All events are free unless otherwise noted.

All weekend

Art on the Trails — Scavenger Hunt
Search Lincoln’s trails for nature-themed student art creations. The scavenger hunt starts on Friday and runs until Monday, Feb. 13, with prizes for completion. Sponsored by Lincoln Land Conservation Trust & Lincoln School. Click here for more information.

Community Ice Rink
Pierce Park — open from dawn to dusk

---

Friday, February 3

Winter Shrub & Tree ID Walk
10 a.m.–noon, Codman Estate
Join Conservation Department staff for a winter walk through the woods as we talk about how to identify woody plants. Wear warm clothes and sturdy shoes. Each walk is limited to 15 people; please click here to sign up or email conservation@lincolntown.org.

Enviroscape Tabletop Display
3–4:15 p.m., Conservation Department office, Town Hall
Do you know how pollution affects our drinking water, wetlands, and wildlife? Using the Enviroscape model (a hands-on tabletop display), children and families will discover what happens in Lincoln neighborhoods, construction sites, farms, and roads during and after a rainstorm. 

Unveiling of Historic Adams Sampler
4–5:30 p.m., Town Hall
Get an up-close view of the exquisite handiwork done by 13-year-old Lincolnite Sophia Adams in 1826. The sampler was conserved using Community Preservation Act funds a few years ago, and more recently, the town got more funding to reconfigure a Town Hall display case to archival quality standards. At the unveiling will be the woman who donated the sampler to the town (her husband was related to Sophia), and retired Town Clerk Susan Brooks. Refreshments provided by the Lincoln Historical Society.

LPTO Bingo Night
5:30–7:30 p.m., Lincoln School Dining Commons
Bingo Night is back! Prizes awarded for each winning bingo board and in a raffle. Pizza sales start at 5:30 pm with additional snacks and drinks available for purchase. Free admission; bingo cards are $5 for a 15-game multipack. Suggested donation for raffle tickets: $1 for one, $5 for six, or $10 for 15.

CANCELED DUE TO COLD:
Family Night Hike & Owl Prowl
6:30–8 p.m., Drumlin Farm
Join us for a winter night hike through field and forest. Learn about owl calls, behavior, and habitat as we search and listen for our resident screech, barred, and great horned owls. Online pre-registration required ($17 for members or $21 for non-members).

---

Saturday, February 4

Pancake Breakfast
8–11 a.m., First Parish Church (14 Bedford Rd.)

Enjoy plain, blueberry, chocolate chip, and gluten-free pancakes with pure maple syrup along with coffee, tea, orange juice, and fruit provided by the Lincoln Girl Scouts. There’s also face painting and crafts for kids, and Girl Scout cookies will be on sale. Admission is $5 for children under 12 and $10 for everyone else ($30 family maximum).

MCC Winter Carnival Games
10 a.m.–noon, Smith gym
Come enjoy soft axe throw, Angry Birds Archery, and Frozen Frog Bog hosted by the Lincoln METCO Coordinating Committee. Hot cocoa and cookies provided by the Friends of the Lincoln Library.

CANCELED DUE TO COLD:
Winter Shrub & Tree ID Walk
10 a.m.–noon, Codman Estate
See same event on February 3 for details.

CANCELED DUE TO COLD:
Winter Family Nature Walk
2–2:30 p.m., trails behind Lincoln School
What does winter sound like? How does winter feel? Join Will Leona, Lincoln’s Conservation Ranger, to look for signs of winter like tracks in the snow (or mud), animal homes in trees, and plants that keep their needles all year. The walk is limited to 15 people (children must be accompanied by an adult). Click here to sign up or contact the Conservation Department at conservation@lincolntown.org.

Energy Blaster
3–5 p.m., Brooks Gym
Jump in a bounce house, run through an obstacle course, climb, and slide. A mini bounce house will be available for our youngest bouncers. Enjoy a craft project and some snacks on the sidelines. Free for LincFam members, $10/family for non-members.

Valentines for Teachers
3–5 p.m., Brooks Gym entryway
Create cards to celebrate and thank the teachers and staff at Lincoln Public Schools. Take your card with you to deliver it yourself or leave it with us and we’ll make sure it gets to the right person. Card-making supplies, hot apple cider, and coffee for the grown-ups will be provided. Sponsored by Lincoln School Foundation.

Winter Farmer’s Helpers
3:30–5:00 p.m., Drumlin Farm
* SOLD OUT, but click here for more info and to join the waiting list *

Gropius Glows Open House
4–5:30 p.m., Gropius House (68 Baker Bridge Rd.)
See how Walter Gropius’s innovative lighting scheme comes to life at night. Gropius, founder of the German design school the Bauhaus, was one of the most influential architects of the twentieth century. Uniting art, nature, and technology, his 1938 family home showcases the clean lines of Modernist design and glows with inspiration in the evening.

Acoustic Coffee House
7–10:30 p.m., Bemis Hall
* SOLD OUT * (sponsored by the Lincoln Recreation Department)

---

Sunday, Feb. 5

Story Time & Outdoor Play
10–11:30 a.m., Lincoln Nursery School/deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum
Join us for stories followed by outdoor play and hot chocolate.

Family Life in Lincoln at the Time of the Revolution
Noon–2 p.m., Bemis Hall
What was life like for parents and children in 18th-century Lincoln? Hear the Lincoln Minute Men to talk about life in Lincoln of 1775 and try your hand at the tasks, skills, and amusements of life in that time with hands-on activities for the entire family.

Mr. Vinny’s Shadow Puppet Show
2–3 p.m., Lincoln Public Library
In Mr. Vinny’s interactive shadow puppet show, kids help tell the story of “The Three L’il Pigs and the Big Bad Pineapple” and play “What’s That Shadow?” Best for ages 3-9 but all ages welcome.

Joyful Voices Gospel Choir Concert
3–4:15 p.m., Donaldson Auditorium
Featuring a repertoire of stirring gospel music interspersed with stories about its origins and history as a uniquely American art form, this all-ages concert is a wonderful way to begin our celebration of Black History Month. Come and lend your own voices to the harmony! Sponsored by the Bemis Free Lecture Series.

Valentine Love Songs & Dessert
3–5 p.m., Pierce House
The Lincoln Garden Club invites Lincoln neighbors to come in out of the cold and cozy up with a warm drink, sweet treat, and some romantic music. Music by Peter Stewart on piano.

(Editor’s note: This piece was originally submitted to the Lincoln Squirrel as a comment under the January 19 story headlined “L-S superintendent search process stirs controversy” and is being reprinted here for greater visibility. Lincoln resident Harold Engstrom is a member of the L-S  School Committee.)

By Harold Engstrom

Thank you for sharing this view of the L-S screening committee selection process. 

Firstly, the most important thing we are working toward is finding the best possible person to lead Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School as superintendent. That should be obvious, but it can’t hurt to put this out front.

Secondly, the characterization of the makeup of and selection process for the screening committee as “unusual” is not accurate: in open and televised meeting, we asked the head of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, who is also the consultant unanimously chosen by the LSRHS school committee to advise and execute our process, if there was a standard make up and selection process for a screening committee. The answer was no — each committee chooses to do it differently.

LSRHS is under pressure to move quickly to find candidates and screen them. Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) began their process months prior to LSRHS — the decision to definitively begin our process started on Oct. 11, 2022. We decided, in open meeting to have our screening committee be 11 people: one delegate from SPS, one from LPS, two faculty members chosen by the faculty, the L-S special education and METCO administrators, the three subcommittee members, and two committed members with experience from the community. This was transparently discussed. [L-S School Committee members] Ms. Miller and Ms. Endyke-Doren wanted to select alternates in executive session, away from public view, as is their right to suggest. This was voted down by the overall committee.

Secondly, it should be noted that the screening committee is comprised of examples of the best in Lincoln and Sudbury: people who have served their school systems and are fully invested in improving them for the sake of their neighbors, families, and all the students and staff who make up the L-S community. 

I am proud of the transparency and professionalism that MASC, our subcommittee chairperson Kevin Matthews, and the LSRHS school committee in general have exhibited in this process to date. We should all support LSRHS and its elected school committee as we work to land the school’s next leader.

---

“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.

By Krystal Wood

At the Special Town Meeting (STM) on November 30, 2022, the residents of Lincoln approved the following motion:

“That the town vote to transfer the sum of $325,000 from the town’s Stabilization Fund for the purpose of hiring relevant consultant support services, to potentially include project management, design, engineering and other technical reviews to assist the Community Center Building Committee in developing a range of community center design choices and budgets, including options not to exceed 75%, and 50% of the current project estimated cost of $25 million for the Hartwell complex, supplemented or not with existing available town space, with the intention of presenting said choices at a fall 2023 Special Town Meeting for a vote on a preferred option; and provided further, that it is anticipated that the preferred option selected by the Town will be presented for a funding vote in March 2025.”

In the January 23 article headlined “Rep. Gentile meets and greets Lincoln residents,” Carmine Gentile’s legislative aide Ravi Simon was incorrectly identified as a Lincoln resident. He is n fact a Sudbury resident and a candidate for the Lincoln-Sudbury School Committee. The original article has been corrected.