Hello Neighbors & Newcomers,

Depending on the day, it feels like we may be seeing signs of spring or plunging deeper into the snow and cold winter temperatures. Either way, we have some great activities to allow you to either hide from or take advantage of the weather, depending on which option is more to your liking!

We will also have some board positions available for next season, so please reach out via email if you’re interested in getting more involved. We have a ton of fun as a board and would love to have others join us, whether you’re looking for a larger position or just looking for a small opportunity to get your feet wet. Send us an email, and we’d be happy to discuss it further.

You can also always check the Lexington Neighbors & Newcomers Members Facebook group and our Instagram to get the latest updates on our activities.

Best Wishes,
Tania Bojanowski, LNN President & Rachel Brownell, LNN Secretary

Cross-Country Ski

Wednesday, March 1 @ 9am

We finally have enough snow for Great Brook Ski to reopen! If you are tempted by a cross-country ski workout tomorrow to enjoy the snow we got today, come and join fellow LNN members at Great Brook Ski Touring Center, 984 Lowell St in Carlisle.

Send an email to Alexia to make sure we wait for you! If you can’t make it tomorrow but would be interested in future outings, consider dropping Alexia a note so that she can reach out if another good opportunity pops up this month.

The weather will be mild so don’t overdress. There is a rental facility on site if you don’t have gear. Looking forward to seeing you and enjoying the snow!

Walking Group

Wednesdays @ 9:30am

Mar 1: Meet at the CVS parking lot & walk along the bike path

Mar 8: Meet in the parking lot with the boat ramp at Horn Pond in Woburn

Mar 15: Week off

Mar 22: Meet at the CVS parking lot & walk along the bike path

Mar 29: Meet at Mill Pond Reservoir Trail Parking in Burlington

Call or text Kelly with any questions.

Virtual Trivia

Thursday, March 2 @ 7pm

A Thursday night pub quiz… in your own living room!

Join us for an online pub quiz for the whole family! Grab a pen and paper, pour your favorite evening tipple, and get those synapses firing to remember all those random facts and figures as you try to take the title as LNN’s Pub Quiz King/Queen.

RSVP via email or on Facebook.

Lunch Bunch

Friday, March 10 @ 12pm

Our lovely lunch bunch will venture to Menotomy Grill and Tavern in Arlington (25 Massachusetts Ave).

“The name pays homage to the Revolutionary War roots of the Village of Menotomy (now Arlington), by fusing its rich history with the vibe of an urban, neighborhood eatery.”

RSVP to Carol by Mar 9, and take a sneak peek at the menu.

Bunco Night

Wednesday, March 15 @ 7pm

Bunco is back! No prior experience necessary, just a willingness to learn and have a good time. Email Lara to be included in what’s sure to be a very fun evening.

Book Club

Thursday, March 16 @ 7pm

Join our Book Club group on Thursday, March 16th, to review “The Dictionary of Lost Words” by Pip Williams.

In 1901, the word ‘Bondmaid’ was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it.

Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the ‘Scriptorium’, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word ‘bondmaid’ flutters to the floor. Esme rescues the slip and stashes it in an old wooden case that belongs to her friend, Lizzie, a young servant in the big house. Esme begins to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. They help her make sense of the world.

Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others, and that words and meanings relating to women’s experiences often go unrecorded. While she dedicates her life to the Oxford English Dictionary, secretly, she begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words.

Set when the women’s suffrage movement was at its height and the Great War loomed, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. It’s a delightful, lyrical and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words, and the power of language to shape the world and our experience of it.

RSVP by March 15th to lexnnbookclub@gmail.com. On the morning of March 16th, we will email the time of the meeting and the address of our host to all attendees. Please bring a drink of your choice and/or snacks to share.

Ladies’ Night

Thursday, March 23rd 7-10pm

Join the ladies of LNN at Common Craft (Burlington) for a drink and good company! Light appetizers provided. Email to RSVP in case of any last minute updates.

Coffee Talk

Friday, March 24 @ 10am

Join us for coffee at our favorite winter coffee spot (indoors with plenty of space), Caffè Nero (85 Middlesex Turnpike standalone location, NOT the one in the mall), and feel free to bring a friend or neighbor who might be interested in joining LNN! While you are welcome to attend regardless, please send a note to this month’s coordinator, Rikke, so that she can share any updates as needed.

Spring Gathering

Friday, March 31 @ 7pm

Get your party on! Join us for LNN-provided light appetizers & cash bar and catch up with neighbors. We hope to turn the party up a notch around 10pm and get some dancing in, like the last super fun evening we had at Il Casale. Email to RSVP.

Sneak Peek at April

Save the date for some great events coming your way in April!

Dates are subject to change based on scheduling challenges, but we want to do our best to provide some heads up regarding upcoming events.

• April 4: deCordova Sculpture Park & Museum walk & lunch
• April 6: Lunch Bunch
• April 12: Bunco Night
• April 13: Book Club (“The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean’s Defector’s
  Story” by Hyeonseo Lee)
• April 27: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Community Announcements

Get Ready for the LexFUN! 2023 Consignment Sale!

• Saturday, April 22, 2023, 10am – 4pm

Munroe Center for the Arts

• Keep an eye out on their website for upcoming registration, opening March 13th!

Lexington Participatory Budgeting

• Vote by April 7th!

Hello Neighbors & Newcomers,

We hope that your year is off to a fabulous start and are excited to share our upcoming events with you. It was fantastic to see so many familiar and new faces at our January events. See below for the activities coming your way in February, plus a sneak peek at some dates to keep in mind for March as well!

You can also always check the Lexington Neighbors & Newcomers Members Facebook group and our Instagram to get the latest updates.

Best Wishes,
Tania Bojanowski, LNN President & Rachel Brownell, LNN Secretary

Walking Group

Wednesdays at 9:30am

Feb 1: Meet at the CVS parking lot & walk along the bike path

Feb 8: Park at Revolution Hall & walk the path to the Bedford Depot

Feb 15: Meet at the CVS parking lot & walk along the bike path

Feb 22: Week off (School vacation)

Call or text Kelly with any questions.

Ladies’ Night

Wednesday, February 8th 7-10pm

Join the ladies of LNN for an early Valentine’s cocktail, mocktail, or glass of wine at Il Casale! Light appetizers provided. Email to RSVP in case of any last minute updates.

Lunch Bunch

Thursday, February 9 @ 12pm

Join us for lunch at Bistro781 in Waltham.

“Moody Street is an eclectic yet trendy location, known for having something for everyone. Here at Bistro781 we take pride in bringing that variety to an upscale yet casual location. The delicate balance of our seasonal menus brings together elements of originality and classic preparation; all the while we still are able to create these dishes in-house, from scratch, utilizing locally sourced ingredients when possible.”

RSVP to Carol by Feb 8, and take a sneak peek at the menu.

Coffee Talk

Friday, February 10 @ 10am

Join us for coffee at our favorite winter coffee spot (indoors with plenty of space), Caffè Nero (85 Middlesex Turnpike standalone location, NOT the one in the mall), and feel free to bring a friend or neighbor who might be interested in joining LNN! While you are welcome to attend regardless, please send a note to this month’s coordinator, Saskia, so that she can share any updates as needed.

Book Club

Thursday, February 16 @ 7pm

Join our Book Club group on Thursday, February 16th, to review “The Invention of Wings” by Sue Monk Kidd.

Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world.

Hetty “Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women.

Kidd’s sweeping novel is set in motion on Sarah’s eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership of ten year old Handful, who is to be her handmaid. We follow their remarkable journeys over the next thirty five years, as both strive for a life of their own, dramatically shaping each other’s destinies and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement and the uneasy ways of love.

Inspired by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke, Kidd goes beyond the record to flesh out the rich interior lives of all of her characters, both real and invented.

RSVP by February 15th to lexnnbookclub@gmail.com. On the morning of February 16th, we will email the time of the meeting and the address of our host to all attendees. Please bring a drink of your choice and/or snacks to share.

Sneak Peek at March

Save the date for some great events coming your way in March!

• March 2: Virtual Pub Trivia Night (Fun for the whole family! RSVP on the soon-to-come Facebook event or via email.)
• March 10: Lunch Bunch
• March 16: Book Club (“The Dictionary of Lost Words” by Pip Williams)
• March 23: Ladies’ Night
• March 24: Coffee Talk
• March 31: Spring Gathering at Il Casale

Community Announcements

Munroe Center for the Arts

• VALENTINE’S DAY – free, all-ages valentines-making event
• Sunday, February 5
• Space is limited, so sign up now! www.MunroeCenter.org/Valentines-2023

• Join us to create valentines for your friends and loved ones. Paper supplies will be on hand, as well as lots of creative ideas and collage materials. You supply the love, and we will supply the messy bits!

Hello Neighbors & Newcomers,

Happy New Year! We wish you a warm welcome to 2023 and hope that you had a fabulous holiday season. Thank you for coming out to our December events and making them such a blast. See below for some fun photos from December and info on all the great activities we have planned for January. Looking forward to hearing about everyone’s holiday adventures!

You can also always check the Lexington Neighbors & Newcomers Members Facebook group and our recently resurrected Instagram to get the latest updates. 
Best Wishes,
Tania Bojanowski, LNN President & Rachel Brownell, LNN Secretary

Walking Group
Wednesdaysat 9:30am

Jan 4: Meet on the bike path behind CVS in downtown Lexington
Jan 11: Meet in Horn Pond Parking Lot in Woburn (by the boat launch, for mapping purposes)
Jan 18: Meet on the bike path behind CVS in downtown Lexington
Jan 25: Meet in the Minuteman Visitor Center Parking Lot in Lincoln

Reach out to Kelly with any questions.

Walking Group
Wednesdays at 9:30am

Jan 4: Meet on the bike path behind CVS in downtown Lexington
Jan 11: Meet in Horn Pond Parking Lot in Woburn (by the boat launch, for mapping purposes)
Jan 18: Meet on the bike path behind CVS in downtown Lexington
Jan 25: Meet in the Minuteman Visitor Center Parking Lot in Lincoln

Reach out to Kelly with any questions (310-497-5532)

Bunco Night
Wednesday, January 11at 7pm

The always-popular game night returns! Please email Lara to sign up and receive further details.

Ladies’ Night
Thursday, January 12 at 7pm

The ladies will convene for another fun night on the town at Revolution Hall. RSVP via email to receive any last minute updates.

Please save the date as well for our upcoming ladies’ nights on February 8th & March 23rd!

Book Club
Thursday, January 19 at 7pm

Happy New Year! Let’s get together on Thursday, January 19th, 2023  to talk about our Book Club selection, “Pachinko” by Min Jin Lee.

In the early 1900s, teenaged Sunja, the adored daughter of a crippled fisherman, falls for a wealthy stranger at the seashore near her home in Korea. He promises her the world, but when she discovers she is pregnant — and that her lover is married — she refuses to be bought. Instead, she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through on his way to Japan. But her decision to abandon her home, and to reject her son’s powerful father, sets off a dramatic saga that will echo down through the generations.

Richly told and profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan’s finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee’s complex and passionate characters — strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis — survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history.

Now also a beautifully produced Apple+ TV series. 

RSVP by January 18th to lexnnbookclub@gmail.com. On the morning of January 19th,  we will email the time of the meeting and the address of our host to all attendees.  Please bring a drink of your choice and/or snacks to share. 

You can also always check our website to get a sneak peek of the upcoming books for the rest of the season, in case you want to get a head start!

Coffee Talk
Friday, January 20 10am-1pm

Join us for coffee at Caffè Nero (85 Middlesex Turnpike standalone location, NOT the one in the mall), and feel free to bring a friend or neighbor who might be interested in joining LNN! While you are welcome to attend regardless, please send a note to this month’s coordinator, Tania, so that she can share any updates as needed.

Save the dates for our upcoming coffees as well (subject to change):

• February 10th @ Via Lago
• March 24th @ Caffè Nero

Lunch Bunch
Thursday, January 26 at 12pm

In January, lunch bunch will head up to Bedford to Tashan. 

Tashan meaning “style” brings the energy of India’s thriving culinary scene to Bedford, MA, and the greater Boston area serving reinvented and refined Indian classics.

Email Carol to RSVP by January 24th so that she can make sure to adjust the reservation accordingly and share any updates as needed. Take a sneak peek at the menu here: https://www.tashanbedford.com/. And save the date for next month: Feb 9th.

Announcements

• Munroe Center for the Arts 
  Winter Art Classes (Semester runs Jan 9 – Mar 19). We’re pleased to highlight both RETURNING FAVORITES & NEW OFFERINGS for both youth and adults – read more and register now www.munroecenter.org
  February Vacation Camp (Feb 20-24): registration is open now, with SUMMER CAMP registration open January 9th! Plan your schedule now at munroecenter.org/camps!

• Lexington United Soccer Club registration opens mid-January. Town soccer registration happens earlier than you may realize. If you are interested in learning more, please visit their website.
   
• Looking to get more involved?? 
  If you are interested, please reach out to events.lexingtonnewcomers@gmail.com.

Hello Neighbors & Newcomers,

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you’re looking forward to some time to relax and recharge as we near the end of the year. We have several exciting activities planned for the holiday season, and we would love to see you there! Please check out more info below on the always-delicious cookie swap, a fabulous end of year celebration at Il Casale, and more.

You can also always check the Lexington Neighbors & Newcomers Members Facebook group to get the latest updates. 

Happy Holidays from the LNN Board, and we wish you all a brilliant New Year!
Best Wishes,
Tania Bojanowski, LNN President & Rachel Brownell, LNN Secretary

Cookie Swap
Wednesday, December 7 10am-1pm

Join us for our holiday cookie swap. Bring two dozen of your favorite cookies to share and enjoy with your fellow bakers! This was such a fun and delicious event last year, and we cannot wait to do it again. If you are willing, you might consider bringing the recipe to share as well.

RSVP to Pam by Dec 6th to receive location details.

Winter Gathering
Friday, December 9 at 7pm

Join us for our Winter Gathering on Friday, December 9th from 7-10pm at Il Casale. Wear some festive attire and enjoy a drink with neighbors! Sign up via email and please let us know if you’ll be bringing your spouse/+1.

The bar area will be reserved for our party. LNN will be ordering light appetizers, and it will be a cash bar. We hope to see many of you there!

Book Club
Thursday, December 15 at 7pm

Join us for a lively discussion of this month’s Book Club selection, “The Reading List” by Sara Nisha Adams. We will meet on Thursday, December 15th.

An unforgettable and heartwarming debut about how a chance encounter with a list of library books helps forge an unlikely friendship between two very different people in a London suburb.

RSVP by Dec 14th to lexnnbookclub@gmail.com. On the morning of Dec 15th, we will email the time of the meeting and the address of our host to all attendees. Please bring a drink of your choice and/or snacks to share.

Lunch Bunch
Wednesday, December 21 at 12pm

In December, lunch bunch will enjoy another excellent Lexington location, Town Meeting Bistro in the Inn at Hastings Park. Email Carol to RSVP by December 19th so that she can make sure to adjust the reservation accordingly and share any updates as needed. Also, save the date for January lunch on Jan 26th.

Walking Group
Wednesdaysat 9:30am

Dec 7: No walking group, but go ahead and walk (or drive) over to the Cookie Swap instead!
Dec 14: Meet in Long Pond Parking Lot in Winchester
Dec 21: Meet in Minuteman Visitor Center Parking Lot in Lincoln
Dec 28: No walking group – enjoy the holidays!

Call or text Kelly with any questions.

Announcements

• Membership: Make sure to renew your membership to join all of our great December events and future events of the 2022/2023 season! Just reach out to membership at lexingtonma.newcomers@gmail.com.
   
• Looking to get more involved?? 
  
  If you are interested, please reach out to events.lexingtonnewcomers@gmail.com.

Hello Neighbors & Newcomers,

Our fall events have been such fun, and we’re excited to keep that momentum going even as the weather cools down! Members had a great time hiking Wachusett Mountain and Mount Monadnock, going for walks on the bike trail and other great local spots, grabbing drinks, coffee, or lunch, discussing the book of the month, and more.

Check out all the great activities for November below and keep an eye out as well for some special events coming in early December, including a night out and a cookie swap. You can also always check the Lexington Neighbors & Newcomers Members Facebook group to get the latest updates. 
Best Wishes,
Tania Bojanowski, LNN President & Rachel Brownell, LNN Secretary

Walking Group
Wednesdays (new day!) at 9:30am

Nov 2: Walden Pond (Should be perfect to return this week for some leaf peeping! Note that there is an $8 parking fee unless you have a park pass.)
Nov 9: Bedford Reservoir (park at 1 Fifer Lane guest parking and we’ll walk over)
Nov 16: Arlington Reservoir (park at Lexington Community Farm)
Nov 23: Lexington Bike Path (park behind downtown Lexington CVS)
Nov 30: Horn Pond in Woburn (parking lot by the boat launch)

Call or text Kelly with any questions.

Bunco Night
Wednesday, November 9 at 7pm

It’s cold enough to ramp up indoor activities like rolling dice and having fun! Bunco will be the second Wednesday of each month and, for November, that is the 9^th at 7 PM. Please reply to Lara if you plan to participate.

Coffee Talk
Monday, November 14 at 10am

Join us for coffee at Starbucks on Bedford St (Walgreens parking lot), and feel free to bring a friend or neighbor who might be interested in joining LNN! While you are welcome to attend regardless, please send a note to this month’s coordinator, Kelly, so that she can share any updates as needed.

Book Club
Wednesday, November 16 at 7pm

Join us for a lively discussion of this month’s Book Club selection, “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson. We will meet on Wednesday, November 16th.

The Pulitzer Prize–winning, bestselling author of The Warmth of Other Suns examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.

In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.

RSVP by Nov 15th to lexnnbookclub@gmail.com. On the morning of Nov 16th, we will email the time of the meeting and the address of our host to all attendees. Please bring a drink of your choice and/or snacks to share.

Lunch Bunch
Thursday, November 17 at 12pm

In November, lunch bunch will head to another great location in Lexington, Daikanyama. Email Carol to RSVP by November 16th so that she can make sure to adjust the reservation accordingly and share any updates as needed. Feel free to take a sneak peek at the menu.

Ladies’ Night
Friday, November 18 at 7pm

Let’s say Thanks to each other with a toast to all the wonderful ladies of LNN before the Thanksgiving holiday starts. Join us for Ladies’ Night drinks on FRIDAY, November 18, 7pm at Il Casale. 

Sign up via our brand new Events email address (Saskia and Helena will receive your message): events.lexingtonnewcomers@gmail.com. 

We encourage you to RSVP, as the restaurant would like a heads up if we have more than 15 ladies showing up so they can make arrangements accordingly.

Save the Date: Cookie Swap
Wednesday, December 7

Save the date for our holiday cookie swap. We had so much fun and so many delicious cookies last year that we can’t wait to do it again! Start brainstorming your favorite cookie recipe now!

Save the Date: Winter Gathering
Friday, December 9 at 7pm

Save the date for our December celebration on Friday, December 9th from 7-10pm. 
Sign up via events.lexingtonnewcomers@gmail.com  and bring your spouse. Location TBD. 

Announcements

• A huge CONGRATULATIONS to our own LNN member, Melanie, for being named a 2022 MacArthur Fellow.
  https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/10/harvards-melanie-matchett-wood-named-macarthur-fellow/
  https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2022/10/13/wood-macarthur-genius-grant/
   
• Membership: Don’t forget to pay your membership dues for this year ASAP so that you don’t miss out on any of our fun events! Use the QR code below to pay directly with PayPal. Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out to Rikke/Membership via email: lexingtonma.newcomers@gmail.com.

• Looking to get more involved?? 
  
  We organize many recurring events like Book Club, Ladies’ Nights, Walking Groups, and more, but we would love to offer new, one-off events to our members too. 
  
  We realize that committing to a year round volunteer role may be too much for some, but organizing a one-off event might be something you’d like! We are a volunteer-run organization, and we welcome your help. 
  
  Is there a type of event you would really enjoy this year? Something that you love to do or a new activity that you have been looking for others to try with you? Perhaps it is a trip to a museum, concert, evening of dancing, cocktail workshop. 
  
  We have a playbook to help you get started and of course are available to answer any questions to make organizing as easy as possible.
  
  If you are interested, please reach out to events.lexingtonnewcomers@gmail.com.