By Alice Waugh
The Leaf Blower Study Committee (LBSC) is using a two-pronged approach to curb the use of gas-powered leaf blowers in town: educating residents and coming up with a bylaw to limit the use of the machines that it will propose to Town Meeting in 2015.
[Read more…] about Group to propose limits on use of leaf blowers in Lincoln
A spooky post-Halloween spider web. —Photo by Harold McAleer
Readers may submit photos for consideration for Lincoln Through the Lens by emailing them to news@lincolnsquirrrel.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.
Tonight: film on extinct passenger pigeonsJoin us on Thursday, Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust (LLCT) offices above the Lincoln Station post office for the first of four environmental films that the LLCT will be showing through the fall/winter months. From Billions to None: The Passenger Pigeon’s Flight to Extinction tells the incredible forgotten story of the passenger pigeon, its unlikely extinction, and its striking relevance to conservation challenges today. Almost 100 years ago on September 1, 1914, the last known passenger pigeon in existence died in the Cincinnati Zoo. A superabundant species of billions that darkened the entire sky disappeared in a matter of decades. What happened to the passenger pigeon? Follow naturalist and author Joel Greenberg on a journey to discover how and why this bird went extinct, and how today the story is more relevant than ever.
Looking to start a new family tradition this holiday season? Come to Drumlin Farm on Friday, Nov. 28 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for “Giving Thanks for Nature and Our Senses,” an outdoor arts experience on the day after Thanksgiving. Follow our map on a nature walk through the sanctuary as local artists give trailside performances related to the “giving thanks” theme. Contribute your own expressions of thanks with family-friendly crafts and activities. Light refreshments will be served. Activities include:
Cohosted by Mass Audubon and Musketaquid Arts & Environment. The program is free with admission of $8 for adults, $6 for children (free for Mass Audubon members and Lincoln residents). The event takes place rain or shine. To learn more about other programs, call 781-259-2200 or visit the Drumlin Farm website.
Nancy Fincke, director of the Lincoln Nursery School (LNS), and Julie Bernson, learning and engagement director at the deCordova Scultpure Park and Museum, will demonstrate the many facets of nature education on Thursday, Dec. 11 at 8:30 a.m. on the deCordova campus. We’ll begin in the LNS classrooms, where nature fluidly exists indoors and out as part of the children’s everyday experience and learning. We’ll then look at the work of several artists in the Museum exhibition who have inspired school, family, and adult programming that encourages personal and community experiences of nature. The deCordova and LNS initiatives work individually and together to bring children, parents, educators, and the general public into deeper understandings and appreciation of our shared environment, with the Walden, revisited exhibition fostering new collaborations with local organizations to expand and deepen this work in Lincoln and beyond.
Most Sundays throughout the year a group of (fairly intrepid) Lincolnites and others take a walk starting at 10 a.m. and then have a potluck lunch together. We typically walk for an hour and a half at a brisk but not strenuous pace, eat more than we probably should at lunch, and enjoy each other’s company. It’s a great way to stay connected with friends and see trails in town that you otherwise might not know about. Anyone interested in joining the email list and receiving the weekly announcements should contact Peter von Mertens at petervonmertens@gmail.com. All are welcome.
Editor’s note: See this Lincoln Squirrel article for information on the school project and this one for coverage of the community center charrette.
To the editor:
This coming Saturday, Nov. 15 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the State of the Town meeting (SOTT) in the Brooks auditorium, we will have an opportunity to weigh in on two important projects that are making their way through the town decision-making process: the community center project and a school building project. We will be discussing “pathways” for both projects, but all pathways have certain pitfalls and potholes that must be addressed before we can pave a route that the whole town might travel together.
[Read more…] about Letter to the editor: important discussions at State of the Town
Here are some photos and captions by Alaric Naiman, who edits an online journal about the Farrar Pond area at https://fpond.org with pictures, maps, history and geography of the pond and its environs. Click on one of the small images below to see a larger version as well as the entire slideshow.
“There’s no meditation more enriching than just being (or looking) outdoors, in stillness and presence, with intention but no expectation,” said Naiman, who collects natural views of plants and animals in much the same way that fellow Lincoln resident Norman Levey does with videos on his own website (see the Lincoln Squirrel, October 5, 2014).
The Farrar Pond blog has dual purposes of inviting community around a shared delight for place and encouraging deeper engagement with the nature of that place, Naiman said. “The hope is that more people will look at what’s right in front of them in a slightly different way, and thereby exalt their relationship with our environment… and the dramas are playing out every place in Lincoln,” regardless of whether one might have deep forest, open field or a pond in view, he said.
All are invited to submit photos, tales, reflections or useful information by clicking on the “Participate” link.
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”5″ gal_title=”Farrar Pond”]
Editor’s note: The Historic District Commission is scheduled to discuss the First Parish Church at its meeting on Thursday, Nov. 13.
To the editor:
The First Parish Church in Lincoln, built in 1842, a beautifully made Asher Benjamin design on the Historic Register, is the center of our Historic District. The First Parish has proposed an addition, much larger than the church. The Historic District Commission is evaluating the appropriateness of that proposal. The first consideration of an addition might be to limit expansion to the least distraction from the historic church on a tiny lot.
[Read more…] about Letter to the editor: Don’t harm historic area with church addition
Editor’s note: Following is a copy of a letter sent to the Historic District Commission, which is scheduled to discuss the First Parish Church on Thursday, Nov. 13.
To the editor:
I believe that the First Parish Building Committee is working hard to try to show that the present proposed rebuilding of the Stearns Room fits in with the center of Lincoln and the historic district. I hope the Historic District Commission (HDC) will carefully consider the impact this proposed addition will have on the beauty and simplicity of the white church itself. There are alternatives to the present proposed plans that would perhaps fit better with the original building.
[Read more…] about Letter to the editor: First Parish design elements not appropriate
These Ethiopian children are ready to take the field with their donated Lincoln Youth Soccer uniforms. —Photo courtesy Heather Broglio
By Alice Waugh
Two women including Lincoln resident Heather Broglio recently spent a week in Ethiopia giving children some much-needed medical treatment—and also some Lincoln Youth Soccer uniforms.
[Read more…] about Ethiopian kids happily don donated Lincoln soccer uniforms
Dear readers,
I invite everyone to check out several new features in the Squirrel, all of which are free:
These features were explained in more detail in “Some notes to readers (and writers)” on October 30.
Everything in the Squirrel is free and available to all. If you would like to support current and future improvements by our paid web professional, Amy Helfman—perhaps in lieu of a paid subscription to this or another local news source —please consider making a voluntary donation of whatever you think is fair. Just click on the orange “Donate” button on the right-hand side of every page to contribute online via credit card or PayPal, or go directly to the donation page from here. If you prefer paper, you can send a check made out to Watusi Words (this is the official name of the business entity that includes the Lincoln Squirrel) and mail it to:
Watusi Words
178 Weston Rd.
Lincoln MA 01773
(The Lincoln Squirrel is not yet registered as a nonprofit organization, so unfortunately donations are not tax-deductible.)
Thank you for reading!
Sincerely,
Alice Waugh
Editor, The Lincoln Squirrel
781-259-0526 (h) ~ 617-710-5542 (m)
news@lincolnsquirrrel.com
Discuss Hanscom Air Force Base and Massport tomorrowJoin other residents for an overview and further discussion of Hanscom Air Force Base and Massport at a “fireside chat” hosted by the Lincoln Council on Aging on Wednesday, Nov. 12 from 10-11:30 a.m. at Bemis Hall. On the second Wednesday of every month, the COA hosts a “fireside chat” for residents of all ages in a respectful discussion of a current news topic using questions and answers. Last month, Lincoln Selectman Peter Braun, who is also chair of the Hanscom Area Towns Committee (HATS), provided an overview of Hanscom Air Force Base and Massport. On Wednesday, we will be continuing the conversation. Also at the chat with Braun will be Lincoln Town Administrator Tim Higgins and Sara Mattes, former chair of the Board of Selectmen. The three of them have a wealth of knowledge to share, not only on Massport and Hanscom but also on their relationship with Lincoln.
“Fireside chats” are intended to be an opportunity to discuss topics of interest that are sometimes provocative or controversial. A wide variety of opinions are both welcomed and encouraged. However, this is not a venue to resolve any differences but merely to put them on the table for all to consider.
Help support the enrichment programs funded by the Foundation for Educators (FELS) at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School by purchasing home-baked apple, pumpkin, pecan and chocolate pies for Thanksgiving. To doubly support a good cause, you can also donate a pie to the Lincoln or Sudbury Fire and Police Department, the L-S Senior Citizen Thanksgiving Dinner, a food pantry or an L-S teacher. FELS will arrange delivery. Go to FELSgrant.org and indicate your choice on the form if you’re paying by check, or in special instructions to seller area if you’re using a charge card or Paypal. (If you don’t fill in under “instructions to vendor,” we will e-mail you to ask your preference.) Order by Friday, Nov. 14 and pick up your pies on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at one of four locations including Bemis Hall. With your support, FELS provides grants to L-S faculty and staff to pursue their intellectual passions and in turn inspire our children.
We’ve all asked at one point in our interactions with children, “What were you thinking?” On Monday, Dec. 1 from 7:8:30 p.m. in the Brooks auditorium, the Lincoln PTO is excited to welcome Dr. Abigail Baird, Associate Professor of Psychology at Vassar College, to speak about the adolescent brain and shed light on our children’s social and emotional development. Integrating science with real-life situations, Baird will help us better understand our children’s behavior and give advice on how we can best support, parent and teach them as they grow. This program is presented by the PTO’s Parent Education Committee and is supported by a generous grant from the Brooks and Joan Fortune Family Foundation.