The Lincoln Public Library will be closed from April 28 through May 1 so insulation can be installed. Fines for materials due during that time will be waived. The library apologizes for any inconvenience.
Early May is packed with Lincoln events
Here are just a few of the events coming up in Lincoln early next month. Click the links for details in the Lincoln Squirrel calendar or on the website of the group that’s running the event.
May Day Merriness — Thursday, May 1
1-2:30 p.m., Drumlin Farm
We’ll make and decorate May baskets, then gather flowers from spring’s bounty to fill them. Plant some flower seeds in the garden and some to take home. This is a great family program for all ages. Registration is required; $12 for Mass Audubon members, $15 for nonmembers. More info…
Bitten by a tick? Free testing available
If you were bitten by a tick, the Tick-Borne Disease Network will test 100 Lincoln ticks free of charge on a first-come, first-served basis and let you know if the tick carried a disease.
Ticks will be tested for three common pathogens: Borrelia burgdorferi (which causes Lyme disease), Anaplasma phagocytophilium, and Babesia microti, and the results will be provided to residents to share with their medical providers. The test results are anonymous and will help local and state agencies build a stronger surveillance database for informing public health disease prevention programs and tracking tick-borne disease.
If you’re bitten by a tick, carefully remove it using tweezers and place it in a sealable plastic bag (the lab can analyze a tick submitted in almost any condition). Go to TickReport.com, complete an online submittal form, write the order number provided on the plastic bag, and send it in an envelope with the tick to the address indicated on the website. After 100 ticks from Lincoln have been submitted for testing, residents may obtain testing for a significantly reduced fee. Call the Lincoln Board of Health at 78-259-2613 for more information.
Tick experts will also discuss tick control and tick-borne disease prevention on April 30 at 7 p.m. in Brooks auditorium (see the Lincoln Squirrel, April 15).
The testing program is funded by a $111,300 grant from the Patrick administration’s Community Innovation Challenge (CIC) grant program. The CIC’s goal is to help towns and regions across Massachusetts form new partnerships and develop strategies to further common goals—in this case, identifying the prevalence of tick bites and the presence of pathogens that cause tick-borne disease. The grant funds testing and analysis by the Laboratory of Medical Zoology at UMass-Amherst. The partner communities are Acton, Barnstable, Bedford, Bourne, Brewster, Buckland, Carlisle, Charlemont, Chatham, Concord, Conway, Deerfield, Dennis, Eastham, Falmouth, Gill, Harwich, Hawley, Heath, Leyden, Lincoln, Mashpee, Monroe, Nantucket, Orleans, Provincetown, Sandwich, Shelburne, Truro, Wellfleet, Winchester, and Yarmouth.
Obituaries
There will be a memorial service in Bemis Hall on Saturday, April 26 at 2:30 p.m. for Martin Mills Jr., 95, who died on March 14.
Other recent Lincoln obituaries:
Lorraine C. Dean, 87 (April 8) — past master of the Lincoln Grange.
Sarah Lerner, 95 (April 9) — an accomplished artist who took great joy in solving crossword puzzles in ink.
Edward Rolfe, 94 (March 27) — former member of the Lincoln Planning Board and the First Parish music committee.
Barbara Silva Fairbanks Radden Walker, 96 (March 9) — preschool founder and advocate of special education in the Boston.
Trail walks led by Conservation staff
Visit a different area of Lincoln’s open space each week on Wednesday walks led by Conservation Department staff on Wednesdays from 9:30-11:30 a.m. Walks are typically about 2.5 miles long. Wear sturdy shoes and always dress for the weather (walks are held rain or shine). Meeting places and descriptions are listed below.
See art exhibits in Lincoln before they close
Bahar Yurukoglu, Primordial Future, 2013. Photo by Clements Photography and Design, Boston.
deCordova Biennial
The 2013 deCordova Biennial—a survey exhibition showcasing 21 sculptors, painters,
Library exhibit
Artwork by students from the Carroll School in Lincoln is on display in the Lincoln Public Library’s first-floor gallery through the month of April.
School district art show
The Lincoln school district art show will be on view in the Hartwell building from June 2-11, 2014, with an opening reception on Tuesday, June 3 from 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Codman Community Farms news
Club Codman is Saturday, May 10
The dance event of the season is also an important fundraiser for Codman Community Farms. Club Codman turns on the disco lights on Saturday, May 10 from 7-10:30 p.m. Groove to the wildest dance tunes from the ’70s, ’80s and beyond, and prepare to be amazed at lip-synch performances and shredding air-guitar solos throughout the evening. Go to this CCF web page to purchase tickets ($30 apiece) and send your song requests through our new online survey.
“Moms Gone Bad” at a previous Club Codman.
New president, board members elected
The Codman Community Farm board of directors elected new members at its annual meeting in March. Andy Stevenson has stepped up to be the board’s new president. New members on the board are Chandler Fritz, David Alperovitz, Erica Mason, and Drew Shilling. Past president Marshall Clemens will continue on as a board member, but we bid farewell to members finishing their terms: Sarah Killick (past CCF board president), Lindsay Clemens, Jeff Patterson, and Andy Ory.
Membership renewal time is now
All Lincoln residents received an invitation to become members of Codman Community Farms or renew their membership for 2014. Membership dues greatly support the activities of the farm and allow you visit all year. If you live outside Lincoln or simply lost your mailer, you may sign up for membership online.
Letter to the editor: Jet Aviation hearing closes tonight
To the editor:
Last Wednesday’s Conservation Commission hearing on the Jet Aviation expansion plans at Hanscom Civil Airport went from 7:45 p.m. to midnight with the decision to bring the hearing to a close tonight (April 15) at 7 p.m. at Lincoln Town Offices.
[Read more…] about Letter to the editor: Jet Aviation hearing closes tonight
Experts to speak on tick control, disease prevention
The Middlesex Tick Task Force will present experts on tick-borne diseases and landscaping ideas to reduce tick exposure at “Let’s Talk About Ticks: One Bite Can Change Your Life” on Wednesday, April 30 from 7-9 p.m. in Brooks auditorium.
Dr. Alfred de Maria, an epidemiologist with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, who will answer questions about awareness and prevention of tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease as well as babesiosis and anaplasmosis, two other preventable tick-borne illnesses. Kurt Upham, president of ohDeer Inc., which offers safe spraying for deer, tick and mosquito control, will discuss ways to landscape your yard to cut down on tick exposure.
Also at the event, Dr. Stephen Rich of the UMass Laboratory of Medical Zoology will discuss a new tick-testing program for some Massachusetts residents. Depending on what town you live in, if you’ve been bitten by a tick, you can submit the tick for free or low-cost testing to see if it carries the pathogens that cause Lyme disease, babesiosis or anaplasmosis. For more information, call the health department at 781-259-2614 or Lincoln Public Health Nurse Maureen Richichi at 781-259-9407.
The Middlesex Tick Task Force formed in 2012 with representatives from Acton, Bedford, Carlisle, Concord, Lexington, Lincoln, Waltham, Wayland, and Weston. The group’s goals are to increase awareness of tick-borne diseases in our towns, to educate residents about effective prevention measures, and to promote inter-town collaboration about these diseases in Middlesex County. The Task Force recognizes that tick-borne diseases are now endemic in our towns and that residents need information about effective prevention measures they can take to protect themselves, including knowing the signs and symptoms of disease, the life-cycle of the deer tick, how to do a “tick check” after being outside and to safely remove an embedded tick, and the importance of self-advocacy and early medical treatment for tick-borne diseases.
Community center committee volunteers sought
The Board of Selectmen is seeking volunteers to serve on a soon-to-be-appointed committee whose charge will be to study options for meeting the facilities needs of the Council on Aging, the Parks & Recreation Department and various community organizations, said options to include the construction of a new community center.
The committee will interview consultants, recommend a preferred firm or individual to the Board of Selectmen, and oversee the work of the consultant. The committee will organize a process for public involvement and will report its final recommendations to the board in time for a presentation to Town Meeting in March 2015.
Those interested in volunteering may do so by sending a letter of interest by email to parkhurstd@lincolntown.org or by mail to the Board of Selectmen, Attn: Administrative Assistant Debra Parkhurst, 16 Lincoln Road, Lincoln MA 01773.