Page 14 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 2021 By Mark E. Vogler H THE SOUNDS OF SAUGUS “In one of the pictures sketched of Randy, there was ere are a few tidbits that you might want to know about this week in Saugus. Hats off to the Saugus High Class of 2021! Tonight (Friday, June 4) is indeed a special night for 163 Saugus teenagers – the Saugus High School graduating Class of 2021. It is a legacy class, being the first to graduate from the new Saugus Middle-High School. It is also a class that will be remembered as one that had to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic over parts of two years since the outbreak in March of 2020 led to the challenges of remote learning. Special congratulations are in order for the top two scholastic students in this year’s graduating class: Michael Kenny, who will give this year’s Valedictory Address as the Class of 2021’s top scholastic ranking student with the highest grade point average. This year’s runner-up – the Salutatorian speaker – is Charles Denovellis. Also deserving of high praise is Emma Peacock, who is president of the Saugus High Class of 2021. That is a challenging task for any student – being the leader of a COVID-19-challenged class. I plan to be at Stackpole Field tonight to chronicle the last chapter of this year’s historic Saugus High School class in what will be the school’s 150th commencement exercises. And this will also be the grand commencement finale at Stackpole. Construction is nearing completion on the brand-new sports complex named after the late Saugus sports legend, Christie Serino, Jr., which should serve the town well for future Saugus High School commencement exercises. About the best way The Saugus Advocate can wish the SHS Class of 2021 the very best is to borrow a few lines of Saugus High School Principal Mike Hashem, as posted on his special website for graduating seniors: “This has been a tumultuous time in our society, community, and schools. This global pandemic that we have dealt with for the past 14-15 months have drastically impacted your senior year. You have worked with remote, hybrid, and full in-person learning models, all within the last few months. “You have witnessed your old school be demolished and you have transitioned to our new Saugus Middle High School Complex. These challenges and adversities have not stopped you and by overcoming them, you should be well prepared to deal with the future. “For some of you, this will mean a job and the responsibilities of family living. For others of you, this will mean the transition to college and further years of study and preparation. Whichever course you take in the future, it is our sincere hope that you will look back on your years at Saugus High School as having prepared you to meet the challenges that life will present. “We want to thank you in advance for making the graduation ceremony an exciting and memorable one. All of us here at Saugus High School wish each of you the happiness of a productive life, the respect of your peers, and the love of your family. … Congratulations to the Class of 2021!!!” We have a winner! We have a winner in last week’s “Guess Who Got Sketched” contest. Congratulations to Diane McConnell, who contacted us with the correct answer. Her name was picked from a number of potential winners’ names out of the green Boston Red Sox cap. Here’s last week’s answer, offered by the person who goes by the name of The Sketch Artist: “The answer to last week’s sketch is Randy Briand. Randy has done many projects and much good for Saugus. However he’s quiet about it all so most don’t hear they just enjoy or see the benefits from Randy’s generosity. “This past Memorial Day weekend Randy as the Veteran’s Graves Officer, was at the Cemetery from sun up setting up tents and making sure everything would be set up for Memorial Day Ceremony amidst the inclement weather. “He was handing out flags to the youth, to parents and anyone that wanted to put flags on our Veteran’s graves. Randy passes the flags out hoping to get more youth involved as they are the ones to carry on the tradition he has said. Mr. Donald Wong graciously awarding Randy with the 2019 Founder’s Day Man of the Year Award (Debbie Dion-Faust was 2019 Woman of the Year.) “Randy oversees several outreaches and he has served three tours of Duty in Vietnam for the Military. A very interesting life from such a humble soul. Thankyou Randy, keep shining your light! “Yours Truly, “The Sketch Artist” prefer to have it spotlight the good people of Saugus. 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 a 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 a photo. Adjusting the “star” count A concerned Saugus veteran and loyal Saugus AdvoGUESS 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 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 correctly identifies the Saugonians who were sketched between now and Tuesday at noon qualifies 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 certificate, compliments of Dunkin’ at the 1204 Broadway Saugus location on 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”) Reader offers “Shout-Outs” for local businesses Avid Saugus Advocate reader Jeanie Bartolo offered two more “Shout-Outs” this week, this time for two local businesses “who for years have donated their time helping Saugus.” “The first ‘Shout Out’ and huge thank you goes to Nick’s Pizza for once again donating pizza for the kids flagging the graves of our Veterans at Riverside Cemetery last Friday afternoon in preparation for the Memorial Day services. The kids did a great job and loved the pizza! “The second ‘Shout Out’ goes to Bruce the owner of Done Right Landscaping who beautifully landscaped and mulched the island at the intersection of Winter and Central Streets in honor of our Veterans. Bruce also landscapes many of the islands and rotaries throughout the town free of charge. He makes Saugus so much prettier, so thank you Bruce for doing this for us, we certainly appreciate it.” Shirley Bogdan emailed us another “shout-out,” this one for local historical and author Tom Sheehan: “I’d like to shout out to author Tom Sheehan who has had 2 articles published in the Boston Sunday Globe regarding the ‘old times’ in Saugus. Great job Tom.” Sue Fleming, another loyal Saugus Advocate reader, emailed us the following “shout-out” this week: “I would like to give a Shout Out to you for the excellent articles in last week’s Advocate. The remembrance of Staff Sgt. Arthur F. DeFranzo was touching. Thank you for the story explaining to us all the heroics of Sgt. DeFranzo. We are all proud of him. Also your articles on the Week-end of Reflection and remembering your brother Lance should remind us to be thankful. As we visit cemeteries visiting our loved ones we need to remember how lucky we are. We are lucky to have you on the staff of the Advocate.” Thank you, Sue. We appreciate the praise, but would cate reader brough to our attention what turned out to be a glaring omission in “Saugus By the Numbers,” at the end of last week’s front page Memorial Day story. We published the numbers for Saugus servicemen who were killed during World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. To our knowledge, there are no numbers, at least readily available, for the number of Saugus servicemen killed in combat during the Civil War and the Revolutionary War. But there is one number that is quite obvious for Saugus servicemen and women who served in the Iraq War. And that number should have been included in our overall count of Saugus service people killed in action. It was a gross overcite that needs to be addressed. So, we will add one more line to our “Saugus By the Numbers” for future Memorial Day coverage. And this is for US Marine CPL Scott Procopio, who was killed in action on April 2, 2006. Cpl. Procopio should be a household word in contemporary Saugus, since he is a war hero who gave the ultimate sacrifice. He was born and raised in Saugus and graduated with the Saugus High Class of 2003. He joined the United States Marine Corps in 2004 and was assigned as a machine gunner with Kilo Co., 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, based out of Camp Lejeune, N.C. His first deployment to Iraq was in 2005, when he was in Fallujah for the first major Iraqi elections and was decorated for his actions in helping to repel a major insurgent attack on the Abu Ghraib prison compound. Procopio returned to Iraq in early 2006, again as a machine gunner with the 3rd Battalion, Kilo Co., but this time to Ramadi. He was killed alongside two other Marines and their Navy corpsman as a result of a remotely detonated roadside bomb. Procopio was manning the machine gun atop of the vehicle that he and his buddies were patrolling in when the bomb exploded. Every day when I come to Saugus, I usually park my car on Taylor Street near the Saugus Public Library and a short walking distance from the American Legion Hall – which is more formally known as Marine Cpl. Scott J. Procopio Saugus American Legion Post 210. It is a major meeting place in town for veterans’ events. There is a very informative display in a glass case which is about Cpl. Procopio that greets visitors as they enter Legion Hall. So, as an outsider, I have known about Cpl. Procopio for some time because I have taken photos of that display case and written stories about this modern-day hero from Saugus. Saugus Public Library set to reopen I have some great news about one of my favorite places in town – the Saugus Public Library. Alan Thibeault, Director, Saugus Public Library, issued the following press release this week: “The Trustees and staff of the Saugus Public Library are pleased to announce the Library’s reopening on Monday, June 7th for in-person browsing, reading, and computer use. This will be a full reopening; no appointments necessary. “Face coverings and social distancing will be required in the Library as in other Town buildings. Patrons are also urged to make liberal use of our hand sanitizer stations and/or handwashing facilities. This will help keep everyone safe. “All public areas of the building will be available except for the Children’s Play Area, the smaller 2nd Floor Study Room, and Community Room. Some seating has been removed from public areas to assist in social distancing. THE SOUNDS OF SAUGUS | SEE PAGE 15
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