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

Churches observe Christmas with services and pageants

nativity(This is a corrected version of the post that appeared on December 19.)

Churches in Lincoln  have the following Christmas observances lined up.

First Parish Church

Saturday, December 21 — Solstice service, 5 p.m.

Celebrate the longest night of the year and the return of the light as the days begin to lengthen. The service includes the Abbots Bromley horn dance, which has been preformed for more than 900 years. Traditional music, dancing, and candle-lighting in the dark make this a special part of the church’s religious winter celebration.

Visitors are also invited to walk a labyrinth, an ancient symbol of wholeness, which will be open in the Parish House for one hour before and one hour after this service. Walking the labyrinth is a special form of meditation that helps us focus on the connection of the inner self to the rhythmic patterns of the natural world. There will be refreshments after the service as well.

Sunday, December 22 — Christmas pageant, 11:30 a.m. 
Children will gather  at 10 a.m. in the Parish House for a quick run-through and then get into costumes and proceed to the auditorium, transformed into the inn in long-ago Bethlehem. The audience will watch the timeless story unfold and sing Christmas carols, accompanied by music director Ian Watson on First Parish’s newly refurbished organ.

Tuesday, December 24  — Christmas Eve service, 5 p.m.

Designed especially for parents with young children, this service features traditional carols, readings, and a story for all ages. Our Director of Religious Education, Ruth Owen, will lead the service, and Rev. Roger Paine will lead a guided meditation to close the service.

Tuesday, December 24 — Candlelight carol services, 8 and 10 p.m. 

A service of carols, readings, choral anthems, a Christmas prayer by Rebecca Hinds, and a homily and guided meditation by Rev. Paine. The two services are identical except that five high school students will be the readers at the 8 p.m. service, and five college students will be our readers at 10 p.m.

In a recent roundup of holiday religious events, the Lincoln Squirrel inexplicably forgot to include St. Anne’s-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church.  The original post has been corrected to include this information. The Squirrel apologizes for the omission.

St.-Anne’s-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church

Tuesday, December 24

  • Christmas pageant and family service — 3-4 p.m.
  • Holy Eucharist with choir and string quartet — 5:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Everyone is welcome.

St. Joseph Church

Tuesday, December 24 — Christmas gospel pageant, 4 p.m. Mass

There is also a service at 6 p.m. with the choir (music begins at 5:30 p.m.)

Wednesday, December 25 — Christmas Day Mass, 10:30 a.m.

There will also be a Mass at 9 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. at St. Julia Church in Weston.

Aka Bistro closed due to water damage

aka

The Aka Bistro restaurant will be closed until further notice due to extensive water damage from a broken pipe.

The restaurant’s website announced the closure due to a damaged  floor, ceiling and kitchen equipment. The incident occurred early Wednesday morning (December 18).

“I pulled up to work at 5:30 in the moring and in front of me was a fire truck, and then three [police] cruisers pulled up,” said John Johanson, a personal trainer at Fitness Together, which is located on the second floor of the same building. “They had to break into the room where the piping was. I guess it was pretty bad.” Fitness Together was not damaged and is open, he added.

The building is owned by the Rural Land Foundation. Neither RLF executive director Geoff McGean nor Aka Bistro general manager Christian Touche could not immediately be reached for comment. 

Library holiday activities and hours

The library's winter display by Barry Palu.

The library’s winter display by Barry Palu.

On Friday, Dec. 20, the Lincoln Pubic Library will host two children’s activities. Preschoolers are invited to “Movies and Muffins” at 3:30 p.m. with screenings of three short films based on the beloved children’s books The Snowy Day, The Bear Snores On and Little Bear. Recommended for ages 2 and up; no signup necessary. Also on Friday, children of all ages can stop by the children’s department and make a winter craft any time between 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Meanwhile, don’t miss the library’s annual winter display, courtesy of Lincoln resident Barry Palu. The display will be up through the month of December in the bay window of the reference room.

On Tuesday, Dec. 24, the library will close at 1 p.m. and reopen with regular hours (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) on Thursday, Dec. 26. The library will close at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 31 and reopen with regular hours on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014, when children of all ages can celebrate the New Year by decorating a paper lantern and taking part in a light parade around the library from 4-5:30 p.m. Signup in advance is necessary; call 781-259-8465.

Memoir group open to new members in January

The memoir group is a good place to try out your writing on a supportive audience. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t written a word or if you’ve already written enough for two lifetimes—the group will welcome you and help you move along in the process. (They will also laugh and cry with you sometimes.) If you’re interested in joining the group or if you just want to know more before making a commitment, please get in touch with facilitator Connie Lewis at con.lewis@comcast.net or  781-259-9415.

The group meets on Wednesdays, usually twice a month from 10 a.m. to noon. The schedule for the winter/spring term isn’t set yet, but the first meeting will be on January 15. The cost is $50 if the group continues with the six-meeting schedule or $75 if they decide to meet eight times.

Free sand for slippery times ahead

snowcloudIn preparation for tomorrow’s snowstorm, you may have stocked up on snow shovels and windshield washer fluid, but your already-icy driveways and paths will be needing more sand—and Lincoln residents can get some for free

The Department of Public Works allows Lincoln residents to take one five-gallon bucket of sand from the small shed at the DPW site on Lewis Street. The shed is just to the right of the main building across from the school buses. There’s even a shovel you can use, but be careful unloading—sand is even heavier than you think.

The DPW also reminds residents that they are not permitted to take sand or salt from the larger sheds at the rear of the site.

Clark wins easily in Lincoln and 5th District

Here are the election results for Lincoln and surrounding towns for the 5th Congressional District special election on  December 10. Among the 24 towns in the district, Lincoln was second only to Cambridge in percentage of residents who voted for winner Katherine Clark (Cambridge went for Clark by a margin of 93 percent to 6 percent). The only town that Frank Addivinola won was Woburn, by a vote of 1,347 to 1,161 (53 percent to 45 percent).

Lincoln’s voter turnout was 17 percent, compared to 13 percent for the district as a whole.

Katherine Clark (D) Frank Addivinola (R)
Lincoln 590 (80%) 139 (19%)
Lexington
 2,951 (79%) 740 (20%)
Sudbury 834 (64%) 445 (34%)
Weston 525 (59%) 348 (39%)
District total
 40,172 (66%) 19,319 (32%)

Sustainability author Brayton Shanley at library

On December 18 at 7 p.m., Brayton Shanley will speak about his 25 years of living off the land, building a straw bale house and running a “grease” car all while working in the community to build a more peaceful and responsible world. Sustainability is a word held dear by Shanley. His new book, taken from his essays in Servant Song, is entitled The Many Sides of Peace: Christian Nonviolence, the Contemplative Life, and Sustainable Living.

Gingerbread activities at library on Wednesday

gingerbreadOn Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 4 p.m., come to the Lincoln Public Library to hear gingerbread stories and decorate your own gingerbread cookies. For ages 4 and up. 

Space is limited so please sign up in advance by calling 781-259-8465. Sponsored by the Friends of the Lincoln Public Library, Inc.