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

Drumlin Farm raising money for new education center, exhibits

This map shows the locations of the first projects on the campaign wish list (click to enlarge).

This map shows the locations of the first projects on the campaign wish list (click to enlarge).

By Alice Waugh

Drumlin Farm recently kicked off a campaign aimed at raising money to fund improvements starting with a new education center, wildlife care center and fox exhibit.

The “Landscapes for Learning” campaign aims to bring in $4.7 million over four to five years, said Christy Foote-Smith, Drumlin Farm’s sanctuary director. The campaign aligns with specific goals outlined in Drumlin Farm’s strategic plan. As of December 2012, Drumlin had raised more than $900,000, including a grant of $384,000 from the Amelia Peabody Charitable Fund.

“We’re off to a running start. I don’t expect it to continue at that pace, though I wouldn’t be unhappy if it did,” Foote-Smith said at a Board of Selectmen meeting on December 17, 2012.

That sum will be enough to pay for improvements to the service barn, much of which was destroyed in a 1980 fire and rebuilt. Those changes include more classroom space and an expanded root cellar, which will help Drumlin expand its Winter CSA (community-supported agriculture) program.

“We have the field space, but we just don’t have places to store” the produce, Foote-Smith said.

Construction work on the barn should begin this summer, with completion scheduled for mid-2014, Foote-Smith said. Next on the list is either a new wildlife care center or a new education center to be built near the existing education building, Foote-Smith said. The current wildlife care center south of Route 117 is in an old poultry house, which will be razed and rebuilt on the same stone foundation, Foote-Smith said.

The new fox exhibit will replace the current “Drumlin Underground” exhibit, which can never be made handicapped-accessible, Foote-Smith noted. Also planned for campaign’s proceeds is a new equipment shed near Boyce Field, and new deer and coyote exhibits.

Noting that programs such as the summer camp are at full visitor capacity for the property, Foote-Smith noted Drumlin isn’t aiming to increase attendance except perhaps during the winter and other times of the year when attendance is relatively low.

“That’s not a goal we have moving forward,” she told the selectmen. “We expect our growth to happen mostly around our outreach programs,” such as satellite camps and staff visits to schools.

Anyone who wants more information about the campaign or wishes to donate may email Foote-Smith at cfsmith@massaudubon.org.

Fraud alert from Lincoln police

scamOn Monday, Feb. 25, a Lincoln resident received a phone call from someone claiming to work for Rain Soft. The caller claimed that Rain Soft is working with the Lincoln Water Department to test homeowner’s water for quality and contaminants. One of the Water Commissioners has advised that the Water Commission has not hired this company or authorized it to do the testing. Any resident receiving a call from Rain Soft should note as much information about the caller that they can, and report the call to the Lincoln Police. Residents should not provide them with any personal information. This matter is under investigation by the Lincoln Police Department.

Lincoln obituaries since September 2012

candle2The Lincoln Squirrel will publish links to the obituaries of recently deceased Lincoln residents as we become aware of them. Please feel free to send other notices, links and reminiscences to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Here are links to obituaries compiled since September 2012, listed in chronological order by date of death.

Shirley Hubel (February 17, 2013) – Teacher of pottery and remedial reading

Elizabeth Peavey (January 10, 2013) – Past president of the Lincoln Garden Club

Michael Fusillo, M.D. (January 8, 2013) – Former member of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

Alfred Seville (December 9, 2012) – Engineer, small business consultant and avid skier

Nadia Gilman (November 1, 2012) – Former Lexington resident

Henry Flint (October 15, 2012) – Ran family farm in Lincoln

Winthrop Harrington Jr., M.D. (October 8, 2012) – Lincoln dentist for more than 45 years

Marcia Bebring (September 20, 2012) – Former administrative assistant to Lincoln school superintendent

Paul DeBaryshe, Ph.D. (September 15, 2012) – Environmental activist, academic researcher, technologist and entrepreneur

Edith Hinds (Oct. 30, 2012) – Middleboro resident, formerly of Lincoln

Norman Jacobs (December 26, 2012) – Had career in marketing and advertising

Margaret Koehler, R.N. (October 1, 2012) – Mother of seven and long-time communicant of St. Joseph’s Church

Max Mason (December 20, 2012) – Architect and artist

Patricia Page (December 10, 2012) – Former director of the Department of Occupational Therapy at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary

Robert Pickett (October 13, 2012) – Worked in finance and investment

Where are we farming?

Screen Shot 2013-02-22 at 12.41.34 PMDid you know that there are 497 acres of land in active farming in Lincoln—and that there are another 287.5 acres in town that could be farmed? See maps and learn more about this current and potential farmland in Lincoln at the Lincoln Agricultural Commission‘s third annual community meeting, “The Future of Farming in Lincoln: A Community Conversation.” At the meeting, the LAC will to review town farming information with farmers and other landowners and discuss ways we might bring more land into farming in Lincoln. Everyone is welcome.

The LAC was formed by a 2008 Town Meeting vote to preserve and protect Lincoln agriculture. Members representing farms and farming interests in the town are appointed by the Board of Selectmen.

Town asks state to consider “L-shaped” option for school

The L-shaped proposal.

The L-shaped proposal.

By Alice Waugh

School officials have formally asked the state to approve a new “L-shaped” design for the Lincoln School so the town can still receive $21 million in state aid that was promised as part of an earlier plan approved by the state but which didn’t garner enough resident support at Town Meeting.

The L-shaped proposal advocated by residents including Douglas Adams and Ken Bassett calls for retaining the 1994 portion of the Smith building and demolishing and rebuilding the older portion closer to Brooks, thereby reducing the size of the block of new construction just south of the current Brooks building. Proponents feel this option would retain more of the “campus green” feel by maintaining more physical separation between the younger and older groups of students and making fewer changes to the landscaping.

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Legislators’ forum at L-S on March 5

statehouse

The Massachusetts State House

On Tuesday, March 5, Massachusetts State Senators Michael Barrett and Jamie Eldridge and State Representatives Tom Conroy and Thomas Stanley will provide Lincoln and Sudbury residents with an update on the FY14 state budget and its impact on education, green initiatives and legislative initiatives of interest to our towns.

The session, which is hosted by the L-S School Committee, will take place from 7-8:30 p.m. in the library of the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School.The public is encouraged to attend, and there will be an opportunity to ask questions.

Storm-chaser to share experiences in Feb. 25 talk

Tornadoes as seen from a storm-chasing van. (Photo courtesy Chris Curtis)

Tornadoes as seen by storm-chasers. (Photos courtesy Chris Curtis)

By Brett Wittenberg

The van barreled down I-44, its occupants’ excitement reaching a fever pitch. The chase that had started that morning in Oklahoma had traveled a serpentine route across much of Kansas, and by the time they crossed the Missouri border, the chasers had almost caught up with their prey—a giant tornado.

One of the “storm chasers” in the van was Concord resident Chris Curtis, who will give a talk about his experiences on Monday, February 25 at 12:30 p.m. in Bemis Hall.

On that day in May 2011, Curtis and his team could tell by radar that their prize was only a few blocks to their north, but in the limited visibility of the accompanying rainstorm, they had yet to actually see the Class EF5 multiple-vortex tornado. But the radar clearly showed a huge tornado with a cloud of swirling debris, and it looked like it had stopped on top of Joplin, Missouri.

[Read more…] about Storm-chaser to share experiences in Feb. 25 talk

Bingo Night nets big bucks for PTO

With an expanded array of bingo and raffle prizes, Bingo Night netted about $3,500 for the Lincoln PTO earlier this month.

Hundreds of people packed the Brooks gym on February 1 to compete for a roster of prizes topped by an iPod Touch. The PTO sold 440 bingo cards and more than 1,500 raffle tickets. “After the initial push, two ‘floaters’ walked between tables and sold additional tickets. The crowd also devoured 65 pizzas (though the last few were sold near the end of the evening at a discount).

[Read more…] about Bingo Night nets big bucks for PTO

Lincoln groundhog prediction comes true in spades

Looking back from the vantage point of the Blizzard of ’13, it looks Ms. G. was right when she predicted six more weeks of winter.

Ms. G, Drumlin Farm’s resident groundhog, emerged from her carrying crate on February 2 and saw her shadow, a prediction contradiction with her better-know fellow woodchuck, Punxsutawney Phil. But the dozens of observers gathered around her on the bare frozen ground didn’t mind — they showed their appreciation in the usual way, though the applause was considerably muffled by mittens and gloves. Before her pronouncement, some even briefly chanted, “Six more weeks! Six more weeks!”

Ms. G clambers aboard her stump as she prepares to make her prediction.

Ms. G clambers aboard her stump as she prepares to make her prediction. (Photo: Alice Waugh)

The crowd, some with "Ms. G for State Groundhog" signs, wait for her pronouncement. (Photo: Alice Waugh)

The crowd, some with “Ms. G for State Groundhog” signs, wait for her pronouncement. (Photo: Alice Waugh)
Mish Michaels, Ms G's campaign manager. (Photo: Alice Waugh)

Mish Michaels, Ms G’s campaign manager. (Photo: Alice Waugh)

The morning was also a campaign event for Ms. G., who is running hard for the post of Official State Groundhog with the backing of former local TV meteorologist and environmental reporter Mish Michaels of Wellesley. Michaels is helping children at the Hunnewell School as they try to move a bill through the state legislature that will, if approved, give statewide stature to the Lincoln groundhog.

“I’m her campaign manager at this point,” said Michaels, who sported a groundhog hat and campaign sign.

In addition to her political/rodential work, Michaels is creating on a children’s book with her young daughter called “A Groundhog’s Shadowy Road to Fame” and running an online children’s clothing business called Natural Cloud Cover (“organic clothing for the weather watcher in every kid!”).

After a few minutes of watching Ms. G. clamber over a tree stump in the frigid air, many of the children and their parents trooped inside to get their weather questions answered by a panel of local meteorologists. Inevitably, one of the kids asked whether we would have any more snow this year — a reasonable question during what had been an almost snowless season.

The short answer, said WBZ-TV’s Joe Joyce, was yes, though neither he nor his colleagues could predict when. “We keep getting it inch by inch. It’s been a frustrating season,” he said. Little did he know…