Page 16 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, JAnUAry 24, 2025 The Sounds of Saugus By Mark E. Vogler Good morning, Saugus We’re only three quarters of the way through January, a traditionally slow time of the year. But organizers of two major events of town-wide interest coming up next month and in March are keeping busy as they prepare their respective programs. Saugus Cultural Festival Feb. 23 Planning continues for the Saugus Cultural Festival, which is set for Sunday, Feb. 23, at Saugus Middle-High School. This inclusive and family-friendly event will celebrate Saugus’ cultural diversity through the showcase of food, performances and other activities, according to Tori Darnell, Co-chair of the Saugus Cultural Council – the event’s organizers. The Cultural Council is looking for: · Performers: Musicians, dancers, poets, actors and artists of all kinds are invited to showcase their talents on our stage. · Food vendors: Share your culinary creations with festival-goers. Local food trucks, caterers and restaurant owners are encouraged to apply. · Volunteers: Help us make the event a success by joining our team. Volunteers will assist with setup, guest services, event coordination and more. This is a great opportunity to share new experiences with the community. To apply or to learn more information, please contact the Cultural Council at: · Email: saugusculturalcouncil@gmail.com · Phone: 339-440-1017. Don’t miss out on being part of this exciting celebration in our Town! We can’t wait to see you there! Deadline for applications: Jan. 19. Please reach out if you have any questions. 15 Saugus 4-1-1 set for March The Saugus 4-1-1 forum that was originally scheduled for March 1 has been rescheduled for later in the month. “The Saugus 4-1-1 Committee would like everyone to know BEST TEAM PHOTO OF 2024: Members of the 2024 Saugus High School Sachems football team volunteered at the Saugus United Parish Food Pantry in the basement of Cliftondale Congregational Church, helping to make Thanksgiving brighter for needy local families. that the Saugus 4-1-1 event will be taking place on March 15, 2025,” Selectman Corinne Riley said in an email to The Saugus Advocate. “(Please note the date change). Invitations to all new residents as well as non-profits will be mailed out in January. We are looking forward to having this wonderful event for new residents as well as those who have been here for years to learn what Saugus has to offer! Also, if you have a local business or service to promote, send your request or further inquiries to Saugus411@gmail.com, there are ‘Welcome Bags’ that are given out to the new residents with all kinds of information which could include your business or services offered to our Saugus residents. Stay tuned for further updates!” Selectman Riley was the driving force behind the nifty program, which had two previous well-attended Saturdays at the Saugus Middle-High School in recent years (2022 and 2023). Stay tuned for more details. Saugus United Parish Food Pantry The Saugus United Parish Food Pantry welcomes all neighbors facing food insecurity on Fridays from 9:3011 a.m. at 50 Essex St. in the basement of Cliftondale Congregational Church. Please note that the pantry is pausing food drive donations through the end of February because of the generosity of the community during the holiday season. Food drives will resume in March. Legion Breakfasts today There’s a good deal for Saugus veterans and other folks who enjoy a hearty breakfast on Friday mornings. The American Legion Post 210 at 44 Taylor St. in Saugus offers Friday morning breakfasts for the 2024-25 season. Doors open at 7:30 a.m., with breakfast served from 8-9:00 a.m. for an $8 donation. Veterans who cannot afford the donation may be served free. This week’s “SHOUT OUTS” We didn’t receive any nominations from readers on remarkable acts of kindness or impressive achievements by Saugonians this week. So, I will go with compliments that town officials heaped on the Department of Public Works during this week’s first significant snowfall of the winter. Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Jeff Cicolini praised the DPW for doing “a fantastic job.” He noted that the work crews did a good job of staying ahead of the storm by pretreating the streets. 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 a 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 a photo. Looking back on 2024 Hopefully, readers will enjoy our photo spread in this week’s paper that includes the top cover photos of each month during 2024. It’s time-consuming, but fun to do this every year for our readers, usually following our Year-In-Review issue. Sometimes the photos are in the same issue. This year, we’re a few weeks late. But it’s still timely, as we have one more week left in January. I’d like to thank my good photojournalist buddy, David Spink, who wrote about Saugus and took a lot of photos in town many years ago when he was a staff writer and photographer at North Shore Sunday. David has been an avid reader of The Saugus Advocate since I became editor in March of 2016. Practically every week, he helps me out with his photographic expertise by recommending which photos belong on page one and which ones don’t. Here’s David’s take on our best photo of 2024 – the one taken by Saugus Advocate Photographer Tara Vocino. That featured a jolly green scene at the Saugus Senior Center during the Annual St. Patrick’s Day party: Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree and Lorraine Lewis dancing up a storm in their finest St. Patrick’s Day outfits. It was a very close competition this year. “St. Patrick’s photo and flood photo jump out, with butterfly and bee finishing a tight third,” David told me. “St. Pat’s wins in my book (unless flood was a super big story),” he said. I yielded to David’s better judgement. I liked Charlie Zapolski’s excellent photo of Spencer Avenue, which we ran the full five columns across the top of Page One in our Jan. 19 issue, with the headline “A Floody Day in Saugus.” But when the competition is close, I prefer to go with compelling people over a shot of a street submerged with flood waters. But Charlie executed a great spot news shot, and that’s why we ran it big. Another photo that I thought was outstanding was Laura Eisener’s shot of a bee trying to hitch a ride on the wing of THE SOUNDS | SEE PAGE 17
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