Page 10 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2021 THE SOUNDS OF SAUGUS By Mark E. Vogler H ere are a few tidbits that you might want to know about this week in Saugus. Clothing drive tomorrow for needy Saugus youths The First Congregational Church-United Church of Christ Saugus tomorrow (Saturday, Feb. 6) is sponsoring a Community-Wide Drive for donations of winter hats, mittens/ gloves and scarves for youths up to age 21 in our community who are in need. And the need is great, according to event organizers. The Drive will take place from 10 a.m. to noon. New, handmade or like new and laundered items can be dropped off at the church at 300 Central St. “We will be outside the front doors, which are located across from Town Hall on Hamilton Street. Please wear your masks,” Terri Leander said. “Many families with youth are hurting financially for a number of reasons but especially due to the pandemic. We would greatly appreciate the support of our community in this Drive because it really does take a village to raise a child,” Leander said. “Looking forward to seeing many of you this Saturday.” Distribution of the items will be on Saturday, Feb. 20 (details will be announced) at the Church. Calling young artists If you are a school-age student living in Saugus and love to draw or paint or take photographs, here’s your chance to display your artistic talents – for everyone in your hometown to see. “The Selectmen’s Office is seeking any original artwork and / or photographs created by any Saugus school aged child to be included in the Town of Saugus Annual Report,” according to an email we received this week from Wendy Reed, clerk of the Saugus Board of Selectmen. “One will be chosen for the Annual Report cover. Artwork should include student’s name and age and may be sent to: Saugus Board of Selectmen, 298 Central Street.” Or, you may email Wendy at wreed@saugus-ma.gov. Artwork must be received by the selectmen’s office no later than Feb. 25. This sounds like a great opportunity. We have a winner! We have a winner in last week’s “Guess Who Got Sketched” contest. Congratulations to Jeanie Bartolo, who contacted us first and offered the correct answer. Thanks to other readers who responded by email or phone message. Try again this week. Here’s last week’s answer, offered by the person who goes by the name of The Sketch Artist: “Last week’s sketch was part of a duet team! Mr. Joe Dion and here’s Mrs. Joe Dion (Debbie Dion-Faust) to tell you about her husband in her own words: ‘Joe Dion was born and raised in Saugus, growing up in the Bristow Street area, graduated with Saugus HS class of 1962, is a member of his alumni association and likes to attend occasional reunions. He served in the Navy in the 1960’s in three places: 1) Great Lakes Machinist’s Mate School, 2) Atlanta Reserve Fleet in Portsmouth, VA and 3) aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Kearsarge in Viet Nam. He lived in Oklahoma and Texas for a number of years before returning to Saugus to be near his mother after his father died. Worked for Eastern Airlines until they went under. Helped to build and paint sets for drama club productions in three schools in which his wife was employed for 32 years. (I used to call him my “long-suffering husband,” because around 20 weeks out of every school year he sat home by himself with the cats while I left the house by 6:30 a.m. and got home after afternoon rehearsals at about 7 p.m. or after evening rehearsals at 10:30 p.m. or later.) Upon his return to Saugus he got involved with the American Legion in an effort to assist veterans. He is currently the Senior Vice-Commander of the Legion and as such deals with new members and transfers. He helped to establish the Friday morning breakfast, re-invigorate the meetings by serving a dinner first, and talked his newly retired wife into helping out with it in 2012, and encouraged her to manage the hall starting in 2014. Debbie’ “*Thank You to a wonderful couple you shine brightly! Yours Truly, The Sketch Artist” A “Shout-Out” for Mother Nature’s signs of spring We learned this week that Punxsutawney Phil – that GUESS WHO GOT SKETCHED! In this week’s edition, we continue our weekly feature where a local artist sketches people, places and things in Saugus. Got an idea who’s being sketched this week? If you do, please email me at mvoge@comcast.net or leave a phone message at 978-683-7773. The first reader to respond between now and Tuesday morning and correctly identify the Saugonian being sketched is the winner of a $10 gift certificate, compliments of Dunkin’ at the 1204 Broadway Saugus location at Route 1 North. But you have to enter to win! Look for the winner and identification in next week’s “The Sounds of Saugus.” Please leave your mailing address in case you are a winner. (Courtesy illustration to The Saugus Advocate by a Saugonian who goes by the name of “The Sketch Artist”) A “Shout-Out” for the Boy Scouts of Saugus Monday (Feb. 8) will mark the 111 the anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America. That means tomorrow will be Scout Sunday – the official start of Boy Scout Anniversary Week. To mark the occasion, we interviewed Saugus’s newest Eagle – David Woodworth of local Boy Scout Troop 61. As I mentioned before in this column, I always look forward to interviewing Eagle Scouts because they embrace the best of America by doing so many good deeds in communities throughout America. Of course, I am biased when it comes to Eagle Scouts. It will be 53 years ago this coming spring that I received my Eagle Scout badge. As the saying goes: “Once an Eagle, always an Eagle.” I have no doubts that my scouting experience with Troop 26 in Swansea, Mass., had a profound influence on the person I turned out to be. And I know from firsthand experience what it takes to become Eagle Scout. I actually owe my start in journalism to the scouting experience. Jean Allardice, whose son Wesley Allardice earned his Eagle badge the same time I did and was honored the same night, worked as a correspondent for the Fall River Herald News daily newspaper and the Somerset weekly, Spectator Press. She arranged for me to be a troop news reporter, filing stories on troop activities to The Herald News. A few years later, she recommended me to the Spectator for a sports writing job. I got paid 15 cents an inch covering high school sports during my final two years prognosticating groundhog – saw his shadow. So, as the legendary critter’s predictions go, we are due for six more weeks of winter. That’s not necessarily the case as far as Jeanie Bartolo is concerned. Saugus’s prolific “shout-out” contributor nominated the encouraging signs of Mother Nature that she personally witnessed. “Spring can’t be too far away,” Jeanie said. “Flocks of robins, blue jays and tiny woodpeckers have been in my yard the past two days all getting along together!” at Joseph Case High School in Swansea. Daily newspapers in Fall River, Boston and Providence learned that I covered games and later paid me to string for them – some great experience even before I got to college. Unfortunately Scouting has suffered from some bad publicity in recent years: filing for bankruptcy in the wake of declining membership and child sexual abuse allegations across the country. It’s quite unfortunate, because the allegations have tarnished the once great reputation of the BSA and its incredible impact upon America. Out of the thousands of Boy Scouts every year, only a handful – anywhere from 2 to 8 percent reach the rank of Eagle Scout. Here are a dozen of some of the most famous Eagle Scouts: • Neil Armstrong, an American astronaut and the first man to walk on the moon • Steven Spielberg, and Academy Award-winning director of “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan” • Gerald Ford, the 38th U.S. president • Michael Dukakis, former Massachusetts Governor and presidential candidate • Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg L.P. and former New York City mayor • Harrison Salisbury, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who covered the civil rights movement, Kennedy assassination and Vietnam War • Paul Siple, the Antarctic explorer who coined the term “windchill” • Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of modern television • Sam Walton, founder of Walmart • Percy Sutton, civil rights leader, Tuskegee Airmen pilot, entrepreneur who revitalized the Apollo Theater in New York • Thomas Norris, Navy SEAL who received Medal of Honor for his actions during the Vietnam War • Mitchell Paige, Marine who received Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942 There have many other famous folks – like NBA basketball great Michael Jordan, civil rights leader Martin Luther King and Presidents John Kennedy and George W. Bush and Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Hank Aaron – who were involved in scouting, although they didn’t become Eagles. The scouting movement actually originated in Great Britain in 1908, when Lieutenant General Robert Stephenson Smyth Badin-Powell founded the Boy Scout Association. W.D. Boyce, a newspaperman and entrepreneur, brought scouting to the United States two years later, with its original purpose: to train youths in responsible citizenship, character development and self-reliance. And despite its troubles of late, it’s an organization that should be a key component of any community. Child sex abuse scandals have rocked the Catholic Church, the teaching profession, child day care centers and youth sports. But organizations, with the best of intentions, are only as good as the people in charge. And from all indications – at least from my observations as an observer of the two Boy Scout Troops in Saugus over the past five years – Boy Scouting has been a wonderful youth program that’s done the town proud. I would encourage any parent of scouting age kids to check out one of the troops. 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. Snowstorm puts trash/recycling on one-day delay The Town of Saugus announced that the trash and recycling collection will run on a one-day delay through tomorrow (Saturday, Feb. 6), because of the snowstorm earlier in the week. Residents whose collection day falls on today (Friday, Feb. 5) will be collected on Saturday. Residents should make sure trash and recycling is accessible. The compost/recycling site has closed for the season. The next time this site will be open is Saturday, Feb. 20, THE SOUNDS OF SAUGUS | SEE PAGE 11
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