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

Lincoln veterans invited to join new group

military-logosLincoln military veterans are invited to come together to form a new veterans’ group to have occasional meetings and perhaps a service project to advance a worthy veterans’ cause.

The group is open to all who have served in any of America’s five formal armed services (Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Marines), including Reserves and National Guard.

Organizers need veterans to respond to news articles such as this one because they can’t easily be contacted as a group directly. Although residents’ veteran status is part of the information collected in the U.S. census, the Town Clerk is not permitted to release a list of those names.

“We don’t even know who they are in Lincoln—that’s why we’re putting out this word,” said retired Navy Capt. Tom Risser of Lincoln, a former flight surgeon who served in Iraq and one of the effort’s organizers.

Risser said he hoped to find more riflemen for the town’s annual Memorial Day celebration as well as a contingent of veterans to march in the parade that day and in Independence Day.

“That parade is getting smaller and smaller,” said Priscilla Leach, the town’s Veterans’ Service Officer, who helps connect veterans with services and apply for federal, state and local benefits (including property tax abatements).

Participation in the group will be entirely optional, and organizers guarantee there will be no solicitation for donations or activities that each vet doesn’t choose to make time for. Anyone who’s interested should contact one of the people in Lincoln below.

Tom Risser
thomas_risser@hms.harvard.edu
781-789-6253

Adam Hogue
Commanding Officer, 1166th Transportation Company, Massachusetts Army National Guard
adam.m.hogue@gmail.com
978-828-6184

Priscilla Leach
Lincoln Veterans’ Services Officer
lincolnvetservices@gmail.com
781-259-4472

Candidates sought for Campus Master Plan Committee

The Lincoln School campus.

The Lincoln School campus.

In response to community interest in locating a community center on the Lincoln School’s Ballfield Road campus, the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee are jointly creating the Campus Master Plan Committee (CMPC). The purpose of the CMPC will be to consider infrastructure and safety issues related to the possible co-location of Council on Aging, the Parks and Recreation Department, and school functions on Ballfield Road. The CMPC’s charge will be to examine the implications on roadways, traffic, parking, public safety and accessibility, and recreational facilities, and to understand site issues such as wetlands, conservation land, septic fields and geotechnical conditions.

The CMPC will be responsible for hiring, subject to approval by the Selectmen and the School Committee, a firm with the skills needed to do the work. At the 2015 Town Meeting, Article 33 authorized $75,000 for this purpose. The CMPC will determine its own meeting schedule, but it is expected that it will meet frequently between June and December, with the delivery of a final report by the end of the calendar year. The committee will gather input from the public and relevant boards, and an interim report and public feedback will be one of the items for discussion at the fall State of the Town meeting.

Interested candidates should have experience and skills that will further the work of the committee. The at-large members will join representatives from relevant town boards. Letters of interest should be submitted to both the Board of Selectmen at selectmen@lincolntown.org and the School Committee at schoolcomm@lincnet.org by Friday, May 15. The Selectmen and School Committee will hold a joint meeting to finalize the CMPC’s charge and to appoint the at-large members on Monday, May 18 at 7:30 p.m in the Donaldson Room in the Town Office Building.

May activities with the Council on Aging

bemisArabic conversation
May 4 and May 18 at 9:45 a.m.
Azza Omer from Sudan has generously offered to teach a free informal, light and easy conversational Arabic language class on Monday, April 6 at 9:45 a.m. at Bemis Hall. Learning something completely new is great for brain fitness and for having fun! You’ll learn some common words and phrases. Come give the class a try!

Lincoln Academy with Alison Taunton-Rigby: Biotechnology in Massachusetts
May 4 at 12:30 p.m.
Come to Bemis Hall on Monday, May 4 at 12:30 to hear Alison Taunton-Rigby discuss “Biotechnology in Massachusetts.” Bring a bag lunch. The Council on Aging provides beverages and dessert. The lectures last about an hour, including a question and answer period. Participants are welcome to stay after the program to continue their discussion. [Read more…] about May activities with the Council on Aging

Letter to the editor: Lincoln native helping Nepalese

letter

(Editor’s note: This letter was updated on May 5 with additional information on how to donate by check.)

To the editor:

Our son Adrian Smith lives most of the year in Nepal. Here is a copy of the letter he wrote to his friends on Facebook to thank them for their contributions to his earthquake relief efforts:

Thank you so much for your concern, your generosity, and your trust in me. 100% of the funds you have donated will go towards providing the most basic support to Nepali farmers who have lost everything. We are working in the rural village of Chaukati and surrounding areas to bring basic shelter, safe drinking water and food to people who have lost their homes. The homes in Chaukati, as in much of rural Nepal, are built of stone without cement mortar with stone roofs. As in the neighboring villages, all 50 houses in Chaukati have been reduced to rubble. Thankfully the devastation occurred during the day when most people were out working in their fields. It is reported that only four have died in Chaukati. There is no electricity, no running water, and food sources are scarce and buried within their homes. Their crops have largely been destroyed. The earthquakes have been followed by rain and residents have had to endure with only the clothes on their back without even a tarp overhead. Road access has been compromised by a collapsed bridge and landslides. Provisions will need to be carried in through strenuous mountain terrain. As of writing, no disaster relief has yet come to this area.

We are providing each household in Chaukati with basic provisions: a tarp for shelter, a ceramic water purifying system, soap, rice and lentils, foam sleeping mattresses, and bowls for food and water. They are incredibly resilient people and the help now is critical for their recovery. We will not be able to give much in the way of updates but will be writing again in two weeks to update you on their progress and our work in the surrounding area. This is a village that is dear to my heart. I have been bringing American student groups to Chaukati for 15 years. They are some of the kindest, most honest, hard-working people I have ever met and they will use this minimal support to get back on their feet and rebuild their lives. Thank you again for your generosity. Probably never before have your dollars gone so far. Please help spread the word. 

With best wishes,
Adrian

If anyone else wants to contribute, you can do so through Paypal. Adrian’s ID/email address is adrian_108@yahoo.com. Direct contributions to Adrian are not tax-deductible, but 100 percent of the gift goes to help the villagers. There are no administrative fees. Adrian and his friends will be carrying the supplies through the mountains to the villages because the roads are blocked.  You can make out a check to Adrian Smith and mail it c/o Diana Smith, P.O. Box 6294, Lincoln, MA 01773. The memo can say “Earthquake Relief.”

Sincerely,

Diana Smith
8 Trapelo Rd.

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.

News acorns – 4/30/15

acornPMC Kids Ride needs riders and volunteers; prizes announced

Lincoln’s first annual PMC Kids Ride to fight cancer is Sunday, May 3 (see this Lincoln Squirrel article for more information). If you can’t ride but wish to donate, Something Special is selling limited-edition PMC bracelets for $10 created by sixth-grader Will Levy, founder of the Lincoln event. All riders get a PMC Kids Ride T-shirt, water bottle and glow-in-the-dark wristband (volunteers get a T-shirt as well). The minimum fundraising commitment is $25 per rider, though most kids raise a lot more than that. Riders who raise $250+ also receive a PMC string bag and those who raise $750+ receive a special New Balance PMC backpack. In addition, Something Special will donate a $50 gift certificate to the child who raises the most money. To register to ride or volunteer, visit the Lincoln PMC Kids Ride page. Questions” Send email to pattylevy.pmckidslincoln@gmail.com.

Chinese animated short films to be shown

The Lincoln Library Film Society (LLFS) will show a medley of short Chinese animated films at the library on Tuesday, May 5 starting at 7 p.m. The animation industry in China was slow to recover from the stagnation of Mao’s cultural revolution, and it wasn’t until the early 1980s that animated films would start to be produced regularly. The best animated shorts to come out of Chinese studios show little influence from their larger and more lucrative counterparts in Japan and the U.S. A luminous example from 1981,The Monkey Who Wanted to Catch the Moon, uses nocturnal lighting and deep layering to make its 2-D moving figures appear as though they are lit from within. For more information on this and other LLFS events, email lincolnlibraryfilmsociety@gmail.com.

Walk in a maypole labyrinth on May 8

Celebrate Spring in one of Lincoln’s many secret wonders—a local labyrinth with our very own maypole. Walk the labyrinth with Jai Kaur Annamaria in a special Council on Aging event that’s open to all by donation on Friday, May 8 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (rain date: May 9). Location given upon registration; sign up by calling the COA at 781-259-8811. You’ll experience the ancient meditative practice of walking a labyrinth, indulge your senses in flowers, create your own may basket, and enjoy spring foods.

Panel on sexual assault at colleges

The Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable presents a panel discussion on “The Culture of Sexual Assault on College Campuses: Challenges and New Responses” on Tuesday, May 12 at 3 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room of the Wayland Public Safety building (38 Cochituate Road). The panel, moderated by Jessica Teperow, Director of Prevention Programs at REACH Beyond Domestic Violence, will feature Karen L. Raye, assistant professor at Lasell College who teaches classes on domestic violence and in the college’s Criminal Justice Department; Jacqueline Anchondo Silva, director of Title IX Compliance at Mt. Ida College; and Steph Trilling, manager of community Awareness and prevention services at the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center. Panelists will discuss their roles and what they want parents and/or students to know in regard to their own safety or safety of others when getting ready for college. There will be a Q&A session at the end.

News acorns – 04/29/15

PTO hosts plant sale

Spring is here and so is the PTO Plant Sale, which will take place on Saturday, May 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. (rain or shine) at the Lincoln Town Offices. Stock up on your annuals and perennials, and bring the kids and show Mom you care with a beautiful Mother’s Day plant, herb garden, and other gardening gifts. Plants generously provided by Stonegate Gardens. All proceeds benefit the Lincoln PTO.

scarvesMother’s Day nature crafts at the Birches School

Celebrate Spring and Mother’s Day at the Birches School (14 Bedford Rd., Lincoln) on Sunday, May 10 from 2:30-4:30 p.m. as we make nature crafts, including silk scarves colored with plant dyes, and nature-inspired jewelry. All are welcome, but this event is best suited for pre-school through fourth grades. Free of charge, but please RSVP to cecily@birchesschool.org.

Lecture and workshop on photography at Gropius House

Join Boston photographer Eric Roth for “Modern Architecture Through the Lens: How It Feels To Be There,” an illustrated talk on capturing the warmth and style of the home environment through the camera lens at the Gropius House (68 Baker Bridge Rd.) on Wednesday, May 13 from 7-9 p.m. Tickets are $10 for Historic New England members and Lincoln residents, $15 for nonmembers and space is limited. Reserve tickets online or call 781-259-8098 for more information. On Thursday, May 14 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., come to “Angles, Planes, and Space: Taking Pictures at Gropius House,” a day of picture-taking with professional photographer Yorgos Efthymiadis. The day will include a museum tour and an illustrated slide talk to demonstrate techniques for making pictures of a 3-D space for a 2-D format. Tickets are $25 for Historic New England members and Lincoln residents, $30 for nonmembers. Purchase tickets online or call 781-259-8098 for more information.

Lincoln Dems schedule caucus election 

The Lincoln Democratic Town Committee will hold its convention caucus election on Saturday, May 16 from 9-11 a.m. at Bemis Hall. Caucus elections are required by Massachusetts Democratic Party to elect delegates to attend the state convention in Springfield on September 19. The public is always invited to attend Lincoln Democratic Town Committee meetings and events. All Lincoln registered Democratic voters are invited to participate, vote and be elected. The convention theme is “Train to Win,” offering grassroots training particularly oriented to upcoming 2016 elections. For questions, contact Gary Davis at garyddavis04@gmail.com.

Lincolnites invited to Domestic Violence Service Network fundraiser in Stow

On Saturday, May 16, the Collings Foundation Museum in Stow will host “The Celebration of Hope,” the annual fundraising benefit for the Domestic Violence Service Network, Inc. (DVSN). There will be music by Bob Cantu and the Colonial Jazz Band; a silent and live auction; and hors d’oeuvres, a buffet dinner, and desserts catered by Trails End Café of Concord in addition to wine, beer and iced tea. An expert on the museum’s history and mission will give informative tours and talks about its historic collection or more than 100 vintage automobiles, military vehicles, carriages, race cars and aircraft, including one of Al Capone’s getaway cars.

DVSN provides assistance to individuals whose lives are affected by abuse at home. The organization works in partnership with the local police departments in the towns of Acton, Bedford, Boxborough, Carlisle, Concord, Lexington, Lincoln, Maynard, Stow, Sudbury and Wayland, and has assisted more than 3,500 individual victims and their families since 1998.

Tickets are $75 each. Please send your name, address, phone number, e-mail, and the number of tickets you wish to purchase with a check payable to DVSN and mail to P.O. Box 536, Concord, MA 01742. For more information, call 978-318-3421.

Library now closed on Sundays

The Lincoln Public Library has gone to its seasonal hours and will be closed on Sundays until October 18. Still to come at the library: the Spring Fling on May 2 and the “Grown, Shown & Owned in Lincoln” gala on May 9.

deCordova goes green(er)

The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum has been certified as a Sustainable Business Leader by the Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts after two years of implementing over 70 environmentally conscious operational changes and actions. The institution has implemented a robust recycling process with single-stream recycling bins available for staff and visitors, as well as a complete transition to LED and other energy-efficient lights in the galleries, grounds, and administrative offices. To conserve energy, deCordova has also made significant improvements in building insulation, weatherizing, and temperature controls. The Café serves reusable tableware and biodegradable, recycled paper products, and the Store offers a varied range of sustainable and eco-friendly merchandise.

Letter to the editor: call for compromise over Stearns Room

letter

To the editor:

Recent letters to the Lincoln Squirrel highlight some difficult and very important issues surrounding the proposed renovation of the Stearns Room of the First Parish in Lincoln. Ease of access by elderly or handicapped individuals is important. So also are sensitivity to neighbor’s concerns about encroachment on their properties and concerns about the effects of modernized building designs on Lincoln’s Historic District. We need to find our ways to a mutually agreeable compromise!

Sincerely,

Bill Stason
29 Sandy Pond Rd.

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.

Letter to the editor: restore relationships damaged by church debate

letter

To the editor:

The recent letter in the Lincoln Squirrel from Mr. Pease—a proponent of the current design for the First Parish building project who has been part of the team advancing the application though the permitting process—is deeply disconcerting, and it raises questions regarding what values and commitment to the community are reflected by such a letter.

The letter takes issue with previous letter writers and the Flints for raising objections to the First Parish building project, makes assertions about requirements for handicapped accessibility that strain credulity, misstates facts about the progress of the project through the permitting process, and ignores the fact that many have been taken by surprise with the actual design, given the promises made to the congregation in 2008—promises not kept. And why should the breach of faith with the Flint family matter to the town?

It was the Flint family who, in the 1600s, first settled in what we now know as Lincoln. It was the Flint family that gave land to create the first meeting house and church that allowed us to be recognized as a town in 1754. It was the Flints who led the way in land stewardship, placing the bulk of their very valuable fields in our historic center in permanent conservation, forgoing the large profits that could have been made by the sale of this valuable real estate. And it was a gift from the Flints that allowed a walkway between the First Parish’s two properties and enabled the church to construct the proposed addition. That gift was made assuming the representations presented to them in 2001 had meaning, and that what would be built and what would reflect those representations would be preserved as a result of their gift.

It has been the Flints who have served the town on boards and committees for generations. The Flints have been major contributors of time, resources and talent to the entire community, not just the First Parish community, for 11 generations. It might be said that they are, literally, the first family of Lincoln. They came before any of us, and, I hazard to guess, will remain long after we are gone. They have been the family that has kept core values of caring for community (the entire community) and land in the fore. They have led by example and we all have been the beneficiaries.

It should be noted that all that the Flints have called for (recently reiterated by Ephraim Flint in the Lincoln Squirrel) in fact was promised in the 2008 report from the Building Committee in “The Parish News” (Vol. 45 #8, Sept. 24, 2008). The Flints and many others expected church leadership to honor these promises and assurances. When they were not, the Flints and others raised objections that continue today.

We as a larger community have a right to celebrate and a responsibility to preserve and protect the “sacred space” that is our historic center. It was created to serve all, not just a few. Generations of Flints have fully understood this and today, as in the past, remind us of the need to think of stewardship for the whole. None should be subjected to ridicule and mockery when we question and openly and respectfully express disagreement with each other about the meaning of stewardship for the whole. Does such intolerance for civil debate best reflect the values of a church or our community?

The 200+ year-old tree that will be felled to make room for the proposed addition cannot be restored. But more important are the human relationships that have been damaged in this process. Let us hope that the new church leadership can find ways to restore the relationships and mutual respect within the church community, between the town and the church, and certainly with those who were so instrumental in giving birth and nurturing our wonderful town—the Flints.

Sincerely,

Sara Mattes
71 Conant Rd.

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.

Letter to the editor: trust between Flints and First Parish lost

letter

To the editor:

I believe most people, who have issues with the design proposed by the First Parish Building Committee for an addition to the White Church, are not “opposing the proposed new Stearns Room” project. There are legitimate concerns about specifics of the design that for the most part, have not been addressed in the many meetings with the town boards over the last 18 months. The white church in the historic district at our town’s center is classic New England. Any addition to that structure needs to be sensitive to the beauty of this special building.

I have attended most of those meetings and have not heard one comment voiced against the need for handicapped accessibility. The need for handicap accessibility is not at issue. There are however, several design issues that trouble me deeply. Last Sunday evening I stood on the library lawn watching the re-enactment of the April 18th mustering of the Minutemen. I could see over the roof of the Stearns Room, through the trees to the fading, evening light. The height of the proposed roof will be over 5 feet higher than the existing Stearns Room roof. Lowering the roof somewhat would not impact the prominence of the handicapped-accessible entrance planned for that façade. There are other design features such as the tin roof and the amount of glass that could be modified in a way to better protect the sanctuary without affecting the goals of handicapped accessibility and function.

In 2000, my brother Warren and I met with a representative of the First Parish Church to discuss a purchase of land by the First Parish sufficient to support an addition to the Stearns Room built in 1960. That original Stearns Room was designed with a philosophy of modest design and scale to protect the original 1842 building. It was our clear understanding that the addition would be designed with the same considerations in mind. Warren marked a parcel sufficient to support the project as described and the family decided to make a gift of this land. The plan that appears to be in the final stages of approval is not consistent with the understanding that the Flints had with the church at the time of the gift. I have been attending the meetings between the church building committee and the town boards and have tried to articulate the issues with the design that I believe will have a negative impact on the old sanctuary in historic center, the conservation field behind the church and the neighborhood. With one exception, a slight lifting of the window sills, there have been no compromises.

I feel that the trust between the First Parish Church and the Flint family has been lost, but far more importantly, I feel that the “Lincoln way” of decision-making—one characterized by the inclusion of different ideas and compromise—has been abandoned in this process.

Sincerely,

Ephraim Flint (trustee, Flint Realty Trust)

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.