Boogie Woogie Bugle Boys of Hanscom Field

If you live in North Lincoln, anywhere near Minuteman National Park, you’ll know what I mean, if not read on.
Imagine your neighbor turns their ghetto blaster real loud and 3 times a day, 7 days a week, treats you to his ‘musack de vie’.

How did it come to this? First train whistles in the South and now bugles in the North.

I first ‘noticed’ the testing of a new sound system back in July, when Hansom Air Force Base was saved from the wrecker’s ball by the Base Re-Alignment and Closure Commission (BRACC).
I assumed it was a celebration, parade, publicity stunt or just the military being the military.

Over the next week the sound volume increased further, as did the number of times played.

Now we have:

7:30am – Reveille and the Star Spangled Banner; to start of the working day.

4:30pm – Retreat and the Star Spangled Banner; to end of the official working day.

9:00pm – Taps signaling lights out. (I noticed they don’t actually turn the lights out, which I think is cheating).

So will the selectmen come to the aid of North Lincoln? Do we need a whistle blower ?

Should we sound the call to arms or just be glad that BRAC did not close this fine R&D establishment and that we can still hear the bugles above the roar of Hanscom Airfield, New England’s busiest private jet airfield?

Sassy Seniors exceed 'sell by' date.

Male members of the Friends of the Council on Aging are seeking to raise $500,000 by taking their clothes off every day for the next 12 months and are willing to share the experience with anyone for the low, low sum of $15.
Yes, for less than 5 cents a day you too can experience men without tights or much of anything else. As English comedian, Dick Emery, would say "Oh you are awful...But I like you".

Lincoln, MA. a dry town, a town without a restaurant or any entertainment after the selectmen meeting ends, is not given to excesses. So it came as a shock when I flicked open the glossy pages sitting prominently on the library counter, just a few inches above the eye level of a six year old.
Oh, the pictures are as tasteful as they can be of bare skinned men riding a bike, or painting a house, or picking daisies or any of the 'creative poses' that lie in wait. But nobody should be exposed to the naked reality of aging.
The well known fitness chain for women, Curves, recently opened in the mall. Based on this showing Lincoln has a greater need for a men's fitness centre - any offers.

Sadly the full story can be found in The Lincoln Journal.

The is 'Mr. August' Kenton Ide, who posed with this paint can, signs a calendar during Sunday's Coming Out Party for the 'Sassy Seniors' 2006 calendar and was taken by Lincoln Journal staff - Ellen Bullock.

Since only 2400 copies of the calendar were published it would help if they were sold as far away from Lincoln as possible so please, PLEASE, contact COA Director Karen Santucci at 781-259-8811 or by e-mail at santuccik@lincolntown.org and purchase one for the inside of your cupboard or dark drawer

Note passing at Lincoln bank

As reported in 'Missing Inaction', I wasn't there when a white male (described as 6 feet tall, in his mid-20's and wearing black pants, black shoes, black windbreaker - is there a pattern here - and a white baseball cap) made a written request to a teller at the Bank of America, Lincoln Mall. He made a big mistake; everyone here wears a Red Sox cap, so he will be easy to pick out in a line up.
We don't know exactly what the note said, whether it was hand or type written or even made from scraps cut out of the Lincoln Journal. The culprit had the presence of mind to ask for it back, along with $380 from the teller's drawer, before running to an adjacent parking lot. Police responded quickly to an automatic security alarm and 911 call from the bank and officers from Lincoln, Concord K9, Weston and the FBI bank robbery task force interviewed witnesses and continue to investigate.
One witness observed that 'given the hourly cost of all these fine people, not to mention the cost of trial and incarceration when the guilty person is brought to justice, it's a pity there isn't a method of requesting $380 direct from the tax payer without involving everyone else'.
There is, it's called the town override. The problem is that it can only be requested by elected officials, but all they need is a vote instead of a note.

Road Block

After a while the locals figure out a way to block of all escape routes.

State Police go the extra mile.

State police finally arrive, by which time a large, but unusually happy crowd has gathered. Reinforcements are only seconds behind.

Missing inaction.

Sad but true, not much happens in the Town of Lincoln, MA and when it did I was there, or rather I wasn't.
This conservation minded town has only one small shopping mall. Not a strip mind, but an elegant design, with small cafe, mini-market, ladies fitness centre, hardware store, gift shop, art gallery, travel agent and a large chain bank. Let's call them Bank of Albania - (but remember where we really are).
I pop into the food store and then sit outside, enjoying the sun after 8 days of rain. I am reading a book, occasionally taking notes of passing conversation in my new journalist notebook. Nothing special - no "yeah, she never got up afterwards" or "he was down there doing his business all night" just simple things like "did ya pick up the invoice?" and "no, after you've eaten."
Police sirens wail, but they've been pretty active today, stopping speeding cars on the 20 mph school stretch and so I continue reading, eventually getting in the car to drive home. That's when I first see the scene of crime tape. Streams of it, cordoning off the bank, cafe and travel agent, bold and bright, tied like a yellow ribbon round the old... Well you get the picture. Five police cars, from Concord, Lexington, and Lincoln are stopped at 'screech to a halt' angles. Cops with notebooks talk to men and women in business suits. A reporter and photographer hover, aiming telephoto lenses beyond the perimeter. Traffic crawls by slowed by the novelty of it all.
No I don't know what happened. I slink away, annoyed with myself for missing the action because of a book. A book with the title - 'Solving Real Life Mysteries'. I'll let you know what "went down" when I find out.