THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, April 28, 2023 Page 7 ASKS | FROM PAGE 3 Q: What are the streets? A: You got Washington, Jefferson, Cleveland, Garfield, Harrison. There’s a whole bunch of them. I may have even missed a couple. Q: Are there any special characters in Saugus history that are a part of that precinct? Part of the fabric of the precinct’s history? A: We have Vinegar Hill – that’s a historic place. We have the pirates. There were four pirates captured across the street from Vinegar Hill by British soldiers, and, I believe three of them were tried and hung. A fourth one got away. He lived out in Lynn Woods in Dungeon Rock, I believe – supposedly – after he escaped. So, I think that’s kind of cool. Q: Do you know what the time frame was on that? A: It was the 1650s, I believe, when that went down. A lot of people don’t realize that Lynn Woods is 2,200 acres. People don’t realize that a chunk of it goes into Saugus. It’s pretty neat. And I have 20 acres behind my house, which is across Walnut Street… Q: Are there any historic markers in your precinct that come to mind? A: Obviously, Vinegar Hill. And a lot of people don’t know that the Lynnhurst School – that before it was built it was called Fairchild Farm. It was actually a farm. Fairchild Ave., off of Fairmount, was named after that family. And the town built a school on it. Q: The Lynnhurst Elementary School. That’s a former school building… A: That’s vacant, and it’s unknown what’s going to go there. Q: Any other history about your precinct that makes it special? A: Yes. There actually is. Near the Lynnhurst School on the Third and Fourth of July, every year for over a hundred years now, they have an old-fashioned Fourth of July celebration. They have a band playing on July 3 evening. Parents and kids come. And the next day, they have all of the old-fashioned stuff : pie-eating, knapsack race and a tug-o-war. It’s a block party that’s been going on since World War I or around then, and it’s all volunteer work. And I believe that one of my Town Meeting members is in charge of that now. Q: Which one? A: Jaclyn Hickman. I believe she took it over a couple of years ago. My very good friend, Ed Davey, ran it for over 20 years and his kids are grown now. I believe Jaclyn took it over for him to keep the tradition alive. That’s really neat. One cool fact about that: My friend Ed Davey told me that back in the ’40s, before they had phones, the Boy Scouts would go around the neighborhood in Precinct 5, knocking on doors and they would ask “Are you coming?” and “What are you going to bring?” Someone might say “I’m going to bring potato salad” or “I’m going to bring hot dogs.” So they would get a list so they knew who was coming and who was bringing what. And that was before we had all of this high-tech communication. I thought that was pretty cool. Q: It sounds pretty cool. Yeah. The Boy Scouts would act as messengers? A: Yeah. They actually used to go around and knock on doors. And they would get a list of who was coming to the Lynnhurst for the Fourth. What will be the future use of the vacant Lynnhurst Elementary School? Precinct 5 Town Meeting Member Ronald M. Wallace sees that as a major concern of residents of the Saugus neighborhoods he represents. (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler) Q: I’d like to get invited to a Lynnhurst Fourth of July Celebration one of these years. But every time I inquire about it, people discourage me from writing anything about it because they don’t want to publicize – and keep it a neighborhood thing. A: Yeah. My friend Ed Davey ran it until about the 100th [2017]. He had shirts made. We got an awesome picture of all of us. They didn’t have it during COVID. But it’s going again. And Brian Maes, a very well-known local musician – either him or his wife usually plays every year. They volunteer their time – excellent music – they play on the third of July. It’s a really fun time. All the neighbors get together. It’s a great, great night. Q: Something else that I wanted to ask you about: I recall taking photos last year at the Lynnhurst School and I noticed a monument there; please tell me about it. A: Oh yeah, the boy – Dana Johnson – who gave his life to save two other boys at ASKS | SEE PAGE 8
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