

Thursday, September 3 at 7 p.m.
2nd floor hearing Room, Lincoln Town Offices

Thursday, September 10 from 5:30-7 p.m.
Lincoln PTO Back-to-School Picnic – Lincoln School green playground

Wednesday, September 16 at 8:15 a.m.

Thursday, October 1 at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, October 7 at 8:15 a.m.

Thursday, October 15 from 7-9 p.m.
Public forum – location TBD

Monday, October 26 at 7 p.m.

Friday, October 30 at 8:15 a.m.
Lincoln PTO public forum – location TBD

Friday, October 30 at 1 p.m.
Council on Aging public forum – Bemis Hall (2nd floor)

Monday, November 9 at 7 p.m.

Friday, November 13 at 8:15 a.m.
Committee State of the Town run-through – Donaldson Auditorium

Saturday, November 14 at 9 a.m.
State of the Town presentation – Donaldson Auditorium

Friday, November 20 at 8:15 a.m.

Monday, November 30 at 7 p.m.

Thursday, December 10
Public presentation of draft final report

Service on Sunday for Peggy Schmertzler, 1931-2015

August 28, 2015

Peggy Schmertzler

A service will be held in Lincoln on Sunday, August 30 for Peggy Schmertzler of Lincoln, who passed away peacefully on August 28, 2015. She was the beloved wife of Alvin Louis Schmertzler; mother of Francis Brooks Belford of New Zealand, Caleb Cushing Clapp of Gloucester and Margaretta Story Phillips of Santa Monica; and stepmother of Amy Anisimov of Newton and Michael Schmertzler of New Canaan, Conn.

Née Margaretta Stewart Bridgman, Peggy was born on November 17, 1931, the youngest daughter of Eveleth Wilson Bridgman, MD and Mary Cushing Whitridge Williams, both of Baltimore, where Peggy grew up. After graduating from the Bryn Mawr School in 1949, Peggy attended Radcliffe College, where she obtained in an AB in history in 1953. Shortly thereafter, Peggy married Samuel Francis Clapp, a Boston lawyer. The couple settled in Swampscott, where their children were born.

Following her divorce, Peggy moved to Cambridge and worked for the next 15 years in the nonprofit sector including positions at Children’s Hospital in Boston and Jobs for Youth, where she was Director of Employment and then Director of Fundraising. During that time, Peggy also received her MA in Continuing Education from Boston University. She married Al in 1974.

Peggy helped found in 1988 the Committee for the Equality of Women at Harvard. She was the organization’s first president and continued working until 2014 to promote the status of—and opportunities for—female students, faculty and alumnae at Harvard University.

After moving to Lincoln in 1985, Peggy was also involved in numerous local civic, social and political organizations including the Lincoln League of Women Voters, the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee, and the Council on Aging.

Peggy is the beloved grandmother of Claire Bridgman Belford of New Zealand and Austin Bridgman Clapp, Lida English Clapp and Elizabeth Clapp of Boston; and step-grandmother of Ian Michael Schmertzler and Ethan Jared Schmertzler both of New York, and Jenny Soo Jung Anisimov of Newton.

A memorial service for Peggy will be held at First Parish Church of Lincoln (14 Bedford Road, Lincoln) at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 30. Private family burial is in Lincoln Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to your favorite charity.

Arrangements are under the care of Susan M. Dee and Charles W. Dee, Jr., Dee Funeral Home of Concord. To share a remembrance or send a condolence in Peggy’s online guestbook, please visit her obituary page on the Dee Funeral Home website.

Council on Aging activities for September

August 25, 2015

September 1 at 2:30
Coffee with artists Victoria and Bill Pearmain
Join Lincoln-born artists Victoria Pearmain (painter) and brother Bill Pearmain (multimedia visual artist) on Sept. 1st at 2:30 p.m. at a coffee to celebrate their exhibit at Bemis Hall’s Lincoln Artists Gallery. The exhibit will include paintings, photographs and sculpture and will be on view September and October. Victoria graduated from Massachusetts College of Art and her work has been in many shows and collections. Her paintings are primarily plein-air. Bill’s studies include New England College and Brandeis University. He has also exhibited in multiple shows and collections.

September 2 at 1 p.m.
Meet with an aide to Congresswoman Clark
You are invited to Bemis Hall on Wednesday, September 2 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 that he may be able to help with. [Read more…] about Council on Aging activities for September

Another former Celtic selling his Lincoln home

August 24, 2015

Rajon Rondo’s Fridolin Hill home.

Who wants to commute 3,000 miles each way every day? Former Boston Celtics player Rajon Rondo, whose work address is now in Sacramento, is selling his Lincoln home overlooking the Cambridge reservoir. The asking price? Nothing remarkable by Lincoln standards—just $1.99 million, dropped from $2.45 million in May.

“We especially appreciated being part of the Lincoln community, which was always welcoming and warm to us. This was a very lucky house for me, and I have nothing but fond memories of my time here,” Rondo said in this Boston Globe article. He bought the property at 9 Fridolin Hill seven years ago when he was just 22, and got along well with his neighbor, according to WEEI.com.

Two years ago, Celtics player Paul Pierce also put his Winter Street home on the market for $2.65 million after he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets.

According to Trulia.com, Rondo’s asking price pales in comparison to those of several other Lincoln homes on the market as of August 21, including 109 Todd Pond Rd. ($8.59 million), 18 Page Rd. ($7.5 million), and 7 Silver Hill Rd. ($3.5 million).

A bevy of birds (Lincoln through the Lens)

August 22, 2015

A suspicious-looking finch and female cardinal pair, a male cardinal (are they hiding from him)? and a great blue heron were photographed in recent weeks by Harold McAleer.

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.

Letter to the editor: seniors urgently need affordable housing

August 22, 2015

To the editor:

I have really had my eyes opened lately. As a new member of the Lincoln Housing Commission, I have heard of and received phone calls from senior citizens in need of affordable housing. Several of these people live in Lincoln and some in the surrounding area but all of them are about to be displaced from their housing situation and are in dire need of a place to live. It is not so much that I was not aware of this problem—just, well, not in Lincoln.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), public housing preferences are prioritized in the following manner: persons who are homeless due to natural disasters persons who are homeless due to public action; and persons with emergency needs (such as domestic violence victims, persons with medical emergencies; or homeless persons facing an immediate threat to their health and safety).

The aforementioned do not quite fit any of these categories and are not able to obtain housing. I know of other people that do fit at least one of the above categories and they too are not able to obtain housing. We continue to brainstorm and, while we have some ideas, such as a group home and/or affordable accessory apartments, we are quite honestly struggling with how to find a solution to this growing problem. Anyone with either generous purses or creative ideas on how to provide assistance, is asked to contact Pam Mizrahi at the Council on Aging (781-259-8811) or email me at Sharon.antia@gmail.com.

While Lincoln has always met or exceeded the state requirement that 10 percent of housing stock is classified as affordable, because of our small size the number of affordable units is quite limited. Currently all our affordable units are occupied but if you or someone you know is in need of affordable housing, applications are available by calling Elaine Carroll at 781.259.2613 or visiting this Town of Lincoln web page.

Finally, this fall the Housing Commission will host a forum to discuss the needs of our community, the housing work done in Lincoln to date, and solicit input for the future. At the forum we will share our preliminary research into the possibility of creating an affordable accessory apartment program in Lincoln and look forward to receiving feedback from the community. The forum will be held Saturday, Sept. 26 from 1-3 p.m. in the Donaldson Room in town hall.

Sincerely,

Sharon Antia
165 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 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.

Library invites residents to brainstorming session

August 21, 2015

The Lincoln Public Library’s Tarbell Room.

Do you want more fiction in the stacks? Do you wish the Reading Room were better lit? Do you want nonfiction out of the basement? Do you think the Young Adult section is too small? Are you tired of pink and green? Do you wish you could meet a friend for tea at the library café? Do you have to duck under the low ceiling in the basement? Do you need more Internet support or electrical outlets? Whether you rush in and out of Circulation or linger in the stacks, do you dream of improving your library in ways small or large?

Join the Lincoln Public Library Board of Library Trustees and designers on Tuesday, September 1 at 7 p.m. in the Tarbell Room to explore possible improvements and enhancements to our library. Your opinion matters and the trustees want and need to hear from Lincoln residents.

News acorns

August 21, 2015

Literary walk at deCordova

Inspired by Walking Sculpture, the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum is offering a free ambulatory event in the Park on Wednesday, August 26 at 6:30 p.m. with poet Cole Swensen that includes readings by some of literature’s greatest walkers and responsive writings.

Lincoln Agricultural Day on Sept. 19

The second Annual Lincoln Agricultural Day sponsored by the Lincoln Agricultural Commission will be on Saturday, Sept. 19 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 alongside the farmer’s market at the front of the Lincoln Station mall. The event is hosted by the Lincoln Rural Land Foundation. If you’re interested in selling produce or other agricultural products or have an agriculture related activity or skill you’d like to share, please contact lynne@stonegategardens.com to secure your space and become part of the celebration. There are no fees for vendors or participants.

Codman Harvest Fair coming up; entries sought

If you have an amazing garden with vegetables and/or flowers, please consider entering the old-fashioned Harvest Fair competition at Codman Community Farm slated for Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 19-20. Categories include individual vegetables, grouped vegetables, flower arrangements, herbs, fruit plates, and canned and preserved goods. Children’s categories include animals made from veggies, ugliest vegetable, sewing, paintings and drawings, and flower arrangements. Click here for a complete listing of categories, rules and drop-off information.

Tickets for the fair’s feast, catered by Blue Ribbon BBQ, will go on sale soon. The fair can’t run without volunteers, and it’s fun—contact us at info@codmanfarm.org if you’re willing to help run games, sell food, help with the Rooster Run, or collect admissions and sell game tickets.

LEAP now offering before-school care

Starting in September, the Lincoln Extended-day Activities Program (LEAP) is offering before-school care for Lincoln School students from 6:50-8 a.m. Rates below include breakfast. To sign up, call 781-259-0615 or email leap0615@gmail.com.

1 day a week	$43 per month
2 days a week	$85 per month
3 days a week	$119 per month
4 days a week	$152 per month
5 days a week	$183 per month

Fall wellness clinics for all ages

Lincoln residents of all ages are invited to meet with a nurse through a free town service. Come to get your blood pressure and/or Body Mass Index checked, ask questions, or learn about wellness resources. Clinics will be held at the Community Building at Lincoln Woods at 50 Wells Road from 10 a.m. to noon on four Fridays: September 18, October 2, November 13, and December 11. These clinics are funded by the Ogden Codman Trust and provided by Emerson Hospital Home Care. For more information, please call the Council on Aging at 781-259-8811.