Page 16 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, April 14, 2023 The Sounds of Saugus By Mark E. Vogler Good morning, Saugus! It’s a great and very beautiful time of the year for the community, with the gorgeous yellow daffodils sprouting in gardens and along roadsides throughout town. There’s a lot going on across the community. Saugus Little League Opening Day ceremonies are just a week from tomorrow (Saturday, April 15). Be sure to mark your calendar for 10 a.m. April 22 for the Saugus Little League parade, which will begin from Anna Parker Field and wind its way through Cliftondale Square down Lincoln Avenue to Central Street and onto Hurd Avenue, ending at Grabowski Field for the Opening Day ceremonies that will feature a 20th anniversary celebration of the 2003 team that made it to the Little League World Series. That team finished runner-up in the United States and fourth in the world, and most of the players are expected to ride a makeshift duck boat in the parade. League officials are doing all they can to make this year’s Opening Day a communitywide event. They are hoping to beef up the parade with representatives from the senior citizens and veterans’ communities. Guy Moley has already agreed to participate with some cars from his charity car shows. The Saugus Police and Fire Departments will be involved. There will be a DJ and a food truck at Grabowski Field. So, with good weather, it could be a nice family and community event that appeals to Saugonians of all ages. It’s also a busy, but very engaging time of the year for Town government officials and civic-minded Saugonians who like to stay informed on the important local issues affecting their community. The Annual Town Meeting is set to begin on the first Monday of the month – May 1 – at 7:30 p.m. in the second floor auditorium at Saugus Town Hall. In its April 21 edition, The Saugus Advocate will have a comprehensive preview of this year’s Town Meeting session and the Special Town Meeting, which will be scheduled for Opening Night. The warrant is 20 pages long, containing 22 articles – a lot of reading, homework and preparation for the 50-member Town Meeting that will vote on the issues. But Article 22, which would create a Cliftondale Square Zoning Overlay District, takes up 17 pages of the warrant and is considered to be by far the most controversial of the articles. Some opponents have already complained that it could change the character of the Cliftondale neighborhood by allowing the construction of tall buildings – some as high as 50 feet – in Cliftondale. Precinct 10 Town Meeting Member Peter Manoogian noted that 50-foot buildings could indeed be allowed in Cliftondale for developers who are able to obtain a special (S-2) permit from the Board of Selectmen. “Given that the BOS have NEVER denied a height S2 due to the enormous developer pressure, one can safely assume that every project in Cliftondale will be 50 feet,” Manoogian said. But Precinct 2 Town Meeting Member Joe Vecchione disputes that claim, insisting that the scale and type of growth which has taken over Route 1 will not be repeated in Cliftondale. Stay tuned. Forums on Manoogian articles Town Clerk Ellen Schena announced this week that she received a request from Precinct 10 Town Meeting Peter Manoogian to inform all Town Meeting members and the Board of Selectmen that the Saugus Public Library will host two forums in its Community Room for a briefing on three articles on the warrant for the Annual Town Meeting. The forums on Articles 17, 18 and 19 are set for Tuesday, April 18, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:50 p.m. and on Saturday, April 29, from noon to 1:30 p.m. Books in Bloom starts today! It’s one of the great indoor local events that promotes reading and gardening in the spring. The Community Room at the Saugus Public Library will host the Books in Bloom event today (Friday, April 14) from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and tomorrow (Saturday, April 15) from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This event is free and features literary-themed floral displays throughout the library and is sponsored by the Saugus Garden Club. If you love flowers and want to get some ideas for some books, check this one out. I always enjoy the Books in Bloom event and plan to stop there today before I head off to Ashby, Mass., with my college buddy Bob Callahan for a Saturday public service project authorized by the Woburn Kiwanis Club. Ashby, a bedroom community of about 3,200 residents, is situated in the northwestern corner of Middlesex County near the New Hampshire border and is the home of 4-H Camp Middlesex. There were about 60 Woburn Kiwanians when I participated in my first Ashby work project weekend in the late 1990s. But participation over the last decade has dwindled to five or fewer members. And the duration has gone from two days to one. It’s kind of a shame, but a sign of the times of difficulties facing service clubs. My friend Bob is the one person keeping a nearly seven-decades-old tradition between the Woburn Kiwanis Club and the camp alive. Over the years, the Kiwanians built a bridge at the camp, helped get a $50,000 grant for swimming pool improvements, worked on the construction and repairs of other buildings and completed numerous other projects instrumental to the camp’s survival. On Saturday, the small group of Kiwanians and I will devote our time to clearing fallen trees and branches from the winter off cabin rooftops and pathways. “Saugus Over Coffee” I’m very optimistic about getting a good turnout for the next “Saugus Over Coffee” forum, which is set for Tuesday, April 25. Three of the five Town Meeting members from Precinct 4 – Moderator Stephen Doherty and members Maureen Whitcomb and Glen Davis – have notified us that they will be there to meet Precinct 4 residents and answer questions about issues facing Precinct 4. For those unfamiliar with the “Saugus Over Coffee” forums, they are cosponsored by The Saugus Advocate and the Saugus Public Library. The primary purpose is to give citizens in each of the town’s 10 precincts an opportunity to voice their concerns about top issues in their respective precincts. It also gives them an opportunity to meet their Town Meeting representatives and chat over a cup of coffee or tea. Town Meeting members will benefit by getting to know more about concerns in their precincts. Viewers of the forums videotaped by Saugus TV will also get to learn a little about the history or interesting things about the precinct being featured each month. The “Saugus Over Coffee” forum was originally set for April 17. We had to reschedule because it happened to be set for Patriots’ Day, a state holiday – a day when the Saugus Public Library and all municipal and school buildings in Saugus will be closed. We also decided to change the date of the “Saugus Over Coffee” forum that was planned for Precinct 5 on May 8. As it turns out, Saugus’ Annual Town Meeting convenes on Monday, May 1. And each Town Meeting session happens on a Monday. So the Town Meeting would most likely be meeting on May 8. Because of that potential conflict, we switched the forum for Precinct 5 to a Tuesday, May 2. We mailed the invitations out this week. One of my major hopes for the forums is that it spurs an interest for citizens to become potential candidates for Town Meeting in this fall’s town election. The public should keep in mind that there was a paucity of candidates for Town Meeting seats in the town elections back in 2021. In five of the 10 precincts, only five candidates ran for the five seats. That means half of the 50-member body was elected without competition. Stay tuned for more information as “Saugus Over Coffee” continues. Here is the remaining schedule: Precinct 4 – April 25 Precinct 5 – May 2 Precinct 6 – June 12 Precinct 7 – July 10 Precinct 8 – August 14 Precinct 9 – September 11 Precinct 10 – October 23 Please check with The Saugus Advocate or library for any changes in dates. Residents can check the programming guide on the station’s website (www. saugustv.org) for dates and times. A video of the forum will also be available for viewing on the station’s vimeo page within a day or two after the event – www.vimeo.com/saugustelevision. Multiple “Shout Outs” this week It’s a great week when we receive more than one “shout out.” It was one of those weeks, as we received multiple “shout outs.” This week’s nominations: Police Chief Michael Ricciardelli used the occasion of National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week (NPSTW) to thank Saugus’ public safety dispatchers. NPSTW, held this year from April 9-15, is a time to celebrate and thank telecommunications professionals across the country who serve their communities, citizens and public safety personnel 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “I would like to recognize Saugus’ team of dedicated dispatchers for their commitment each day to keep our residents safe,” said Chief Ricciardelli. “These dispatchers serve as the first point of contact for people in crisis and we are extremely grateful for their service to our department and our community.” Precinct 6 Town Meeting Member Jeanie Bartolo praised beloved Saugus Advocate columnist Bill Stewart: “A ‘Shout Out’ for Bill Stewart who writes the weekly ‘The Old Sachem’ column for the Advocate. He wrote a great article on Vincent Van Gogh in this week’s edition. Keep them coming, Bill!” Joanie Allbee: “This Shout Out is also a BIG Congratulations to a SEVENTY FIVE plus AWARDS Winner (yes you heard me right 75 Awards! Including a couple Commendations and Legislative Bill signing Ceremonial pens used to sign passing Bills by Governors in two States that this man helped to pass laws on). “Our Saugus Advocate Editor, Audubon Award and Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Mark E. Vogler! Editor Mark is going to have to exempt a few Patriots memorabilia in his office in order to make way for yet another award! “In May, at a prestigious Awards Recognition banquet, Mark and four other elite and distinguished journalists throughout the six states will be receiving ‘The New England Newspaper Hall of Fame’ Award. Mark, Let us hope for you that your walls don’t start to buckle under the weight of all the awards it beholds! Bravo!” A special “Shout Out” from The Saugus Advocate to the 23 Saugonians who are registered to run this coming Monday, Patriots’ Day (April 17) in the 127th Boston Marathon. They have been training for months for the 26.2-mile run. Hopefully, the runners will complete the race without any ill health effects while matching their endurance goals. The marathon runners are Danielle Casazza, 48; Bob Catinazzo, 55; Abbey Chesna, 44; Michelle Cronin, 44; David M. Diaz; 53; Christine Digirolamo, 29; Brett DiPanfilo, 31; Robert Favuzza, 58; Danielle Good, 33; Chris Hancock, 49; Casey Hyde, 28; Brenda Iafrate, 58; Dave Jefska, 66; Anthony LoPresti, 53; Michael Mclaughlin, 47; Cassandra Norton, 31; Shelagh O’Connell, 34; Andrea Oneil, 31; Stephen Rappa, 37; Trina Riley, 28; Gina Spaziani, 56; Ingrid Torres Ulate, 36; and Sheree Wheeler, 48. Want to “Shout Out” a fellow Saugonian? This is an opportunity for our paper’s readers to single out – THE SOUNDS | SEE PAGE 17
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