Page 8 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, January 10, 2020 ASKS | FROM PAGE 1 from the Boston Conservatory and received his master’s in Education from Northeastern University. He spent most of his professional career as a Junior High School guidance counselor during a 30-year career in Saugus Public Schools. He and his wife, Grace, who has been known for her doll-making talents, have been married for 53 years and reside in a ranch house on Staaf Road. Harry has two stepchildren: Patricia Egavian, of Boxford, and Jan Mirjanian, of New Jersey. Highlights of this week’s interview follow. Q: How did you get involved in music? And I guess that’s your fi rst love, right? A: I got involved as a boy. No one in my family played an instrument. But I used to watch, when I went to dancing school. I saw this man play the saxophone when we went to the dance club for young children and young people. And I said, “I want to play that instrument.” Q: How old were you then? A: Junior High age; and then during the war time – early in the war – there were no instruments to be had. I had to buy an instrument locally from somebody, and I studied. Q: So, were you in the marching band at Saugus High? A: Yes. Q: So you were in the Class of 1945. A: During the four years I was in High School, the Saugus High School football team won the Class C Championship and the Class B Championship. And we were very prominent going into Lynn Classical – playing in that Manning Bowl – and then marching from the Saugus High School to the football stadium. And those were the highlights, because there was no money for band trips. Today, kids go to Europe. Q: So, you got that early founthe years, I played in nine different concert bands. I played many years for the “CONTINENTAL HARRY”: Harry Surabian, a retired Saugus Public Schools guidance counselor whose second career as a musician in concert bands made him a world traveler, got that nickname from a close friend. (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler) dation for music while playing in the High School band. A: Oh yeah. Q: So how many years in the High School band did you play? A: Four years. Q: And then you graduated. A: And got drafted in the Army. And because I had the musical training, after basic training, I learned how to kill … I fi red every weapon possible … fl ame throwers, bazookas, everything except a revolver. And because of that, I was an infantryman, but I never went into any group. After basic training, that’s when they sent me to Europe to play in the band. Q: So, you had the combat skills, but you went into the service as a musician. A: Exactly. Q: Please tell me, after the Army what happened? A: Well, I got my training in music and then the Army stationed me in a band in Heidelberg, Germany. And when I came out, I said, “What am I going to do?” Well, I said maybe I would like to be a music teacher, which I did become. And I taught after I graduated from the Conservatory; I taught up RETIREMENT PHOTO: Harry Surabian spent three decades working for Saugus Public Schools – mostly as a guidance counselor – before retiring in 1990. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate) in New Hampshire for three years; and after three-year training, where I developed a band. They never had a band where I went, but I developed a band. And in three years, I had three diff erent bands, from a junior band to an adult band. Q: Whereabouts in New Hampshire? A: Penacook, N.H. Q: Okay. Now, how did you get started as an educator in Saugus? A: The principal of the Junior High took me to the superintendent and said, “Hire him.” So, I fi rst went to work for him as a Geography teacher. But I later became a guidance counselor, where I spent most of my time. Q: About how long did your music career last and when did it actually end? A: I’m going to say it went from 1940, 1941 … from High School up to maybe fi ve years ago. Q: And that was with the American Legion Band? A: Other bands – local bands – Wakefi eld … I was very active. I was the choir director in two diff erent churches: Cliftondale Methodist Church and Watertown Congregational Church. I organized a boys’ choir. Over Waltham American Legion Band. These bands took me everywhere. When I was with the Waltham American Legion Band, we’d cover a good part of the U.S., from Washington State to down South. I traveled not only throughout the U.S. – and to Europe, to England and Ireland and a lot of diff erent countries – Norway, Sweden, Italy and Germany. My close friend nicknamed me “Continental Harry” because of all of the traveling I did. Not too many people know that … I don’t broadcast it. I loved to play. I had a second home in Falmouth – in the Old Silver Beach area – and I loved it there so much that I played in the Community Band in Falmouth. Q: So, your dad was born in Turkey and came over here. Tell me about it. A: The Armenian genocide brought my family to this country in World War I. Q: So, how did your dad get to Saugus? A: He opened up various stores and found the one in Cliftondale that later became a package store. When Prohibition ended, he applied for the alcohol license. Q: And he had a package store right in Cliftondale, was that right? A: Cliftondale Square. Correct. Q: What was the name of the package store? A: Cliftondale Liquors. Q: And how long did he have it? A: He had it until he retired and we sold it. Q: Did you have any brothers and sisters? A: Yes. Q: How many? A: Two brothers, and they were in the package store fulltime. I helped part-time. That’s where I got to understand all of the products that we had. I tasted everything. I never drank a lot of it, but I tasted everything. Q: And you said you had a sister. A: She was handicapped. Q: Two brothers and a sister. Okay. And you are the last survivor of your siblings? A: Not only that – my father had three other brothers. They all had children, mostly male children. They’re all gone now. I am the last of the fi rst-generation Surabian left. I could show you a picture of the family, but I don’t have it handy. There were numerous members of the family. Q: What would you say the highlight of your music career was, as you look back over the years? A: I think going to the Soviet Union, but there were other places that I’ve been … down in Louisiana and around the country. Being a musician allowed me to see the United States from a tourist point of view. Q: Did you play before any Russian dignitaries? A: Yes. I was the fi rst clarinet player, and we just did a concert, and this Russian general standing just where you are. And I’m right here and he’s right there and the conductor is right in the middle. And he wanted to hear an American tune. We didn’t have the music, but we played it … and this was right in the area where you always see in Moscow … the famous old building. And we went to a spot right near the famous square; it’s similar to our place for the Unknown Soldier. There were people to get in line to see all of this, and they escorted us through. And we saw the location of the Unknown Soldiers and the Memorial Day program there. And then we went to Leningrad and did the same thing there. And that’s where Germany tried to starve out the city in that faASKS | SEE PAGE 9
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