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

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.

Morris Engel films at library this month

movie reelThe Lincoln Library Film Society  will be showcasing the  work of acclaimed New York photographer and filmmaker Morris Engel in December. Along with photographer Ruth Orkin, Engel pioneered the use of hand-held cameras in cinematography, which, along with other techniques, helped them capture true slices of life and weave images of everyday reality into their fiction films.

A native of Brooklyn, Engel spent five years as a combat photographer during World War II. He was an active member of the Photo League, a left-wing photo cooperative based in New York, which produced and distributed socially-themed work. It was there that he met Ruth Orkin, a freelance photographer from Los Angeles, who would later become his filmmaking partner. Their 1953 film Little Fugitive, with its infusion of documentary photography with staged narrative, is considered an important forerunner to the films of John Cassavetes and the French New Wave films of Truffaut and Godard. The films that the pair made, along with Engel’s subsequent solo work as director and cinematographer, comprise an independent cinema before there was independent cinema, having proved highly influential over the many facets of postwar realism to follow.

Tuesday, December 10 at 7 p.m.

Lovers and Lollipops
USA / 1956 / in English / 82 minutes.
The follow-up to Little Fugitive is similarly made on a minuscule budget, with money raised by Engel and Orkin, and filmed using highly portable cameras. The film depicts the efforts of Peggy, a seven-year-old, to thwart the blossoming romance between her fashion model mother, Ann, and Larry, an engineer. The film brings to life the textures and nuances of city life with wit and charm, favoring authenticity over narrative efficiency, and once again shows how ordinary children can be more genuine and demonstrative than many adult actors.

Ruth Orkin: Frames of Life
USA / 1996 / in English / 18 minutes
This short documentary, directed by her daughter, Mary Engel, charts the chronology of Orkin’s career through photographs and film clips.

Tuesday, December 17 at  7 p.m.

Weddings and Babies
USA / 1958 / in English. 81 minutes
This more mature film by Engel, his first to use synchronous sound, won the Critic’s Award at the Venice Film Festival in 1958. It merges a ground-level naturalism, seen in his earlier films, with increased production values. Al, a photographer living in New York, feels pressure from his girlfriend, Bea, to marry and settle down. His elderly mother, whom he recently put in a nursing home, only complicates things as Al tries to get his life in order. The film uses improvisational performances and naturalistic settings, with cinematographer Engel picking up on the detailed emotional resonance of everyday life.

Morris Engel: The Independent
USA / 2008 / in English / 28 minutes
Mary’s portrait of her father assembles interviews and clips, bringing some of the original cast of Little Fugitive back to Coney Island.

Panel to discuss possible school calendar changes

schoolThe School Committee will discuss options for the 2014-15 school calendar on Thursday, Dec. 5 in the Hartwell Multipurpose Room. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. and discussion of the calendar is slated to begin at approximately 7:55 p.m. (see complete agenda).

The committee will also discuss next steps for the school building project starting at approximately 8:40 p.m.

The 2012-13 school year ended later than usual because of several snow days but also because the schedule included days off for parent conferences and religious holidays. Among the options under consideration (click to download a PDF) are taking fewer of those days off, and/or starting the school year some time before Labor Day.

School Committee chair Jennifer Glass said there will be at least one more calendar discussion after tonight before a final decision is made. Public input is welcome either during the public comments period at the start of the meeting, or via email to schoolroom@lincnet.org.

Winter wellness clinics for all ages starting Dec. 6

Lincoln residents of all ages are invited to meet with a nurse at no charge at one of several wellness clinics. Get your blood pressure and/or BMI (body mass index) checked, ask questions, or learn about wellness resources.

Clinics will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on the following Fridays at the Community Building at Lincoln Woods at 50 Wells Road:

  • December 6
  • January 10
  • February 7
  • March 14

There will also be a clinic at St. Joseph’s Church (142 Lincoln Road) on Wednesday, December 18 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

These clinics are funded by CHNA 15 and provided by Emerson Hospital Home Care. For more information, please call the Lincoln Council on Aging at (781) 259-8811.

Help button up the farm for winter on Dec. 8

cow on farmWork off your Thanksgiving weight gain on Sunday, Dec. 8 at the Codman Community Farms (CCF) volunteer work day to button up the farm for winter. We’ll start at 9:30 a.m., and you’re welcome to come all day or even just for an hour. There will be tasks appropriate for young and old, and lunch and snacks will be provided.

Codman turkey, beef and pork available

Thinking about serving turkey for Christmas or New Year dinner? There are still a few turkeys available that were raised at CCF on natural feed and fresh-frozen. They’re priced at $5 per pound. Stop by the farm office/kitchen and talk to Farmer Eric or email info@codmanfarm.org.

If you’re tired of turkey, consider joining the farm’s meat CSA, where each month from January to June, you get 10 pounds of Codman-raised, hormone- and antibiotic-free pork and beef for $600. For more information or to register and pay online, see the CCF website’s Farm Store page.

Town water is safe to drink, Woods says

water-smBecause of a recent  notification that coliform bacteria had been in part of the town’s water system, some residents have expressed concern that their water may be contaminated, but Lincoln Water Department Superintendent Greg Woods assures residents that the water is safe to drink.

Standard monthly testing showed the presence of coliform bacteria within the plumbing fixtures at the Tower Road well pump-house. Species of coliform bacteria include E. coli, which often indicates contamination with fecal matter. Most strains of E. coli are harmless but some can cause illness in humans.

The plumbing fixtures  have  been treated and have tested bacteria-free, Woods said. “As stated in the state-required notice that was mailed to customers, the water distribution piping tested completely free of coliform bacteria.” As an extra precaution, the water at the first house on the line that would receive water from the well was also tested and was found to be free of bacteria, he said.

“The Lincoln water remains completely safe to drink; in-home treatment or filtering is unnecessary,” Woods said. Anyone with questions may call him at 781-259-8997.