THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, February 14, 2020 Page 13 Sachem boys showing progress as playoffs approach By Greg Phipps H aving won four of its last five contests, all Northeastern Conference games, the Saugus High School boys basketball team is showing significant progress as the playoffs draw near. The Sachems earned their second win of the season over the Winthrop Vikings on Monday to improve to 7-10 overall on the season. The Sachems rolled to a 27-point win over the Vikings the first time the two teams played each other in Saugus just after the New Year. On Monday, senior captain Christian Correia had one of his best games of the season, producing a double-double performance of 25 points and 12 rebounds in a 57-36 victory. Nick Israelson came up big with 15 points and guard Joe Lusso was effective finding teammates, as ASKS | from page 6 body babysit for us, and that was for an anniversary or something special. But that’s the way it was in those days. Eugene: Yeah. It’s a different world today. Arlene: It’s totally different. Eugene: The kids are brought up that they want everything, and I think the worst thing that ever came out is charge cards, because kids live on charge cards, and they get themselves in debt. Now, we didn’t have charge cards. If you didn’t have the money, you didn’t do it. That was the bottom line. You just didn’t go out and borrow money if you didn’t have the money to pay it. Arlene: I remember a little he finished with 10 assists to go along with seven points. It was a good rebound effort for the Sachems, who were coming off a disappointing 50-point loss to top-ranked Lynn English six days earlier. Before the loss to English, Saugus had notched three straight conference wins, beginning with key wins against Danvers and Marblehead and an impressive triumph over Lynn Classical. With just three games left in the regular season, the Sachems will look to finish strong heading into the postseason tourney. Saugus faced a hot Peabody squad, which had won three of its last four games, on Thursday (after press deadline) and follow that up with a road game against Northeast Metro Tech on Tuesday. The Sachems close out the regular season when they host Medford on Wednesday. TV with a phonograph on it. We had to pay something on it every week for maybe two years – no charges – just pay so much a week on it. Q: What would you say if you were to name five highlights as you look back on your time together over the 67 years? The best of the 67 years. Arlene: Raising a family, Number One. We’ve taken some really nice trips. I got to visit relatives out in California. Eugene: We had a pop-up trailer, and every summer, we’d go camping. And the rules were simple. “Your mother is on vacation.” So the boys [three sons] had to do the work: light the fire and help do the cooking and clean up. She [Arlene] didn’t have to do anything. Saugus guard Joe Lusso dished out 10 assists in Monday’s 21-point win at Winthrop. (Advocate Photo by Greg Phipps) When we were on a weekend camping trip, it was the four men who did the work and she had her vacation. Arlene: And they still go camping after they’ve gone off and married. Eugene: It was the little things in life when you look back at it. We thought they were big at that time. But when you go back and look at it, it was the little things in life. For instance, when I painted the house, I would do one side a summer. And people would stop by and want to go to lunch. I told them “I can’t. I can’t afford it.” So, we worked on a very tight budget. When I say we were very lucky, we were very fortunate. When the furnace broke and the hot water heater let go – and it was an old one pipe furnace in the middle of the living room/dining room – and no duct work in the house, and I called up the bank and said here’s the problem. And I told them I wasn’t going to be able to make it. And they said, “Just pay the interest and we’ll work with you.” It wasn’t two days later that there was a knock on the door. One of their Board of Directors members was an oil company – Booma Oil. Mr. Booma came up, looked at the situation, did some measuring, went back to the bank, and they came up and put in a new heating system – all the duct work, a new hot water heater – and put it on the end of the mortgage. Now, how lucky is that? You wouldn’t hear about that today. And the old Lynn Institution for Savings. They were right down on the Central Square of Lynn. Q: That was your first house? Eugene: Yes. That was the house on Springdale Ave. When I was on the Board of Directors of the Saugus Federal Credit Union, we always tried to work with people. You gotta help. You can’t just be money hungry. You gotta work with people and try to help them get through whatever problems they have. So we had a lot of lessons in life as we grew up. Arlene: We didn’t have any food pantries or any parents or anyone to help us in those days. We did it ourselves. Eugene: We grew up on spaghetti – hamburg and spaghetti. Arlene: American chop suey. Q: Oh, I love that dish. It’s one of my favorites. I’ve lived it since schooldays. Eugene: Do you? Q: Yep. Arlene: Our kids loved it. We had it all of the time. It was inexpensive in those days. Eugene: And because of her, I became a pie maker. I don’t know if you know – I make pies; I make a lot of them and I enjoy it. And what I enjoy about it – I’m my mother’s son. Arlene: She had nine children. Eugene: To cook and have ASKS | SEE PAGE 14
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