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

My Turn: Domnitz withdraws from Planning Board race

By Bob Domnitz

It has been my honor and privilege to have served on the Planning Board for 15 of the last 20 years. After many hundreds of meetings and countless hours spent on issues facing the town, I have decided to step back from the daily rigors of board membership. I am therefore withdrawing from this year’s race for Planning Board. I do look forward to continuing as an active voice in Town affairs.

My decision is made easier by the emergence of first-time candidate, Mark Levinson. Mark will bring new energy and focus to the important work of the Planning Board. Mark has been a regular attendee at board meetings for years. As a resident of the economically diverse Lincoln Station area for a quarter century, he has been an important voice in discussions regarding the area’s future. He has a strong conservation ethic and will help steer the town as it evolves while maintaining its rural character.

I also support the re-election of Lynn DeLisi. Lynn and I have been colleagues on the board for years. Lynn has an independent, fearless dedication to rational thinking about what is best for the town, and she is, above all, a uniquely empathic listener when residents ask to be heard. Many neighborhoods around Lincoln have benefited from Lynn’s support. Like Mark, she will continue her work to preserve the character of Lincoln that we all treasure.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Police log for February 2–15, 2023

February 2

Indian Camp Lane (11:51 a.m.) — A well-being check was requested. Police made contact with the individual.

February 3

Minuteman Technical High School (2:38 p.m.) — Minor two-vehicle crash in school parking lot. No injuries were reported. An officer assisted both motorists with exchanging information.

Lincoln Road (8:38 p.m.) — Multiple callers reported that the railroad gates were stuck in the down position. The MBTA was notified.

February 4

St. Anne’s Church, Concord Road (9:04 a.m.) — A broken sprinkler head was reported. The Fire Department responded and maintenance was notified. 

Silver Birch Lane (8:53 p.m.) — A caller reported that their neighbor’s dog had been barking for the past three hours. An officer responded to the area and heard nothing for 15 minutes. The Animal Control Officer was notified.

Codman Road (9:22 p.m.) — An individual came into the police station after getting off the train earlier than expected. An officer spoke to them to make sure everything was OK.

February 5

South Great Road (12:18 a.m.) — A caller reported hearing approximately 10 gunshots. Officers from Lincoln and Concord conducted an extensive check of the area and side streets but did not discover anything out of the ordinary. 

Hawthorne Circle (2:40 a.m.) — A caller reported possible suspicious activity at a residence. An officer checked the area and discovered nothing out of the ordinary. 

February 6

Gerard’s Farm Stand, Route 2 (9:51 a.m.) — On February 4, a package delivered by a FedEx driver was stolen from Gerard’s Farm Stand. Two hours after the delivery, a male suspect with a shaved head and beard, wearing eyeglasses, a light blue/gray hooded winter coat and light colored pants, was seen walking around the farm stand. It is believed that this individual removed the package from the property. An investigation is ongoing.

Airport Road (12:32 p.m.) — A police officer was asked to stand by while a person retrieved some items. 

North Great Road (6:35 p.m.) — The Fire Department responded to the comfort station located by the Hartwell Tavern for a water main break and provided additional assistance at 9:58 p.m.

Lincoln Road (6:43 p.m.) — The Fire Department was dispatched to a residence for a water main break and later provided additional assistance at 7:33 p.m.

February 7

10:43 a.m. — The Fire Department was mobilized for District 14 coverage related to nine-alarm fire in Brockton.

February 8

Birchwood Lane (9:08 a.m.) — An officer spoke to a resident regarding potential fraudulent transactions. 

Lincoln Road (11:09 a.m.) — An officer checked on a motorist in the commuter lot. 

Weston Road (4:01 p.m.) — A resident asked to speak to an officer regarding an ongoing situation. 

February 9

Indian Camp Lane (10:00 a.m.) — An officer assisted an individual with a well-being check. 

Sandy Pond Road (11:04 a.m.) — The town Conservation Ranger reported an incident with an individual walking too many dogs on conservation trails. 

South Great Road near Tower Road (3:47 p.m.) — A caller reported locating two goats. Animal Control was notified.

Lincoln Road (4:04 p.m.) — A resident asked to speak to an officer regarding several firearms that were being turned over for destruction. 

February 10

(12:20 p.m.) — A well-being check was requested for a resident. Contact was made by a responding officer.   

Cambridge Turnpike westbound (7:24 p.m.) — A motorist was lost and required directions.

February 11

Concord Road (12:24 p.m.) — A caller reported a suspicious motor vehicle parked at the end of their driveway. The vehicle was gone on the officer’s arrival. 

Tower Road (5:34 p.m.) — The Fire Department was asked to investigate an odor of gas. They determined that there was an issue with the stove. 

Lincoln Road post office (7:17 p.m.) — An individual reported that a mail truck parked at the mall appeared to have its hazard lights on. An officer responded and discovered the truck’s lights were malfunctioning. Post office staff were notified.

February 12

Goose Pond Road (7:23 p.m.) — A caller reported damage to their mailbox. Several other mailboxes on Goose Pond Road, Deer Run, and Sandy Pond Road also were damaged. An investigation is ongoing. 

Liberty Lane, Hanscom AFB (10:38 a.m.) — Officers assisted Hanscom Security Forces with a domestic assault and battery. 

Huckleberry Hill (3:39 p.m.) — A caller requested police assistance with a suspicious motor vehicle that may have followed them from Concord. 

February 13

Old County Road (6:43 p.m.) — A motorist reported that their vehicle had been struck by a deer. 

Beaver Pond Road (12:10 p.m.) — A resident reported that a delivery van had caused minor damage to their lawn. 

Lincoln Road (1:34 p.m.) — An officer helped a pedestrian across the street.

February 14

Lowell Road, Concord (10:32 a.m.) — The Lincoln Police and Fire Departments responded to the Middlesex School in Concord to assist with a confirmed phone call hoax. 

Huckleberry Hill (12:26 p.m.) — A resident called to report a suspicious item had been left behind by an unknown individual.

Ridge Road (5:44 p.m.) — A caller located an empty box by the side of the road that had contained two cell phones.

Silver Birch Lane (7:43 p.m.) — A caller reported that their neighbor’s dog had been barking for the past three hours. An officer responded to the area and heard nothing for 15 minutes. The Animal Control Officer was notified. 

February 15

Minuteman Technical High School (7:58 a.m.) — An officer responded for a community caretaking response. 

Woods End Road (4:22 p.m.) — A resident reported sums of money being taken from their bank account. 

News acorns

Ash Wednesday at St. Anne’s

Join the St. Anne’s community for an Ash Wednesday evening service on Wednesday, Feb. 22 from 7–8 p.m. to mark the threshold to the season of Lent. We welcome everyone from all walks of life and faith. For more information, visit StAnnesLincoln.org.  

Event for new and expectant parents

Join LincFam for an upcoming coffee meetup at Twisted Tree on Saturday, Feb. 25 from 2-3 p.m. Little ones are welcome. LincFam is eager to update their New & Expecting Parents list of families with children under 2 or expecting a child. If you’d like to join the list for information on future events and meetups, please click here.

Session on home backup battery power

MetroWest Climate Solutions, of which First Parish in Lincoln is a founding member, is offering a webinar on “Backup Power: Battery Storage for Homes & Businesses” on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. Onsite battery storage systems are seeing a spike in interest to power homes during blackouts and/or to make the most of an existing solar system. These battery systems often provide backup for 10 to 20 hours and can be charged either by solar panels onsite or electricity from your utility. In this session, Matt Honkonen of East Coast Solar will provide an overview of issues to consider when installing battery storage systems in your home and/or business, including cost. The session will also discuss the often-overlooked human rights abuses associated with cobalt/lithium mines in Africa. Two local residents will also share their experiences in evaluating vendors and installing battery storage systems in their homes. Click here to register.

Climate Action Plan workshops

Climate Action Lincoln is gathering input for a Climate Action Plan that will guide efforts to reduce carbon emissions and increase our community’s resilience to climate change impacts. Developing the plan involves community outreach and engagement, the identification of needs and goals, and the development of actionable strategies to increase resilience and sustainability. There will be two community workshops for the public on Wednesday, March 1 at 7 p.m. and Friday, March 3 at 8:30 a.m., with the same information shared and input welcomed at both.

Spring concerts at deCordova

Old-style Irish dance and music
Saturday, March 4 from 6–8 p.m.
Enjoy an evening of traditional and old-style Irish dance and music with a performance by the quartet Eight Feet Tall and social céilí dancing for all with live music to top off the night. The dances are fun and simple group dances, no experience is needed, and all dances will be taught – everyone is welcome. The event is liked to New Formations exhibition at the deCordova. Click here for tickets.

Musical performance with Antje Duvekot
Thursday, March 9 at 7 p.m.
Antje Duvekot has won some of the top songwriting awards including the Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition, the prestigious Kerrville (Texas) Best New Folk Award, and the Boston Music Award for Outstanding Folk Act. Click here for tickets.

Route 126 bridge slated for two-year repair project

The Route 126 railroad bridge looking south.

The state Department of Transportation (MassDOT) will begin work to repair the Route 126 bridge over the railroad tracks near Baker Bridge Road in fall or winter of 2024.

The bridge, which was built in 1950, has needed repair for some time. The project will involve replacing the superstructure (steel beams, concrete deck, and attachments) and upgrading the piers and foundations to handle the new superstructure.

Construction will take place in stages over a period of 24 months so a detour will not be required. Bicycles and pedestrians will be accommodated during construction by the installation of a temporary bike/pedestrian bridge, said MassDOT Project Manager Eamon Kernan. When completed the bridge will have one lane each way, a usable shoulder in the southerly direction, and a multi-use side path on the northbound side.

“Plans have not been advanced to know if any private property will be taken, but the adjacent properties will be disturbed. Disruption will be kept to a minimum but is inevitable,” Kernan said.

Restored sampler gives a glimpse of life in Lincoln 200 years ago

Former Town Clerk Susan Brooks unveils the restored sampler in Town Hall.

The Lincoln Town Hall is home to plenty of historically valuable documents — but until now, few if any of them were hand-stitched.

The Lincoln Town Archives and Lincoln Historical Society recently put on display a sampler created in 1826 by 13-year-old Sophia Adams. The artifact is in a climate-controlled case just down the hall from the Town Clerk’s office, and former Town Clerk Susan Brooks (one of those who was involved in the project) pulled the string at the official unveiling.

Samplers are pieces of embroidery worked in various types of stitching that were commonly created by girls and young women as a demonstration of their skills and perseverance. Many samplers are family registers, recording the births, marriages, and deaths in the life of a family. The Adams sampler was donated to the town in 2017 by Cynthia Williams, whose husband was a great-grandson of the young seamstress.

Sophia lived on Route 2A in Lincoln (the Battle Road) on what was then known as Foster’s farm, very close to the Paul Revere capture site. There were two houses on the property: one where the Smiths lived that’s still standing across from the end of Bedford Road; the other was a rental that became the Foster-Winship­-Adams residence where Sophia worked on her sampler, according to research done by Lincoln historians.

Sophia Adams’s sampler (click image to enlarge).

The names and dates give insight into the often-too-short lives of people in that era. It begins with the 1759 birth of Joseph Adams, a distant cousin of President John Adams, and lists his first marriage to Betsey Davis, who died at age 34, less than two weeks after her youngest son’s birth. Having five chil­dren to raise, Joseph married Rebecca Patch just over two years later. This was short-lived as Rebecca died within nine months. The sampler records that he then married Mehitable Hildreth, who bore him three children, the youngest being Sophia.

Mehitable died when Sophia was six, and Joseph was married for the last time in 1821 to Lincoln widow Lydia Winship (nee Wheeler), who may have taught So­phia to sew. Lydia owned the Foster property, which had been left to her on the death of her first husband, Benjamin Winship, in 1819. Winship had originally purchased the land from widow Catherine Louisa Smith, whose husband Captain William Smith was a younger brother of Abigail Adams, wife of the second President. Benjamin and Lydia Winship had only one daughter, also named Lydia, who died at age 16. All three of them have their final resting place at Meeting House Burial Ground behind Bemis Hall.

At 31.5 inches by 21.5 inches, the sampler is especially significant because it is quite large compared to other samplers of its time. Sophia’s silk stitching (which includes cross, satin, split stem and French knot stitches) was embroidered onto a particularly fine plain weave fabric with a plain weave cotton backing. Due to the fineness of the backing, unlike the coarser linen backing used on many samplers, this would have been especially chal­lenging for a 13-year-old to stitch.

“I’m rather amazed with the care and protection of this rather important textile, and I commend all of you for doing that. For me, it was a very unique piece,” said Deidre Windsor, who carried out the painstaking preservation. Among her other projects: restoring an 18th-century embroidered silk kerchief owned by the Old State House and Old South Meeting House that was damaged in a water leak.

When she first encountered the sampler, which had been hanging on the wall of the Williams home, “it was quite gray” from soil and dust, had some insect holes, and was attached to an acidic backing, Windsor said. The nearly translucent fabric was too delicate to withstand water, so the cleaning was done using a special type of vacuum cleaner and gentle sponging. Because the fabric was so thin, it was hard to keep in place while Sophia was sewing, “so her lines have a bit of a wiggle.” 

Lincoln voters approved a Community Preser­vation Act grant of $17,675 in 2017 to restore So­phia’s sampler and prepare it for public display at Town Offices, including framing it with mu­seum-quality UV filtering acrylic and building an archival box set into the wall with four preconditioned packets of silica gel to keep the air inside at 45% humidity.

New Lincoln Public Schools superintendent chosen

Dr. Parry Graham (Photo by Kyle Chen, used by permission of the Wayland Student Press Network)

The School Committee has voted unanimously to enter into negotiations to hire Dr. Frank Parry Graham as Lincoln’s next Superintendent of Schools.

Graham currently serves as the Assistant Superintendent of the Wayland Public Schools, which he joined in 2018 (read a Wayland Student Press Network profile of him here). Previously, he was Nashoba Regional High School Principal in Bolton for five years and principal of the Lufkin Road Middle School in Wake County, N.C. for four years. He also taught German at North Andover (Mass.) High School. Graham holds a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a master of arts in teaching from Tufts University, and bachelor’s degree from Williams College

The PTO, LSF and MCC thanked everyone who assisted in the search:

“The Lincoln METCO Coordinating Committee, Lincoln PTO, and Lincoln School Foundation would like to thank all members of the LPS community who participated in the Superintendent search process. Notably, we are grateful for the countless hours our School Committee devoted to ensuring a thorough and transparent process that balanced many voices. We would also like to express our gratitude to Dr. Becky McFall for giving her successor big shoes to fill — and look forward to continued academic and social-emotional growth for our students and AIDE work together with our community under Dr. Parry Graham’s leadership.”

Kristen Ferris, MCC President
Liz Butler Everitt and Maria Miara, LSF co-chairs
Julianne Schwarzer, PTO chair

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Local hospice organization gets grant, seeks volunteers

Care Dimensions, the nonprofit organization that operates the hospice house in Lincoln, will hold online training classes for those interested in becoming. You can make a difference in a patient’s life by:

  • Engaging in a shared interest or hobby
  • Helping with letter-writing or life review
  • Visiting with your approved dog
  • Reading to the patient
  • Listening and by providing a supportive, comforting presence

Volunteers are resuming in-person visits with patients in their homes, in facilities, and at the hospice houses. Volunteers are provided all necessary personal protective equipment. If patient visits are not the right fit, you can volunteer in other ways, such as providing administrative office support or making check-in phone calls to current patients or bereaved family members.

The 16-hour training will be held via Zoom on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9–11 a.m. from March 13 through April 5 (register by March 3). For more information or to register, go to www.CareDimensions.org/volunteers or email volunteerinfo@CareDimensions.org.

Care Dimensions recently received a $25,800 grant from the Parmenter Foundation to fund several programs that help elevate social engagement, care, and support for hospice patients and their loved ones, including:

  • Uber Health Rides — Provides free, reliable transportation for residents of MetroWest whose loved ones are on Care Dimensions hospice service either at home or at the hospice house in Lincoln. This service ensures family caregivers, who do not drive or cannot afford a means of transportation, can visit their loved one who is on their end-of-life journey.
  • Mobile Integrated Health Program — For hospice patients experiencing urgent pain and symptom escalations during nights and weekends. This service allows for a quicker response time and management of symptoms therefore helping to reduce emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
  • Virtual Reality — Allows hospice patients to take virtual tours to places that are special to them or places they’ve wanted to visit but are no longer able to do so. These experiences help revive joyful memories, encourage life review, and create (or recreate) an experience a patient can share with loved ones. 
  • Pocketalkers — These hearing amplification devices help hearing-impaired hospice patients remain engaged with loved ones, personal interests, and their hospice team.

The Commons seeks to add 40 independent living units

In this map of The Commons campus, the proposed additional units are shown in yellow (click to enlarge).

Citing a long waiting list as well as the area’s aging demographics, The Commons in Lincoln is proposing to add 40 new independent living units along with more parking‚ but some current residents aren’t happy about the prospect. 

Because The Commons resides in a zoning overlay district with specific conditions, a two-thirds majority approval is required at Town Meeting next month for the plan to go forward. The Planning Board will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. The agenda and Zoom link will be posted on the Planning Board schedule page. There will also be information sessions in the Lincoln Public Library’s Tarbell Room on Thursday, March 2 from 6–8 p.m. and two sessions on Thursday, March 9 (2–4 p.m. and 6–8 p.m.)

Owner’s representative OnePoint Partners submitted a detailed proposal to the Planning Board on February 6 that calls for 32 new apartments in the existing Flint and Russell buildings and eight freestanding and attached cottages at various locations on the campus. Six of the 11 new units in the Flint building would be designated as affordable housing to be rented at the 80% area median income threshold, increasing the total number of affordable units at The Commons to 14.

The plan also calls for a net addition of 56 parking spaces — 82 new surface spaces at cottages and 18 new garage spaces minus 44 spaces removed for construction. The Commons currently has 259 total units, which includes 90 units in the assisted living/memory care/skilled nursing area that opened in 2016. The current proposal “is the final phase of the complete build out of the Commons,” said Sarah Laffey, partner at OnePoint Partners. 

“I think we’re all terribly disappointed. It was like a coup,” said David Levington, a resident at The Commons. “They’re adding more units so we’ll have more people but no more facilities,” he added, saying there already isn’t enough gathering and activity space — a concern expressed by other residents as well. “They’re asking us to spend more time in our rooms.” 

“NELPC [New England Life Plan Communities, owners of The Commons] and the onsite management team of The Commons is working closely with the resident council and ensuring that residents’ questions and concerns are addressed,” Laffey said.

Rey LeBlanc, executive director at The Commons, was away and unavailable for comment this week. Several residents who praised his work noted that he was “in a difficult position” as the liaison between residents and the owners of the complex since the expansion was announced.

Benchmark Senior Living and a private equity firm sold The Commons in 2021 to NELPC, a nonprofit entity. The Groves in Lincoln, as it was called when it opened in 2010, was owned by the New England Deaconess Association and Masonic Health Systems of Massachusetts but had an occupancy rate of only 59% in 2013, when it filed for bankruptcy after defaulting on payment of $88.4 million in tax-exempt bonds. 

“While the Commons currently operates profitably, the expansion will provide further economies of scale by spreading operating costs over a greater number of units, which should ultimately serve to increase the financial stability of the community,” Laffey said. “As a not-for-profit, the improved financial benefit of this expansion will only serve to shore up The Commons’ own financial resources and strengthen its own financial condition and will not inure to the benefit of an outside owner or investor.” 

When NELPC became the owner, it entered into a long-term agreement with Benchmark Senior Living whereby Benchmark would continue in its role as the day-to-day manager of the operation of the Commons.

Lincoln will earn $1.33 million in property taxes from The Commons (Lincoln’s single largest taxpayer) on an assessed value of $92.8 million in fiscal 2023. In fiscal 2022, the assessed value of its property accounted for about 4% of the town’s total, according to the Assessor’s Office. Laffey said it was still unclear how much more tax money the town could expect from the expansion, though a coUrbanize website devoted to the project says projections show a net benefit for the town of more than $200,000 annually. Despite its not-for-profit status, The Commons will continue to pay property taxes, she added.

Voters must approve both the development plan and the amended North-Lincoln Planned Development District at Town Meeting, but the project also needs a signoff from the Planning Board, the Historic Commission (for demolition of a vacant house on the property), the Conservation Commission (to ensure compliance with wetlands laws), and the MassDEP (for approval of a groundwater discharge permit).

Assuming all the permits are acquired, it’s still unknown at this point when construction might take, how long it will last, or whether it will be done in stages or all at once, Laffey said.

News acorns

Editor’s note: the first three items briefly appeared in News Acorns earlier, but due to a computer glitch, they disappeared from the Squirrel website so we’re posting them again, along with their accompanying calendar entries, which had also disappeared.

IDEA Committee forum

The Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Antiracism (IDEA) Committee will hold a public forum on Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. in the Lincoln School Learning Commons. Learn about the group’s work to date, plans for the coming year, and community engagement opportunities. This is a hybrid meeting, so you may join us in person or online over Zoom (passcode: 638410).

Film: “A Yak in the Classroom”

The Lincoln Library Film Society will show the Oscar-nominated “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” on Thursday, Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. in the library’s Tarbell Room. An aspiring singer living with his grandmother in the capital of Bhutan dreams of getting a visa to move to Australia. Dzongkha and English with subtitles.

Event on making your home greener

“How to Improve the Envelope of your Home,” the first presentation in the Getting to Zero series, will be led by Rachel White CEO of Byggmeister Design/Build, on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. Learn how to make the walls, floors, roof and windows of you house more energy efficient. Click here to register. Other presentations in the series:

  • Upgrading Your Windows (February 28)
  • Go with Solar (March)
  • Getting to Zero: The Historical Home, presented by FoMA (March)
  • Install Heat Pumps (April)

The Getting to Zero series is presented by CFREE, a working group of Lincoln’s Green Energy Committee, to help residents affordably achieve energy-efficient, electrified, comfortable and healthy homes.

Library hosts kids’ events for school vacation week

Dance Party with Denise
Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 10 a.m.
Families will groove to children’s songs, oldies, and a few pop favorites. Best for ages 6 and under, but all kids who like to dance are welcome. Drop in.

The Awesome Robb Magic Show
Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 11 a.m.
The Awesome Robb Show is more than just a magic show; it’s a show that entertains everyone and will have you laughing right from the start. No registration necessary. Best for ages 4 and up but all are welcome.

The Case of the Haunted Hotel: An Escape Room Mystery
Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 5 p.m.
Join us for a fun Haunted Hotel Escape Room. For children ages 10-12. Please note: a caregiver (or older sibling) must attend. Registration required; email sfeather@minlib.net.

Buildwave: A Hands-on STEM Building Game
Thursday, Feb. 23 at 1 p.m.
Buildwave is a high-energy creative building event using over a dozen different building materials. The workshop features animations and music that guide kids through different building waves. Intended for kids in grades 1+. Registration required; email dleopold@minlib.net.

“Fort” Night at the Library
Thursday, Feb. 23 at 6 p.m.
Join us for a fun-filled night of making blanket forts in the library. Make sure to bring your own clean sheets and/or blankets. Pajamas encouraged. Bring a stuffed animal and a flashlight if you like. No registration necessary; All ages welcome.

Movies and Muffins
Friday, Feb. 24 at 10:30 a.m.
Join us to watch short film versions of classic picture books and enjoy muffins and juice. Intended for children ages 2+. No registration required.

For details, visit the Children’s Department web page.

Ash Wednesday at St. Anne’s

Please join the St. Anne’s community for an Ash Wednesday evening service on Wednesday, Feb. 22 from 7–8 p.m. on the threshold to the season of Lent. We welcome everyone from all walks of life and faith. For more information, visit stanneslincoln.org.

21-day challenge on inclusion, diversity, and equity

The Lincoln Public Schools have created a 21-day AIDE Challenge (Antiracism, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity) to deepen our community’s understanding of antiracism, inclusion, diversity and equity. While the challenge is meant for individual work, participation by groups and the whole community is ideal. AIDE recommends that groups meet several times during the 21-days challenge to consider, explore, and connect to what they are learning. WIDE Lincoln can help with general facilitation, targeted help connecting this work to your equity goals, answer questions, and provide guidance for navigating issues that arise within your organizational discussion during the 21 days. It can also help people who are not aligned with an organization for this purpose to join others in meeting. Please fill out this form to request assistance.

MMNHP talk on Concord’s role in the Revolution

The Friends of Minute Man National Park will host their winter lecture, “Minutemen Revisited: Rethinking Concord’s Role in the Revolution: A Conversation with Robert Gross and Friends,” on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. via Zoom. Gross will discuss his revised and expanded edition of The Minutemen and Their World in conversation with Joel Bohy, J.L. Bell, and Jim Hollister. Free; click here to register. The lecture is co-sponsored by the Friends of Minute Man and Minute Man National Historical Park and is also supported in part by a grant from the Concord Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

Scholarship and grant applications now being accepted

The Lincoln Scholarship Committee application is now open. Both merit-based and need-based scholarships and awards are available. The application deadline is March 31. More information on the various scholarships and awards as well as an application can be found on the Lincoln Scholarship Committee website.

The Lincoln Garden Club is offering project grants and its annual Gabrielle Brenninkmeyer Award. Examples of special projects that have received grants in the past include:

  • Hiring an intern to develop a native plant bed in Station Park
  • Providing funds to the town tree warden to plant the next generation of trees along Baker Bridge Road
  • A partnership with the Lincoln Public Library Board of Trustees to care for and propagate the iconic catalpa (“twisted tree”) growing in front of the library

The club has set aside up to $4,500 to fund grant proposals in the 2023-24 fiscal year. Grant applications must be sponsored by a Lincoln Garden Club member; collaboration on the proposal with other community groups is welcomed and encouraged. Click here to apply.

The $500 Brenninkmeyer award supports projects that further the club’s twofold mission of providing community service to the town of Lincoln and giving members the opportunity to enhance and share their knowledge of such garden-related topics as horticulture, design, conservation, and beautification. The award is open to any Lincoln resident or Lincoln Public Schools student. Click here to apply.

Area residents and officials protest Hanscom expansion proposal

The Hanscom Field expansion area is outlined in red. Lincoln’s approximate town border is indicated by the green dashed line.

Local officials and organizations are quickly rallying to fight a proposal that would add about 408,000 square feet of new hangar space and reconfigure a taxiway to accommodate larger aircraft at Hanscom Field.

At a February 6 public forum, the possibility of a “fuel farm” was also mentioned, according to the Bedford Citizen. The online meeting, which drew dozens of residents from area towns hosted by the office of the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), took place just eight days before the public comment period closes.  

The Lincoln Select Board held a special meeting on February 10 to discuss a letter in opposition to the project. Mothers Out Front and the Hanscom Field Advisory Committee (HFAC) have also written letters against the idea, and other Lincoln groups such as the Green Energy Committee and the Planning Board are also expected to weigh in. 

State Sen. Mike Barrett, a key climate activist in the state legislature whose district includes the four Hanscom towns, also spoke out at the MEPA forum, the Bedford Citizen article said. “It is striking that in the middle of our attempt as a state to deal with an existential crisis, Massport is intent on building its private jet business,” he said.

“There is a climate change emergency and every effort must be made to phase out and not expand use of fossil fuels,” the HFAC noted in a letter to MEPA.

Mothers Out Front claimed that paving and construction will lead to more stormwater runoff, fewer carbon-storing plants, and stress to wildlife, wrote. “We believe [the proposal] represents an example of profits over people,” they wrote.

The project’s proponents say that additional hangar space will reduce the need for “ferry flights” to and from full Hanscom hangars to other storage areas, but the idea that “adding 90 football fields worth of space would reduce emissions from aircraft struck me as hard to believe,” said Select Board member Jim Hutchinson at Friday’s meeting.

The draft letter, which will go out early this week, listed 10 specific requests and areas of concern about the project. It asked for more information on current and projected traffic of both aircraft and ground vehicles at Hanscom Field, data on ferry flight frequency, destinations, and emissions; the flight paths, maximum size, and noise profiles of aircraft that an expanded airfield could accommodate; and details on the fuel farm, including the amount of fuel to be stored, the size and number of vehicles that would transport it, and how potential fuel spills will be handled.

The pandemic put a dent in many businesses, but jet operations at Hanscom are actually up by 19% since 2019, Massport noted at an October 20, 2022 meeting (total operations are down by 6% as recreational and pilot training operations continue to decline).

In one sign of the strength of the private jet business at Hanscom, Magellan Jets recently opened a dedicated passenger area in one of the airfield’s buildings. Business travel dropped during Covid-19 but private flights for leisure travel mostly made up for it; the pandemic “really opened everyone’s eyes to what’s available domestically” for private travel, said Anthony Tivnan, president of Magellan, whose fees start at $6,900 per hour for use of one of its eight-passenger planes.

“This is not about military flights that are defending our country, or commercial aviation — this is about private jets getting people to where they want to go,” Select Board member Jennifer Glass said.

“I feel like bigger things were planned that was being addressed at that listening session,” resident Miriam Stason said at the elect board meeting. Hutchinson agreed, saying, “Massport doesn’t usually make these plans without a bigger picture in mind.”

Another worry: larger and more frequent flights may involve planes taking off and landing at Hanscom at night. The fine for doing so is just $400, and it’s not legally possible to increase that amount.

Officials also noted that Hanscom expansion will most directly affect the environmental justice community in north Lincoln, which includes the Battle Road Farm development, where 48 of 120 units are designated as affordable housing.

Massport tried to expand Hanscom back in the mid-2000s, but cooperation among the four towns helped defeat that effort, said Sara Mattes, who was a Board of Selectmen member at the time. “We have to look at what worked and what didn’t work” from that time, she said. “This is just round one of a long trench warfare.”