Page 12 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2022 THE SOUNDS OF SAUGUS By Mark E. Vogler It’s budget time again The 2023 Fiscal Year Budget season is officially underway in Saugus. Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree kicked it off on Monday – the final day of February – when he met with the Board of Selectmen for nearly two and a half hours in the first floor conference room at Saugus Town Hall. There, Crabtree briefed selectmen on his $120.4 million spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1. This coming Wednesday (March 9), the Finance Committee will commence its detailed analysis of the budget at 7 p.m. in the second floor conference room. Committee members plan to initiate the first of many Wednesday night sessions between now and the first Monday in the month of May when the Annual Town Meeting convenes in the upstairs auditorium. On the agenda for Wednesday night’s FinComm session is an update and review of revenue and expenses of the FY 2022 (for the current budget year ending June 30) operational budget. Then, in the following weeks, committee members will grill town department heads on the budget variances. The nights of most interest include the meetings involving the Saugus Public Schools, the Police Department, the Fire Department, the Department of Public Works, the Northeast Regional Vocational School District and the Water Enterprise Fund and the Sewer Enterprise Fund. Besides the respective department heads and staff related to the particular budgets being reviewed, those attending will include mostly Town Meeting members who want to do their homework on the budget they will eventually vote on. The financial articles that encompass the town budget will all receive recommendations – both favorable and unfavorable – from the FinCom. And there will be adjustments crafted by Crabtree and his top financial people right into the new fiscal CONTEST SKETCH OF THE WEEK year on July 1, as revenue estimates become more predictable or actual figures. As in past years, The Saugus Advocate will cover the FinCom proceedings and report on the highlights in that Friday’s paper. I admire the Town Meeting members who show up with their budget package and notebooks, trying to develop a fiscal understanding of how the town budget process works. My first experience covering a town Finance Committee came in 1976 with The North Adams Transcript when I got to cover the Williamstown Finance Committee in the community that loved to call itself “The Village Beautiful,” which is also the home of Williams College. During my time as the paper’s Williamstown bureau chief, I wrote a story with a screaming headline across the front page: “One out of four on welfare in the Village Beautiful.” Of course, it was a story that irked many of the town fathers, who felt it was a frontal assault on their image as a beautiful, wealthy college town. Trash pick up still running on one-day delay JRM Hauling & Recycling Services of Peabody canceled last Friday’s (Feb. 25) collection because of the snowstorm, prompting trash and recycling collection to run on a delayed schedule. That one-day delay continues into this week. JRM will be collecting trash and recycling materials initially scheduled for today (Friday, March 4) during tomorrow (Saturday, March 5) instead. Residents should make sure trash and recycling is accessible and make sure a path is shoveled through the snow if necessary. The compost/recycling site will be closed until Saturday, March 19, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Town of Saugus would like to thank everyone for their cooperation. Please contact Solid Waste/Recycling Coordinator Lorna Cerbone at 781-231-4036 with any questions. Town Democrats will caucus on Sunday The Saugus Democratic Town Committee issued the following press release this week: The Saugus Democratic Town Committee will hold their caucus on March 6, 2022 at 7 p.m. to elect delegates and alternates to the 2022 Massachusetts Democratic State Convention. The caucus will take place virtually on Zoom. Registered Democrats who wish to participate virtually may register in advance for this meeting at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0rdOqqrT8vG9V3WpMDeO9W6baYceppTnx8 You will receive a personalized link and passcode to the Zoom caucus in an email, which you’ll need to keep. Our virtual doors will open at 6:30 p.m. We encourage registrants to arrive early before the 7 p.m. start time. Everyone who is in the waiting room by 7:15 p.m. will be admitted. The caucus is open to all registered and pre-registered Democrats in Saugus. Pre-registered Democrats who were 16 by Feb. 4, 2022 will be allowed to participate and run as a delegate or alternate. Saugus can elect 12 delegates and two alternates to the convention. Youth, minorities, people with disabilities, and GUESS WHO GOT SKETCHED! If you know the right answer, you might win the contest. 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 was sketched this week? If you do, please email me at mvoge@comcast.net or leave a phone message at 978-683-7773. Anyone who between now and Tuesday at noon identifi es the Saugonian sketched in this week’s paper qualifi es to have their name put in a green Boston Red Sox hat with a chance to be selected as the winner of a $10 gift certifi cate, compliments of Dunkin’ in the Food Court at the Saugus Square One Mall. But you have to enter to win! Look for the winner and identifi cation 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”) LGBTQ+ individuals who are not elected as a delegate or alternate are encouraged to apply to be add-on delegates at the caucus or by visiting massdems.org/caucus. We have a winner! Congratulations to Bryan Nadeau for making the right identification in last week’s “Guess Who got Sketched!” Contest. He was one of several readers answering correctly, and the one who had his name selected from the green Boston Red Sox cap. Here’s the correct answer, offered by the person who goes by the name of The Sketch Artist: “The answer to last week’s sketch is a lady who is almost famous for her Angel Food cakes! The woman is Lee Dyment. Lee is a warm, inviting woman with many social graces of hospitality. “Lee is from Fana, Norway; Janice K. Jarosz had written a compelling article about Lee and her family’s skillful survival under The 1940’s German Invasion & Occupancy. Lee Skauhellen, 21 years old, arrived in Boston Ma. on Dec. 4, 1950 via Ship from Norway. Lee came to stay with her Aunt in Melrose. Suddenly, life seemed to open like a book of wonderful surprises for Lee. “A little over a week later, she turned 22, and in January 1951 met the man she was destined to marry (although not smitten at fi rst) and she was on TV! Lee was on Bride and Groom CBS TV Show & Lee won an all expenses paid wedding & Honeymoon. Lee, 24, and Alton Neil, had a Honeymoon at a Dude Ranch in New York. “In 1952, Lee won her Betty Crocker Cookbook that she still uses today in 2022 to make her signature Angel Food cakes! Lee and Alton Dyment bought their Saugus home in 1961. “Lee, this lovely Saugonian, resides there today. Lee’s husband passed away in 1995. The Dyment’s have two children who went on to Graduate Saugus High and participate in various Saugus activities and create wonderful giving lives of their own. Lee is a Garden Club Member, MEG Foundation Board Member & avid swimmer since a child. “Recently, Lee appeared on “What’s Cookin’ (Saugus Cable TV Channel 8) and talked about some of her history and had her wedding pictures & CBS Bride and Groom pictures on display. “Lee’s pastries are absolutely delicious and distinct. Having had the privilege of tasting them as many Saugonians have, they are very light & airy yet dense and full of cream! Lee was a regular swimmer at Melrose YMCA till the pandemic struck. “Hoping as things resume to a more normalcy, Lee will once again, get her strokes and pool laps in! “Lee, you’re an amazingly strong woman and a star to anyone who has been graced by your presence! Keep shining “Yours Truly, “The Sketch Artist” A “Shout-Out” to Detective Jimmy Donovan Board of Selectmen Chair Anthony Cogliano, Sr. offered an extra special “Shout Out this week” to longtime Saugus Police Detective James “Jimmy” Donovan, who officially retired this week after 32 years on the town’s Police Department. “On behalf of The Board of Selectmen, I would like to recognize Detective James Donovan of the Saugus Police Department and thank him for his 32 years of dedicated service to our Town. We wish him nothing but the best in his retirement and all future endeavors. Thank you, Jimmy,” Cogliano wrote in a text message to The Saugus Advocate. Cogliano also had a special citation from the Board of Selectmen to recognize his service to the town. Earlier in the week, State Rep. Donald H. Wong (R-Saugus) and State Rep. Jessica Giannino (D-Revere) made a point of presenting Donovan with legislative commendations for his service to the community. Bravo, Stop & Shop workers! We received another “Shout-Out” nomination this week, this one from loyal Saugus Advocate reader Sue Fleming. She advocated “A big shout out to the employees at Stop and Shop. They have been renovating for several weeks now and we all know how hard it is to shop when things have been relocated.” “I was there this morning [Wednesday, March 2] and asked questions three times of different employees about where something was located. They were all very helpful and cheerful. It must be difficult for them too but they were all very upbeat and friendly while helping me. Very much appreciated.” 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 THE SOUNDS OF SAUGUS | SEE PAGE 14
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