Henry David Abraham, M.D.

By Henry David Abraham, M.D. | If your son or daughter is among the lucky 43% of high school seniors choosing a college this spring, your teen is on the edge of one of life’s more important decisions. There are the usual suspects to consider: location, size, faculty, strengths of various departments. But for some kids it’s which school has the best parties. This may sound wacky, but the quality of social life offered by a college can make or break the deal. Some kids a hot party school over a great education. But any parent who is willing to shell out $50,000 a year for a party school is either clueless, or must want to get that kid out of the house really badly.

Google “party school” and you will get 13.7 million hits. This degree of Internet interest in party schools rivals the number of hits for motherhood (14.6 million), ahead of apple pie (6 million) and chocolate chip cookies (5.6 million), though roughly equal to alcohol abuse (12 million hits). The esteemed Princeton Review publishes a list of party schools. So does Playboy magazine. Party schools tend to be big universities with great football teams, lots of fraternities, and locations near ski slopes or beaches.

Beer companies, which market heavily to the college crowd, like party schools. The campaign of linking spectator sports to beer is a marketing coup d’état. Campuses are not excluded. A number of college sites are proud to say, “Win or lose, we booze.” Ironically, some kids may actually need to go to one, the athlete in financial need, for example, or the kid who needs the security blanket of a fraternity or sorority. A regular octane school may also be right for the kid who is not ready for a place where the main school sport is high octane academics.

There can be an unexpected cost to the party school. Playboy advises that you can tell you’ve gone to one when you tell someone you went there, and the first thing they ask is, “Did you graduate?” Dropping out is one risk. There are more. The Imperial Wizards of research on college alcohol use are Henry Wechsler at the Harvard School of Public Health and Ralph Hingson at Boston University. Over the last two decades their teams have mounted a breathtaking series of studies of college drinking spanning 50,000 students and 120 colleges. Here is what they found.

Two million students a year are likely to drive under the influence. About 25 percent of college students report academic consequences of their drinking, including missing class, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall. More than 150,000 students a year develop an alcohol-related health problem, while about one in a hundred say they tried to kill themselves while drinking or drugging. A half million kids will be injured due to alcohol, and 600,000 will be assaulted by a college drinker. More than 97,000 will be victims of sexual assault. 1,700 will die from alcohol related accidents.

Too much of a downer? Let’s get the party animals’ take on college drinking. One of my favorites is a site on the ‘net that tells you how to throw a keg party (http://www.wikihow.com/Throw-a-Keg-Party). There is advice on trying to hide the party from the police, preventing theft and damage using padlocks, keeping a Taser handy for the rowdy, and not allowing any celebrants onto the roof, since , falling is “the #1 cause of alcohol related party deaths.” Sounds like fun to me. Pro or con, it may be handy to know a party school when you see one. Here’s what you can do.

No. 1: Visit the place. If your student guide winks and tells you he drove a beer truck for a job that summer, be grateful. He’s telling you something important. This guy is considered representative of the student body by the college administration. Friday is a good day to visit. If the college parties on Thursday nights, it means that partying has spread from the usual Friday-Saturday bashes and invaded prime time. Look around campus for telltale signs of the prior night’s activities- bottles, cans, kegs, puke, and that lingering beery smell of unbridled youth whose campus administration holds its nose and looks the other way.

No. 2: Do a fraternity count. Include sororities and ones off campus. Then calculate a fraternity to student ratio for each of the schools you’re looking at. A highly ranked party school, according to the Princeton Review, is the University of Florida in Gainesville. It has 46,000 students and 62 fraternities. Then there’s Haverford College in Pennsylvania, with 1,168 students and no fraternities. Haverford is not a party school. (It is also not easy to get into, as I can attest from personal experience.)

No. 3: Look for a national collegiate champion of Something Big. This means Div. 1 schools. Football is the biggie, but basketball counts. Any school that has more graduates playing in the NFL than it has Nobel laureates or great novelists on its faculty should raise a blip on your radar. Also, any school that gives its players cars, pays its coaches a multiple of what it pays its professors, or has a stadium that seats more than 75,000 people is in the entertainment business, not the business of education.

If you toss the Princeton Review of party schools, what‘s left? I asked Robert Putnam, who spent his career teaching at Harvard, how he’d choose a college. Not everyone goes to Harvard, or to college, for that matter. His idea is a shoe that fits a lot of feet taking the next step after high school. If it’s college, forget making a choice based on location, size, endowment and the like. What matter the most are the personal qualities that each kid brings to the campus. The best education comes from swimming in a sea of curious, creative students who are tickled to death to be there. The passions of roommates, brothers, sisters, and team mates are infectious. They teach lessons for a lifetime. It makes sense to choose wisely.

Dr. Henry David Abraham is a psychiatrist in Lexington MA. He has held teaching positions at Brown, Harvard and Tufts Universities, and has treated patients and their families since 1974. In 1985 he shared in the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with Physicians for Social Responsibility and the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. He is the author of “What’s a Parent to Do? Straight Talk on Drugs and Alcohol,” New Horizon Press. Dr. Abraham is writing a book for teens, “The No BS Book on Drugs and Alcohol.”

Dani Fleming

By Dani Fleming  |

Frequently I get asked the question “How’s the Market?”. It’s a valid question be-cause, for most people, the most expensive asset they own is their home, or it’s the most expensive purchase they plan to make. So, it’s important to have a good understanding of the market dynamics at any point in time. Having an extensive back-ground in the Information Technology field, my approach to real estate is a ‘Data Driven’ one.

There are many pieces of information you can use to evaluate the health of the market. Key pieces of information to know are:

1. Inventory Levels

2. Trends in Average Sale prices over time

3. Absorption rates

4. Sales distributions.

There are others also, but these four topics will be covered in this and a future issue.

Inventory Levels

The graph shows the movement of inventory (homes on the market) over the last 6 years in Lexington. This graph can tell you many things. Note the seasonality reflected in the graph – in Jan 2011 inventory levels were very low, and as the spring market got underway inventory levels began increasing as more homeowners put their home on the market to sell. In May 2011, the number of homes on the market peaked and then began dropping as fewer sellers decided to sell and started thinking about their summer plans instead, yet buyers remained very active. The net result of fewer homes coming on the market, yet buyer activity continuing, is a reduction of homes available for sale. In July and August inventory levels hovered below the peaks of spring and autumn with occasional homes coming on the market and occasional purchases occurring. But, most buying and selling activity slows down during the summer months, increasing again in autumn when sellers and buyers again think about moving. The autumn market is shorter than spring, starting around September and finishing by Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving many home sellers take their homes off the market for winter because of reduced buyer activity and this also means that they can bring their homes back on the market again in spring, fresh to the market. You can see the repeat of this scenario year after year, indicating a balanced cycle. In spring of 2009 we had very high peaks of inventory, but with subsequent lower peaks in the following years.

Seasonality in an inventory level graph indicates a ‘healthy’ market. When you are in an area with lots of foreclosures, short sales and oversupply of homes you don’t see seasonality of this type because the seasonal trends are ‘hidden’ amongst the clutter of the oversupply.

Reducing peaks of inventory levels also indicate a ‘healthy’ market. Declining inventory levels are an indicator of increasing prices – with the caveat that there are many indicators of what is happening with the market and you cannot review one in isolation; you have to review them all too truly understand what is happening.

Absorption Rates

Absorption rates tell us a huge amount of information about the current real estate market in a town. Using the sales data for the last 12 months, at any given price range, you can derive a rate of sales per month. The absorption rate calculates how many months it will take to sell the current inventory, assuming no more houses come on the market, at the same rate of sales that occurred in the prior 12 months. In other words, how many months will it take to sell what we have on the market? We generally say that any price range that has over 7 months supply has an ‘oversupply’ situation. Any price range under 7 months is in a balanced, ‘healthy’ state, and where we have less than 3 months supply we are in a ‘greater demand than supply’ situation. Note though that these figures change monthly. In winter when there is very little inventory on the market you tend to have ‘better’ absorption rates than in the peak of spring where a lot of homes have entered the market.

Reviewing Lexington’s absorption rates we can see that in every price range we are in a ‘healthy’ state of supply and demand. We don’t have any price ranges where we have over 7 months supply and in fact have many price ranges where we have less than 3 months supply. This supports what we are seeing ‘on the ground’ where we have very little inventory for all the buyers who are looking to move into, or within, Lexington. If you would like to discuss these statistics or review more, then please go to www.MAPropertisOn-line.com or call/email me at dani.flemig@MAProper-tiesOnlie.com or (617) 997 9145.

Armored Forces Supplement Colonial Firepower at Rehearsal for Patriots Day 2012  |

Bill Mix and Tom Fortmann inflate the “tank.” Photo courtesy of Marilyn & Rick Beyer.

It was a covert operation employing a time-honored military tactic, the element of surprise. On the Lexington Green on Sunday, Lexington Militia Capt. Bill Mix gave orders to Lexington militia man Bruce Leader, and Andrew Coots of Gardner’s Charleston Militia to commandeer two inflatable rubber Sherman tanks in order to startle and befuddle His Majesty’s 10th Regiment of Foot as a practice battle ensued on Lexington Green on Sunday – April 1st. Just as the King’s Troops Commander, Paul O’Shaughnessy blustered and bellowed for the rabble from Lexington to “Lay down your arms and disperse!” the unified local forces shouted a unison rejoinder, “Oh, yeah?”

Tom Fortmann, Rick Beyer, the two militiamen, plus late recruits in the persons of Rita & Mike Cramer, David Brossi and Michelle Berniere & sons Ben, Jeremy, Christian Berniere charged onto the Green bearing the faux armored vehicles, causing the staunch Redcoats to bust a gut and sending O’Shaughnessy into fits of laughter. Upon recovering his wits, the Redcoat leader barked, “Fix bayonets!” and ordered a unit to charge, threatening to poke holes in the balloon-like weaponry and thus taking the wind out of the brazen bearers of the buoyant battlefield prank tanks. Mix ordered a hasty retreat and the rehearsal proceeded in earnest, with the usual annual outcome at the expense of the Lexington Militia.

Battle Ready...Mix and Bruce Leader inspect the equipment. Photo courtesy of Marilyn & Rick Beyer.

Just about a month ago, after a committee including Fortmann and other Lexingtonians mounted a fund-raiser for local filmmaker Rick Beyer’s WWII documentary The Ghost Army, Fortmann had a bright idea. Goofy, yes, but bright, as is the wont of the MIT PhD engineer turned educator and former member of the Massachusetts Board of Education. Why not use the inflatable fake tanks from The Ghost Army event to put one over on the Redcoats during the April 1 re-enactment rehearsal? He called up the commander of the Lexington Minutemen, Mix, who portrays Captain John Parker on Patriots Day. The two cooked up the plan.

Redcoats charge, tanks retreat. Photo by Peter Lund.

About an hour before the practice battle, Fortmann and friends inflated the phony tanks and hauled them onto the lawn across the street from the Green. On cue, the crew hoisted the bright green dummies onto the field. Afterwards, the pranksters admitted that – even though the rubber tanks were filled with air – dragging them the 100 yards to the battle line was hard work. Fooling the Redcoats, however, was well worth it. Beyer noted, “The look on O’Shaughnessy’s face was priceless! I have no idea what he said, though, because he was laughing so hard.”

While the battle is a somber chapter of early American history, and, indeed, the yearly Patriots Day re-enactment honors that revered history, the early-April practice sessions frequently include such tomfoolery.

Enjoy preschool oriented games, prizes, face painting, a bounce house, crafts, and a BBQ lunch. Returning after two successful years will be the visiting petting zoo with a variety of baby animals to cuddle and pet. Participate in the raffles which feature child-themed baskets put together by the classrooms and gift certificates from local businesses.  

The Yellow Balloon Fair is important to Community Nursery School as both a community event and a fundraiser for the school. As a cooperative, parent participation is a core value of the school. Nothing symbolizes this better than when the entire school community comes together for the Yellow Balloon Fair. Liz O’Neil says, “The fair promotes a sense of working together and gives us a chance as a community to celebrate what CNS is truly about.” 

As with previous years, CNS relies on help from local high school students and businesses. Fair co-chair Theresa Sain says, “We couldn’t do this event without the help of our community. While this event is mostly run by CNS parents, it’s a great time for us to reach out to the entire Lexington community to come together for a fun day.” Volunteering at this event counts towards the Lexington High School community service hours that all students need to graduate. If you are interested in helping out with the fair, please email Renae Nichols at YBFCNS@gmail.com. Many of the fair raffle items are donated by local stores and businesses. Businesses that are interested in donating can contact Yellow Balloon co-chair Annie Roy at YBFCNS@gmail.com.

First Parish Unitarian Universalist

7 Harrington Rd., Lexington

Sunday, May 6 | 3PM

Harvard-Epworth Church

555 Mass. Ave., Cambridge.

$15, $12 students

and seniors

The Halalisa Singers celebrate spring with an international celebration of the joys of singing in “Lift Up Your Voice.

The concert’s title comes from Brian Tate’s “Life Up Your Voice!,” written in a gospel style. Featuring inspirational, energetic group singing and soaring soloists, the song speaks to the power of making a joyful noise. Another example is the South African “Bambelela (Never Give Up),” a traditional piece expressing courage and perseverance in the face of tragedy.

After many more wonderful pieces drawn from international and spiritual traditions, the concert concludes with the Kenyan “Wana Baraka,” which starts slowly and builds into an ecstatic wall of sound, proclaiming the blessings of life and song.

Pianist Valerie Ross and percussionist Bertram Lehmann will accompany the singers. For more information call 781-862-6353 or visit www.halalisa.org

The Halalisa Singers are now in their eighteenth year offering performances in the Boston area. Formed in 1993, this Lexington-based vocal ensemble is the greater Boston area’s premier world music ensemble.  A diverse group of men and women, The Halalisa Singers are inspired by the belief that music is a universal language with the power to uplift and unite us all.

Saturday, May 5

11AM – Walk

11:30AM – 5K Run

Lexington

Visitor Center

“The Cure Is Coming” event will feature a four-mile ALS awareness walk and wheelchair ride through Lexington Center, as well as a 5k road race. Organizers hope for a record 700 walkers, runners and riders raising money and awareness of ALS TDI efforts to develop effective treatments for ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Walkers begin a four mile loop at 11:00 a.m. and the 5k begins at 11:30. The event also features family activities, entertainment and lunch, provided courtesy of local Lexington restaurants.

Top 5K finishers will be awarded medals in different age groups, with cash prizes to the top three male and female finishers. Additional prizes will also be awarded to top fundraisers.

Gabrielle Nahr, event chair volunteer for the sixth year said, “We are excited and humbled to see the success of ‘The Cure is Coming’ both in participation and donations. Having seen this event grow year after year gives me hope that we’re encouraging and funding more research so we can one day end ALS.” A native of Lexington, Nahr’s mother passed away from ALS.

Anyone interested in donating, walking, racing or volunteering should visit the event’s website at www.cureiscoming.org or call 617-441-7200.

About ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease. There is no known cause, cure or effective treatment for the disease.

Today, a traffic violation is a civil violation and the non payment of a ticket will adversely impact your driver’s license or registration. Decriminalization of traffic laws did not give motorists the privilege to violate traffic regulations and endanger public safety. Speeding and driving through red lights is still unlawful. Possession of less than one ounce of marijuana was decriminalized in Massachusetts in 2008. I often overhear people talking about “legally” possessing marijuana.

In one police report, a parent told officers that her16-year old son told her it was legal to possess marijuana in Massachusetts. It is troubling to me how many youths and adults do not understand the meaning of decriminalization.

The possession and use of marijuana is unlawful. Smoking marijuana is a health hazard. Most users have no idea where or how their marijuana was grown and contamination of product is common; some dealers add other drugs to their product. Tobacco companies were not the only ones who understood that a more potent smoke could promote an addiction.

A 2007 survey by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that drug use (as reported by the motorists) was as high as 16%; see the NHTSA web-site for more information. Surveys from around the nation tend to show that marijuana continues to be the gateway drug that many youths take before going on to use more serious drugs.

School Resource Officer Matthew Murphy is noticing a trend whereby students, new from the middle schools, seem more inclined to try marijuana than their older siblings. They cite the change in the law for their inclination to try marijuana. In our region, one ounce of marijuana can cost over $400 for 42 to 56 joints (using .75 to .50 ounce per joint).

Whereas distributing marijuana is still a criminal offense; the decriminalization of possession has made it more difficult to prevent a very lucrative business of selling smaller amounts of marijuana. Dealers are meticulously aware of the amount they should possess to avoid criminal possession. I could discuss at length the failure of the current drug laws, or cite many more examples of the hazards of marijuana use.

With the limited exception of a few who benefit from medical marijuana, I will simply say that the possession of marijuana is unlawful and smoking is unhealthy.

Hank at Work

By Hank Manz  |  It has been a bit cold lately, but even with that I decided to head down to Ranc’s for some ice cream. I am a vanilla person most of the time, but about a year ago my horizons were enlarged when Joe handed me one of his new concoctions. With that memory in mind, this time I decided to go absolutely wild with the pineapple ice cream. First rate!

But then I realized that the whole frozen dessert thing seemed to be getting out of hand in Lexington. In the Center alone there is Candy Castle, Ranc’s, and Baskin-Robbins, along with the just-opened Fruitee Yogurt which has been, by the way, packed every time I have walked by. And if that is not enough, I note there appears to be another yogurt shop going in near Great Harvest.

When I bike through East Lexington, all too often I stop at Macaron Sweeterie. The pastries and frozen treats are one lure, but the benches on the sidewalk are another very important benefit. Enjoying yourself while scarfing down sweets is one thing, but doing so while waving to friends and neighbors is even better. If only there were benches on the south side of Mass Ave in the Center, I would spend even more time there. I remain convinced we could put

in benches there even though others tell me they would never fit. I seem to remember that argument was once applied to bicycle racks on that side, yet today they are there..

Whenever I see a mini-explosion of businesses, I always wonder why banks attract such enmity. Things have died down of late, but with Town Meeting in session the discussion is bound to start anew. I have always held that if your bank is in the Center, then there are enough banks, but if it isn’t, then either you don’t shop downtown or you think the downtown needs at least one more bank.

I chose my bank partly because the branch manager was known to me through her volunteer service and partly because it was in the Center, specifically near Depot Square where I can often be found waiting for a bus. Just in case I do drive, there are usually parking places nearby. The perfect storm of bank availability!

“But a bank is not a destination” one person protested in a hot note to me. Well, it is for me. I can visit my “wealth”, decide if I can afford to withdraw $20 of it, read the Wall Street Journal, say “Hi” to the staff, have a cup of tea, and check out the bulletin board. A bank down the street has pointed out that they have all of that plus a fireplace. Had the winter been colder, I might have cracked. In the interest of journalistic integrity, I have to admit that the first draft of this column was written with a pen from a bank where I have no money on deposit. They have a big bucket of them at the customer desk and every now and then I snag one as I pass through.

I have always been something of a non-interventionist where business is concerned. If there are too many of one kind of business, then there will be a shakeout. I know—there are some who swear that certain businesses can afford to pay more so they are favored, but in talking to property managers, that still seems to be a theory with not much to back it up. Some businesses do require less in the way of parking, of course, and therefore can more easily move into a vacant location, but that is a discussion for another day.

The too-many-businesses controversy isn’t a new one, by the way. While reading old Town Reports, I came across the tip of an iceberg which started to melt more than 80 years ago. Apparently Lexington was gentrifying a bit so piggeries came under fire. Suddenly the selectmen were hearing cases involving illegal piggeries and illegal slaughtering.

Things seemed to quiet down, but apparently the lack of piggeries meant that there was no longer enough manure available for the many farms in the area. So farmers would haul produce to market, then bring back manure on the return trip.

That caused two things to happen. First, the good citizens of Arlington protested the presence of leaking wagons on their streets. I still have it on my list to read some of the Arlington Town Reports from that time to get their side of an obviously smelly story. Then, the presence of manure stockpiles in Lexington started to be a problem. I have yet to find a picture, but apparently the stockpile near North Station, close to the present Public Services Building, was pretty much the olfactory wonder of the world. All this was sort of solved as the farms died out, but I have yet to figure out whether those farms jumped or were pushed. Probably a little of both.

The circle has started to close with the designation of the greater portion of the former Busa property as a community farm so it is going to be very interesting to see what changes that will bring. Years ago when Wendy and I lived in Nebraska, most of our large backyard was a garden. Our neighbor, a retired farmer used to shake his head and say things like “Don’t understand why you folks are messing around with this kind of thankless work” but then he would offer sound advice like “Plant the early corn so it catches the reflected sun from the garage and then the stalks will protect other things from the really hot sun which will come later” and “Don’t let the squirrels have any of the fall leftovers or they will start on your garden early next year.”

We followed most of the advice, but the squirrels were cute so we let them have the leftover sunflowers. Sure enough, the next year they were fighting us for control of the garden. Typical struggle. New people move in with new ideas only to be replaced by even newer people who have to learn things all over. I suspect that will never change.

Alice remembers back to 1996 when ceramics were usually considered part of pottery fairs and craft shows. When they started out, Abrams and Carcia had two goals. “We wanted it to be an educational venue for clay in general, so the public could see that ceramics extends into sculptural, thought provoking and emotional works. We also wanted to shine a light on Massachusetts artists. No one had ever done that before. That’s why we call it the State of Clay,” Abrams says.

The show has grown into a signature event for clay artists who either reside in state now or are previous residents. The State of Clay is now something of a reunion for the artists. Potters tend to work in groups because of the high cost of equipment, but also because they tend to be social and down to earth. “People who work with clay are of the earth – it’s basic, I like that. There tend to be a lot of clusters throughout Massachusetts,” she says.

Those clusters are drawn to the LACS show more and more. The first year the guild received submissions from 55 artists. This year they got 394 entries from 139 artists. From those, Juror Doug Casebeer chose 82 pieces to exhibit. Not an easy task.

Doug is from Aspen, Colorado. He ‘s the Artistic Director for Ceramics and Sculpture at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center and Chair of the Artist in Residency Program there. This is the farthest the Guild has gone to recruit a Juror. Bringing in a juror from another part of the country means a fresh eye in the judging process.

Casebeer is charged with selecting pieces according to three criteria. And in the end, the pieces all have to work together to create an overall vision.

Chosen pieces represent the full spectrum of clay’s possibilities; functional, non-functional, sculptural, traditional and non-traditional; pieces that use different clays, forming techniques, and firing methods. They must also show the expressive side of ceramics.

The Juror looks for clarity of vision in an artist’s work as well as successful execution. Pieces should express the ability of well-crafted clay to evoke feeling and emotion.

Iris Minc, Merrimac, MA • Lotus Group

The selected pieces have to represent the diversity of individual artistic styles and work together to show the range of aesthetic choices being made by local clay artists.

Abrams thinks of the selected pieces as folds of a fan. “The show should express the range of what clay can say and how it can say it. It’s up to the Juror to select pieces that contribute to an over all vision, not just a collection of work.”

Alice Abrams, Lexington, MA • Club Sandwich

There’s plenty of range in the clay work being done in Massachusetts. According to Abrams, cultural influences from around the world are blending to create new and exciting trends in ceramics. “The world has gotten smaller, and the blending and reintroduction of techniques in clay are symbolic of what our world is doing.” She notes the growing interest in wood firing, an ancient technique not widely practiced in the US until recently. Raku and the asian influences have made steady increases in the last several decades, and many artists work with porcelain in “the style of” earlier ceramics schools.

The show began as a way to educate the public about what clay can do and to give Massachusetts artists a venue of their own. It turns out the artists are getting an education as well. They enjoy meeting each other and seeing what other potters are doing. Abrams says, “There are people who enjoy the competition of applying to shows and some who take it so personally when they get rejected. It’s not always about which piece is better, sometimes it’s just which pieces contribute to the big view. Accepted or rejected, we’re known as the friendly show.” That’s partially because the Guild shares the Juror’s critique with the artists. Each piece in the show displays a card with Juror comments on it. Doug Casebeer will give a Gallery Talk during the Opening Reception in which he’ll discuss what he saw as the vision of the show and what he liked about each piece. Abrams says everyone takes something away that they can incorporate into their own work.

As part of the Opening Events for the 300th , the town will be treated to a Country Fair and All-Town Picnic Sept. 22.

Lexington’s Country Fair will highlight the past, present and future with activities that range from old-fashioned colonial field games to more modern contests. Although still in the planning stages, other activities may celebrate traditional and contemporary toys, face painting and demonstrations of colonial and contemporary crafts.

A raffle table is in the works with original creations by Lexingtonians. Quilted works, handcrafted pillows, and accessories will be available.

Event planners are now choosing the blue ribbon contest categories. Categories currently under consideration include best pie, biggest squash and perhaps the most creative birdhouse. Don’t start working yet. Stay tuned for the official announcements!

Local vendors will be on hand to sell treats at the Country Fair and All-Town Picnic. Strolling entertainers can be seen throughout the day. Jeff Leonard, coordinator of Lexington Public Schools’ performing arts department, will be lending his expertise with the entertainment tent.

Fay Backert is chairing the Country Fair committee.

Anyone interested in participating in planning the fair or sponsoring an activity should visit lexington300.org or email countryfair@lexington300.org.

NECKTIE PILLOWS!

Following the theme for the 300th celebration “We are Lexington” many people are already contributing in small and big ways.

Mary Rommel has designed signature pillows featuring men’s silk neckties which will be sold at the Sept. 22 Country Fair to offset expenses for the celebration. Ties with a connection to Lexington are still being sought.

“We want to highlight the variety of artistic talent and a ‘Made in Lexington’ theme,” said Jessie Steigerwald, events co-chair. “Handcrafts were treasured in 1713 when Lexington was incorporated, and the one-of-a-kind creations made today will be among the most prized souvenirs from the 300th.”

Shirley Lane is handling inventory of locally made items to be sold at the Country Fair. Leslie Masson is storing costumes for the musical fashion revue Oct. 27. Amanda von Rumohr and Vicki Blier have generously donated fabric. Linda Liu has donated patterns and fabric purchased in the 1970s!

Many have lent vintage garments including wedding gowns to be shown at the musical fashion review. Lane has lent her 1940s wedding gown. Gail Leichtman is lending a 1880s riding habit. Jean Ricci is lending 1920s dresses. Alice Pierce has lent a 1960s skirt. The Lexington Summer Theater is lending 1970s dresses. Those with vintage garments are urged to contact Tanya Morrisett, revue co-chair at fashionrevue@lexington300.org.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

Volunteers Needed! As the opening events for Lexington’s 300th celebration quickly approach, the 300th events team welcomes new volunteers. Can you save the date to help at the Country Fair on Sept. 22? Are you interested in working with community groups on the Opening Ceremony? Would you like to join the overall events planning team? Do you have an hour to help sew for the musical fashion revue? There’s room for all! Everyone is needed to make a celebration that Lexington will never forget. Writers, event planners, ushers, artists, community liaisons, logistics coordinators, general helpers and so much more are needed. There’s something for everyone and the planners can accommodate even the busiest of schedules.

The Opening Ceremony will take place simultaneously at Cary Hall and Lexington High School Sept. 22. The most urgent need is for a decoration team at each location. The Lexington Field and Garden Club is already helping with planning, but a team of volunteers is needed at each location to take charge of making the spaces look beautiful are needed. Ushers also are needed.

The Country Fair and All Town Picnic will offer old-fashioned fun for everyone. Activities coordinators, field game coordinators and food vendor coordinators for the picnic are needed. The evening will conclude with a Community Dance. Volunteers are needed to help coordinate refreshments, decorations and set-up.

Needle Arts/Fiber Arts Enthusiasts Needed! Looking for a fun way to help celebrate Lexington’s 300th birthday of its incorporation? If you sew, knit or stitch, the 300th’s Fiber Arts Committee is meeting at 3 p.m. April 1 at the Lexington Arts and Crafts Society (LACS), 130 Waltham St. All needle arts enthusiasts are encouraged to participate.

“This is one of the many ways to volunteer to make Lexington’s 9-month birthday party a success,” explained Jessie Steigerwald, committee co-chair. The celebration kicks off Friday, Sept. 21 with a gala ball followed by opening ceremonies, all all-town picnic and country fair, Special events continue through Memorial Day weekend 2013. Anyone who knits, quilts, makes costumes or clothes, crochets or any other form of needle arts should come with ideas and suggestions.

In addition, kits will be available for those interested for making tie pillows and costumes needed for a musical revue of fashion through the 300 years 1713-2013. Two quilting groups are being formed to create quilts to be donate to the town. Other items will be sold or auctioned to help defray costs of the 300th celebration at the Country Fair on opening day Sept. 22 and at the Musical Fashion Show Revue Oct. 27.

Co-chairing the Fiber Arts Committee with Jessie are Tanya Morrisett and Kim Coburn. For anyone who can’t attend meetings but wants to participate by making their own creations or in need of a kit call or email Corinne Steigerwald at 781-861-7190 or corinne.lex300@gmail.com.