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THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021 Page 7 THE SOUNDS | FROM PAGE 5 bers’ comments period at the end of the board’s meeting on Tuesday night (Jan. 12). He offered congratulations to Joe Bertrand, the son of the late Saugus High Basketball Coach Mark Bertrand, who died tragically last month. “I think that’s an honor to fill in and take over for your dad. We’re here to support you, Joe. So best of luck,” Cogliano said of Mark Bertrand, who will co-coach this year’s team with assistant basketball Coach Bill Cahill. Want to “Shout-Out” a fellow Saugonian? This is an opportunity for our paper’s readers to single out – in a brief mention – remarkable acts or achievements by Saugus residents or an act of kindness or a nice gesture. Just send an email (mvoge@comcast.net) with the mention in the subject line of “An Extra Shout-Out.” No more than a paragraph; anything longer might lend itself to a story and/or photo. COVID-19 – my scariest story of all As an active 68-year-old newspaper man trying to cover local government, human interest and all sorts of news in the midst of a deadly global pandemic – which is already responsible for 53 deaths in Saugus, close to 13,000 deaths statewide and more than 385,000 deaths nationwide since the outbreak of COVID-19 last March – it’s been a supreme challenge trying to cover this mega news story for our readers. I’d go so far to say that it would probably be the biggest challenge of my journalism career, even if I were a reporter in my 20s or 30s. It goes without saying that it’s a very dangerous story for somebody my age. In addition to working fulltime as a newsman, I also spend a lot of time during the course of the week as an advocate for my 69-year-old brother, who lives in an assisted living facility in Swansea, Mass. I have to commute several times a week from my home in Methuen, up in northern Essex County. And it seems like every place I go, in the process of doing my job as a newsman and as my brother’s advocate, I pass through one “red,” highCOVID-19-risk community after another. When people ask me how I’m doing, I’m honest and tell them that I am constantly looking over my shoulder, worried as to whether COVID-19 is going to catch up with me one of these days. Whether it’s encountering people on the street, in a restaurant, a post office, the gas station or a store, I observe reckless behavior of folks who don’t wear masks and are oblivious to the public health protocols that are in place for everyone’s health and safety. I have been in this business for close to a half century. I’ve seen a lot of bad stuff. And I’ve come into harm’s way quite a few times over the years. Yes, indeed, I’ve had my share of harrowing moments as a newspaper journalist – a few of them down in West Texas, way back in my younger days as a tenacious and fearless investigative reporter. In close to 50 years of reporting, the story that stands out the most is the one that was never written: the one about several suspicious murders, a corrupt sheriff who may have been involved in them, U.S. Border Patrol agents who were also dirty, dangerous drug traffickers who conducted their business with ease and a weekly newspaper editor and publisher who wanted to help get the story out – but not in his newspaper, because he feared for his life. That was a story I was assigned to check out when I worked as a reporter at The San Angelo Standard-Times sometime in 1978. We had a correspondent who also happened to work in that town’s government in a community that seemed at the end of the world. I remember driving alone down to Van Horn, where I was to meet an older couple Saugus residents named to Dean’s List at University of New England T he University of New England recently announced that Saugus residents Amanda Castle, Hailey Moscone and Olivia Rando were named to the Dean’s List for the fall 2020 semester. Dean’s List students have attained a grade point average of 3.3 or better out of a possible 4.0 at the end of the semester. where I would stay for a couple of nights. For anyone who asked about me in the tiny town of 2,000, I would introduce myself as their nephew. It seemed like everywhere I drove around town in my car I was being followed by a local cop or sheriff’s deputy. And I had been forewarned that they were particularly corrupt. I remember my first night as a house guest as particularly alarming. Before my hosts went to bed, they laid a loaded revolver on the table next to the couch where I would sleep, just in case I needed some protection at night. There was always the possibility of a dangerous encounter with an illegal alien or drug trafficker passing through. It was unsettling, so much so that the next time I visited Van Horn I was accompanied by another reporter and a photographer. Based on the account I provided from my first trip, the photographer insisted on packing a shotgun in the trunk of his car, just in case we needed it. I left the paper for a more promising job before I had a chance to file the story. The story never got done, though. More than 40 years later, I would have to rank this as my most dangerous story – until I decided to be a reporter in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic. The Kowloon Restaurant is not closing Bobby Wong’s appearance before the Saugus Planning Board last week attracted tremendous publicity from Boston news media over the weekend about a reported future closing of his family’s iconic Route 1 eatery – the Kowloon Restaurant. The spate of radio and TV stories was so great that Kowloon came out with a press release: “The Kowloon Restaurant, owned and operated by the Wong family states: “Dear Friends and Fans, “We are not sold or closing soon. There has been a lot of speculation regarding our planning board appearance tonight. We just want to clarify what is actually happening. We are only planning for the future which will be years not months away. The process to get the local boards to do their due diligence and approve any project is not an overnight process. So our family is just getting some preliminary legwork started. “We have just completed our 70th year in business and realize that though rewarding, it’s such a demanding life. And there will be an end at some point...just not right now. So, thank you very much…we will be around for a while longer. “The Wong Family” H ea l th y S t udents-Healthy Saugus (HS2) continues With the start of 2021, the Grab-N-Go meals program is back for another year at the Saugus Public Schools to keep needy students from going hungry. Healthy Students-Healthy Saugus (HS2), in partnership with Whitsons Food Service, continues with its noble program. Breakfasts and lunches will be available for pick up at the Veterans Memorial School at 39 Hurd Ave. every Tuesday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. HS2 is a nonprofit group that helps to offset food insecurity in households. HS2 provides a supply of nutritious food for weekends or school holidays during the school year. For more inforTHE SOUNDS | SEE PAGE 9 “ The time is always right to do the right thing. ” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. WE’LL BE CLOSED ON MONDAY, JANUARY 18TH TO HONOR DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. 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