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Page 6 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 2023 ASKS | FROM PAGE 5 Q: During your time as president, what did you consider the top three accomplishments of SAVE? A: Passage of Zoning by law to protect neighborhoods from blasting. Result of working together with groups throughout the town. Successful lawsuit that led to new Sign Bylaw. Dedication of Prankers Pond. Initiation of Candidate nights. Continuation environmental education programs. Q: In the course of half a century, what do you consider SAVE’s top contribution to the betterment of Saugus? Florence Chandler This longtime SAVE member served as the group’s president in 1984 and 1985. She served on the Saugus Board of Selectmen. She offered some brief remarks at SAVE’s 50th Annual Meeting and Dinner, urging SAVE members to be proud of the group’s record of achievements for the betterment of Saugus. “Do as much as you can for as long as you can,” Chandler urged the audience. “We are not just a group. We are a tribe. We will keep going,” she said. Richard Mytkowicz He was a SAVE member for about 15 years and served as its president from July 1988 to June 1989. He was a Saugus resident for 25 years and currently lives in Lynn. While a Saugus resident, he served on the Conservation Commission for a term and also served a term as a Town Meeting member. Q: Looking back on your years of membership, how has your involvement with SAVE affected your life and your role as a citizen of Saugus? A:My membership with SAVE motivated me to run for Town Meeting and serve on the Conservation Commission. Q: During your time as president, what did you consider the top three accomplishments of SAVE? A: Encouraging more participation in paper recycling; seeing that the Site Plan Review Process is implemented and that the sign bylaw is enforced. Q: In the course of half a century, what do you consider SAVE’s top contribution to the betterment of Saugus? A: Even before my time in Saugus, SAVE successfully sued in 1974 to overturn a vote by the Board of Selectmen to allow the DeMatteo landfi ll to extend into 57 acres of Bear Creek. Michael Boudreau He has been a SAVE member for 35 years, serving as the group’s president from July 1995 to June 1997. He served a term on the Saugus Annual Town Meeting and for three years on the Playground Commission. During his time on the commission, the highlights included having all the playgrounds cleaned up, equipment and fences repaired and new equipment installed at the Lynnhurst School. Saugus has been his home for the last 63 years. Q: Looking back on your years of membership, how has your involvement with SAVE affected your life and your role as a citizen of Saugus? A: It made me more aware of what’s happening with the environment in many areas. Q: During your time as president, what did you consider the top three accomplishments of SAVE? A: Can’t think of anything right now. RESCO took up a lot of our time. Q: In the course of half a century, what do you consider SAVE’s top contribution to the betterment of Saugus? that stands out is the creation of the Saugus Tree Committee with Ann Devlin and other SAVE members and, following designation by the Town of a land parcel off Auburn Street, we moved ahead with the creation of a Tree Farm, inviting volunteers from SAVE and local residents to help with its preparation. Around that time, SAVE members were trying to prevent and mitigate the proposed development of the pristine natural area of Vinegar Hill. I spent many hours on VineA CONGRESSIONAL CITATION: SAVE Co-president Stephanie Shalkowski received from past SAVE President Wallace McKenzie a commendation from U.S. Congressman Seth Moulton’s offi ce recognizing 50 years of environmental advocacy by SAVE. McKenzie has been a member of SAVE since its inception 50 years ago. (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler) A: SAVE keeps plugging away on many issues concerning our environment. Ann Devlin She has been a member of SAVE for 34 years. She served as SAVE president from 19971999, again from 2001- 2003, again from 2006-2021 and fi - nally co-president with Stephanie Shalkowski from 20212023. During her 43 years living in Saugus, she served on the Annual Town Meeting, representing Precinct 1 for more than 20 years, until she moved to Dracut two years ago. She also served on the Saugus Tree Committee as a founding member. She graduated from Woburn High School and did not move to Saugus until 1979. Q: Looking back on your years of membership, how has your involvement with SAVE affected your life and your role as a citizen of Saugus? A: I joined SAVE in 1989 because I was looking for like-minded people to share my concerns about environmental issues, both local and global, and to work with other voices to make change. Because of my involvement with SAVE, I became much more connected with the town and its issues and this led to my running for Town Meeting. Q: During your time as president, what did you consider the top three accomplishments of SAVE? A: Biggest two, during my presidency, would be the single use plastic bag ban, where we joined 100 other cities and towns in Mass. in prohibiting these plastics, and the Styrofoam ban, where we joined only 35 other cities and towns in Mass. — a signifi cant accomplishment despite the many take-out businesses in Saugus. Also, we made great strides in continuing to add to our community forest with an ongoing tree replacement program, and I procured a grant of $20,000 toward that effort from The Foundation Trust. Q: In the course of half a century, what do you consider SAVE’s top contribution to the betterment of Saugus? A: SAVE has been the primary environmental watchdog in Saugus and has been instrumental numerous times in keeping WIN (a big business “for profi t” enterprise) from expanding and holding them to current regulations and keeping the ash landfi ll at 50 feet high. Timothy Hawkes A 12th generation Saugonian, he moved to Maine and did not attend SAVE’s 50th Annual Meeting and Dinner. But he did submit a statement highlighting his time as SAVE president (2004-2005). Thinking back on my tenure as SAVE co-president with Joyce Rodenheiser, one thing gar Hill investigating wetland resources and identifying plant and animal species that might be on the endangered list. I discovered artifacts of stone fl akes from an ancient Native American lithic manufacturing site (stone tool making). With the help of an archaeologist acquaintance, I completed an archaeological Site form for the Massachusetts Historical Commission. I subsequently became involved, together with the State DEP in a legal battle with the developer. This prompted the Executive Office of Environmental Aff airs and an environmental judge to preside over the case. SAVE hired an environmental lawyer (Kenneth Kimmel), who was paid for by our community partner, the Saugus River Watershed Council. SAVE member Nora Shaughnessy spent many hours at the Essex County Registry of Deeds researching the ownership of various parcels of land that made up the proposed development and found that, besides the parcels owned by the Town, the Lynn Historical Society owned a substantial portion of the property that had been deeded to them in perpetuity in 1906. They subsequently sold that property to the developer so that they could purchase a house in Lynn for their new headquarters. The University of Massachusetts Amherst Archaeological Services were then hired by the developer to conduct an archaeological survey and recovery of the area. The survey found 6 new Sites ranging from about 6-8 thousand years old to about 3 thousand years old, together with a midden pit for cooking, an encampment, and thousands of artifacts. The area had been used repeatedly for generations spanning thousands of years. Two of these Sites qualifi ed for listing with the National Register of Historic Places. As a result of SAVE’s involvement, these two sites now stand as open space for all to view and enjoy. ASKS | SEE PAGE 9

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