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

Lincoln Post Office struggles with not enough staff

The Lincoln Post Office has had to close for periods of time during the day due to lack of staff, and it’s unclear when the problem will be resolved.

“We’re just so short-staffed,” said Lincoln Postmaster Gerald Dichiara, who started his position in Lincoln about two months ago. The South Lincoln location is supposed to have two full-time clerks, a part-time clerk, five mail carriers, and three assistants to cover absences. Right now, however, there’s only full-time clerk Liz Kenney and one assistant, and one of the mail carriers is retiring soon, he said. Sometimes he works the window himself, but when he can’t, he has to post a hand-written notice on the post office doors informing customers that the office is temporarily closed.

Dichiara works with post offices in Concord and Acton to move staff around as needed, juggling days off and lunch breaks. Complicating the matter is that the post office must remain open for passport appointments. There are usually about half a dozen total on weekdays, but on Saturday mornings, “we’re swamped with them,” he said.

Changing the post office’s official operating hours (for example, by closing for lunch every day)  is apparently not possible either. “There’s nothing I can do about changing the hours on the window. You have to go through a chain of command to have that done,” Dichiara said.

Lincoln is not alone; many post offices all over the country are short-handed due to Covid-19, staff turnover and other issues. Dichiara said that Lincoln just went through two rounds of advertising positions internally and had no applicants. Three other external candidates were offered jobs, but two never showed up for orientation and one didn’t pass a background check.

Lincolnite sees her refurbished car go to a young war veteran

>(Editor’s note: This account was posted on the LincolnTalk listserv on June 15 and is reprinted with permission, though she asked that we not use her name.)

The Lincoln resident (right) who donated her car to Second Chance Cars with Marine veteran John Thomas, who was the recipient after voc-tech students fixed up the vehicle.

“In January I donated my 2006 Subaru Forester to Second Chance Cars, a Concord nonprofit organization that matches car donations with in-need recipients who are looking for cars to be able to get to work.

“After my donated car was checked out by a second chance mechanic, it traveled to Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational School in Wakefield, where the mechanics class instructor and students thoroughly went over the car, looking for anything to fix or adjust. Then it went to the body shop students who spent months learning how to fix and paint the many dents I had put on it over the 15 years I owned it.

“I’m happy to report that last Friday I attended the car award ceremony for my vehicle and got to meet the person who received my car — a young Marine veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan who was spending a grueling four hours a day using public transportation to get to and from his job on a fishing boat in Gloucester. Now he will be able to get there on his own in just over an hour.”

Second Chance Cars made a short video introducing the teachers and students who worked on the car, as well as a visibly moved John Thomas (the ex-marine) and the car donor, who revealed that she came from a long line of Detroit auto workers. She added that she’s a big fan of vocational schools (“I would have loved to have done this!”) and was happy her car could go to a “real person” who needed it. “I like to recycle and I think there’s no reason you should sell a car for parts,” she said.

Students then pulled the cover off the car to reveal a like-new vehicle with all the dents removed. “I want it back!” the donor joked.

Police log for June 6–12, 2022

June 6

Bedford Road (8:23 am.) — A caller asked officers check a sign that was posted at the five-way intersection in Lincoln Center. Officers checked the area and discovered no issues with the posted signs.

Goose Pond Road (2:25 p.m.) — An attempt was made to serve court paperwork.

Laurel Drive (4:24 p.m.) — A resident wanted to speak to an officer regarding a possible scam.

Goose Pond Road (5:27 p.m.) — Service of court paperwork was made.

Care Dimensions Hospice House (10:25 p.m.) — Caller reported loud noises, believed to be gunshots. It was later confirmed to be fireworks set off in the Winter Street area.

June 7

Lexington Road (10:25 a.m.) — Officers assisted with a civil matter.

Bedford Road (4:33 p.m.) — Minor motor vehicle crash (no injuries).

Wells Road (8:09 p.m.) — Officers were called to Wells Road to assist two residents.

June 8

Autumn Lane (11:20 a.m.) — A caller reported two unknown vehicles on Autumn Lane. The vehicles were gone when officers arrived.

Weston Road (4:11 p.m.) — A caller registered a complaint about vehicles parking on both sides of Weston Road in the area of the Pierce House.

Minuteman NHP Visitor Center (6:30 p.m.) — A caller wanted to speak to an officer regarding a past incident.

June 9

Wells Road (9:15 p.m.) — A well-being check was requested. Lincoln police officers were responding to a separate incident so Concord police handled. Everyone was fine.

June 10

Long Meadow Road (10:39 a.m.) — An officer was asked to perform a motor vehicle VIN verification.

Wells Road (1:37 p.m.) — Officers responded at the request of Concord District Court.

Weston Road (8:50 a.m.) — A caller reported excessive noise coming from the Pierce House. An officer responded and found the noise levels were suitable at that time.

Silver Hill Road (9:58 p.m.) — A caller reported that a family member was overdue. Officers were able to make contact with the family member and confirmed that they were OK.

June 11

Route 2 Gas (2:31 a.m.) — Officer checked on a vehicle that was parked at Tracey’s gas station. The motorist continued on their way a short time later.

Sandy Pond Road (2:08 p.m.) — A caller reported several people fishing at Flint’s Pond. Officers responded but were unable to locate anyone fishing.

Weston Road (5:38 p.m.) — A resident reported a possible scam.

South Great Road (8:29 p.m.) — Police and fire personnel handled a one-vehicle rollover crash was reported. The road was closed for approximately tow hours until the vehicle could be removed. Click here for details.

June 12

Concord Road (9:55 p.m.) — Items were discarded on the side of the road. The DPW was contacted to remove them.

Treble Cove Road, Billerica (11:12 a.m.) — A prisoner was transported from the Lincoln Police Department to the Middlesex House of Correction.

Trapelo Road (4:44 p.m.) — Police received a report of several people fishing in the Cambridge Reservoir. Police made contact with the individuals and advised them it was not allowed.

St. Vincent de Paul scholarship opportunity for Lincoln residents

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) of Lincoln and Weston is pleased to announce a scholarship opportunity for Lincoln residents in need and for all our food pantry clients. The scholarships are intended for highly motivated adults who would like to take courses or attend job training to improve their earning capability but cannot afford to do so. They are not intended for young adults heading to college for the first time, nor are they normally awarded for master’s-level work and above.

Scholarships of up to $2,000 are awarded on a rolling basis. The goal of this program is to encourage neighbors to imagine a better future and to work towards making lasting changes and gaining financial stability.

SVdP is grateful for the ongoing support of the trustees of Ogden Codman Trust who are going to fund scholarships for the next three years. They have also awarded grants for financial emergency assistance and a matching grant for the recent SVdP spring concert fundraiser.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Lincoln and Weston provides financial emergency assistance and scholarships to financially disadvantaged neighbors and operates a food pantry in Lincoln. To apply for a scholarship or inquire about other programs, email SVdPLincolnWeston@gmail.com, call the St. Julia Parish office at 781-899-2611 ext. 4, or visit www.svdplincolnweston.org.

News acorns

Lincoln co-ed summer softball returns

A scene from a Lincoln Co-Ed Softball League game.

Sign up to play softball with the Lincoln Co-Ed Softball League, a “mildly competitive” league dedicated to recreation, sportsmanship, gender equality, and community for players of all skill levels. Registration is $50. Each team will play one or two games per week (games are on Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays). Click here for more information and photos of the 2016 season and Lincoln baseball teams from the past, and click here to register.

Farrington Nature Linc fundraiser gala

Farrington Nature Linc invites everyone to their adults-only outdoor summer fundraiser with dinner, drinks, live music, and an auction of outdoor adventures on Saturday, June 25 at 6:30 p.m. All funds raised from this event will go toward FNL’s summer youth programs. Purchase individual tickets ($100), tables of four ($350), or tables of 10 ($900). Individual ticket-holders may be seated with others to make a table of four. Click here for details and to buy tickets.

Six summer performances at deCordova

The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum has announced its 2022 Summer Performance Series that invites viewers to explore ideas of kinship, connection, and ancestry through the performing arts. These themes are also explored by exhibiting visual artists in The New England Triennial and Melvin Edwards: Brighter Days. Each event offers different experiences of cultures, traditions, and familial connections. Some events are in the Dewey Family Hall while others are on Linda’s Lawn. Concerts are on Thursdays at 6 p.m. on June 23; July 7, 14, and 28;  August 18; and September 8. Click here for more information and to to buy tickets ($28 or $35 for adults, $12 or $15 for children.

Rollover accident sends two to hospital

Lincoln firefighters used the jaws of life to free a trapped driver and passenger from a crashed car on Route 117 just east of Farrar Pond on June 11.

The car rolled over and wound up on its side, so firefighters stabilized it with supporting struts and then gained initial access to the people inside through the trunk. They covered the driver with a blanket to protect them from debris while they cut out the windshield, then extricated them and took them by ambulance to Lahey Clinic. The passenger (who had been under the driver) was still trapped, so firefighters again used the jaws of life to open the car’s roof. The patient was then slid out with the help of a backboard and sheet and also taken to Lahey Clinic.

Fire Chief Brian Young said on Tuesday that the accident victims were a man and woman in their 50s or 60s, though he didn’t know their town of residence. Both were conscious when they were extricated but had neck and back injuries. He added that in some cases, posts at the side of the road that are intended to keep cars from flying into the pond or the woods can get bent from the initial impact and act as a ramp, causing the car to roll over.

Photos courtesy of the Lincoln Fire Department’s Facebook page.

accident1
accident4
accident3
accident5

Water bill discounts available for some residents

The Board of Water Commissioners, in partnership with the Council on Aging & Human Services, has instituted a new water fee waiver program beginning on July 1. Any Lincoln homeowner who meets certain following criteria will be given an annual 100% water base rate waiver or reimbursement. This benefit applies to condo owners even if the water bill is included in the condo fee.

To qualify, the water bill must be for a property that is owner occupied and the owner’s primary residence, and not an irrigation account or in the range of Tier 3 usage (more than 40,000 gallons per quarter.) The homeowner must also be receiving a senior circuit-breaker tax credit on state income taxes, or any one of the following town-administered property tax exemptions:

  • Veteran (Exemptions 22, 22A, 22B, 22C, 22D, 22E, 8A)
  • Blind (Exemption 37A)
  • Elderly (Exemption 17E) — income limit: none; asset limit: $45,183 for a household of two (HH2)
  • Elderly (Exemption 41D) — income limit: $35,050 for HH2; asset limit: $64,256 for HH2
  • Community Preservation Act Exemption — income limit: $112,160 for HH2 aged 60+ or $89,728 for HH2 under aged 60; asset limit: none

For more information or to receive this waiver/reimbursement, contact Abigail at the COA&HS (781-259-8811, butta@lincolntown.org). Residents who qualify do not need to file an application or complete additional paperwork to receive the benefit. The Assessor’s Department will share when an address receives a qualifying property tax exemption.

Residents receiving the senior circuit breaker tax credit or those who believe they qualify for the Community Preservation Act Exemption should contact Abigail. Once eligibility is confirmed, the COA&HS will contact the Water Department directly and the waiver will be applied to the resident’s account.

Robert Lemire, 1933–2022

Robert Lemire

By Elise Lemire

Robert Arthur Lemire, a long-time resident of Lincoln, died on June 8, 2022 at The Commons in Lincoln after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 89.

Bob was born in Lowell, Mass., on January 19, 1933, the third child of Emile and Blanche (Bisaillon) Lemire. Upon graduating from St. Jeanne d’Arc School, where classes were conducted in English and French, he received permission from Cardinal Cushing to attend Lowell High School. He graduated in 1950 as a member of the varsity track and field and football teams and was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus in 2015.

Bob continued to play football at Yale University, from which he graduated with a degree in economics in 1954, before serving two years in the Navy as a junior officer on the heavy cruiser, U.S.S. Baltimore. After receiving an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1958, Bob wrote case studies for a Boston consulting firm and then worked in corporate underwriting at Paine, Webber, Jackson & Curtis, during which period he and Howard Reynolds had a nightly radio show called Spotlight on Business. In the mid-1970s, Bob started and for decades ran his own one-man investment advisory firm, Lemire and Co. During these early career years, Bob was an avid rugby player and in 1960, he was one of the founders of the Boston Rugby Club, for which he was inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame in 2010.

Bob was a committed environmentalist. He joined the Lincoln Conservation Commission in 1963, becoming the chair three years later and serving in that role for fifteen years, during which time the town put 1,400 acres into permanent conservation. He traveled the country teaching other communities how to cluster new development and thereby save open space and taught these principles at the Rhode Island School of Design, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and the Conway School of Landscape Design.

In 1972, the Massachusetts Audubon Society awarded Bob its Action Award. Gov. Michael Dukakis appointed him to the Massachusetts Agricultural Preservation Commission and to the Citizens Water Supply Committee, for which Bob served several years as a member of the executive committee. Bob was also a consultant for the Nature Conservancy, the Conservation Foundation, and other national organizations. He is the author of Creative Land Development: Bridge to the Future (Houghton Mifflin, 1979).

In 1984, after watching his dyslexic son struggle to learn to read, Bob created Lexia Learning, a company that pioneered the use of computers to teach literacy skills. Today the company serves more than 5.5 million students across more than 3,300 school districts.

Bob was predeceased by his sister Gabrielle Marie (Lemire) Jussaume and his brother John (“Jack”) Emile Lemire. He leaves behind his beloved wife of 61 years, Virginia (Bock) Lemire; his daughter, Elise Lemire and her husband, James T. Taylor II of Port Chester, N.Y.; his son, Robert “Bo” Lemire and his wife Melissa (Strong) Lemire of Castle Rock, Colo.; and three grandchildren, Eli James Taylor-Lemire, Zachary Burk Lemire, and Sophia Grace Lemire.

Bob will be fondly remembered for his leadership skills, sense of humor (with jokes on hand in both French and English), love of fishing, camping, and hiking, and for his enthusiasm for his wife’s homemade cookies.

There will be a memorial service at a later date. In lieu of flowers, a donation to the International Dyslexia Association would be appreciated.

News acorns

Learn about going solar at home

Have you thought of putting solar panels on your roof? Do you want to save on electricity? Ready to capture the 26% federal tax credit for solar? Come to Lincoln Green Energy’s solar presentation on Tuesday, June 21 at noon via Zoom. Presenters will discuss topics including solar system net metering, state and federal incentives, battery storage backup, and MassSave’s ConnectedSolutions program. Great Sky Solar will also be on hand to answer questions. Click here to preregister and get the Zoom link.

Music of the civil rights movement

The Council on Aging & Human Services presents “The Music of the Civil Rights Movement” on Friday, June 24 at 1 p.m. in Bemis Hall. The travelogue featuring musical historian and lecturer John Clark’s Great American Musical Experience focuses on the music of the movement during the 1950s and 1960s.

Buy bouquets to benefit SVdP in June

Stop & Shop of Wayland has selected the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Lincoln and Weston to be the benefactor of its Bloomin’4 Good Program. This program works to provide meals through the sale of floral bouquets. During the month of June, each time a shopper purchases a $10.99 Bloomin’ 4 Good bouquet with the red circle sticker at the Wayland Stop & Shop, SVdP of Lincoln and Weston will receive a $1 donation for the Lincoln Food Pantry.

 

My Turn: SVdP concert fundraiser was a success

To the editor:

The “Gather on the Grass for Music” al fresco SVdP spring concert fundraiser was a huge success! It is with much gratitude that the Society of St. Vincent de Paul thanks our local sponsors for providing the raffle gifts and supporting the communities of Lincoln and Weston. We thank all who supported this fundraising event either with a contribution or with your warm applause from the audience. SVdP could not continue this important work with you!

Sincerely,

Karen Salvucci
President, Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Lincoln and Weston

“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.