THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 2023 Page 9 ASKS | FROM PAGE 6 Debra Panetta She has been a member of SAVE for nearly 30 years, serving as its president in 1999, 2000 and 2003. She has been very active in Saugus town government, serving 12 years on the Board of Selectmen, including fi ve years as chair. She is currently vice chair. She also served 10 years on the Saugus Annual Town Meeting and vice chair on the Saugus Charter Commission. In addition, she served as chair of the School Committee. 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 got involved with SAVE back in the 90’s. I was fortunate to learn from some of the most knowledgeable people in Town (who were also SAVE members), who really helped shape who I am today. Florence Chandler, Janet Leuci, and Janette Fasano were three of these people. I remember going to Ellen & John Burn’s home before every Town Meeting, where we would write up recommendations to be distributed at Town Meeting on any article impacting the environment. I quickly learned that I could make a direct impact on the quality of life in my Town. I volunteered for every clean-up, I helped coordinate environmental forums, and I went to all the Town meetings to learn what was important to Saugus residents. When I was Chairman of the School Committee, I started / expanded recycling in the schools and worked with the Recycling Coordinator to educate elementary school children on the value of recycling. Q: During your time as president, what did you consider the top three accomplishments of SAVE? A: (I have four accomplishments I want to discuss.) When I was President, my/our biggest accomplishments were: 1/ Getting almost 700 signatures over Easter weekend to put three articles in front of Town Meeting (they all passed) regarding RESCO (now WIN Waste). One article was ‘no third burner,’ which is something that this company wanted to pursue. SAVE members worked tirelessly to stop this proposed third burner. 2/ Nominating RESCO (now WIN Waste) two times for the Dirty Dozen awards, and this company winning both years. 3/ Starting the Tree Committee: The Tree Committee was defunct for many years, and under my Presidency, we formed a new, active Tree Committee. 4/ Forum at the ITAM: SAVE ing “Silent Spring” (Rachel Carson) in the early 1970’s, I have always recycled and read a lot about other environmental issues. Much of my volunteer work A LEGISLATIVE COMMENDATION: Pictured from left to right: SAVE Co-Presidents Stephanie Shalkowski and Ann Devlin received congratulations from the Massachusetts House of Representatives and State Representative Jessica Giannino (D-Revere), recognizing SAVE for its 50 years of existence. (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler) coordinated a standing-room only educational forum, where I enlisted experts on incineration to speak. We had Selectmen, State Representatives, and Senators speak at this Forum. That year, I won the Grassroots award from Clean Water Action for Environmental excellence. Q: In the course of half a century, what do you consider SAVE’s top contribution to the betterment of Saugus? A: SAVE has always tried to educate people about our environment. The goal has been to support and protect all natural resources, including our wetlands, through enforcement of state and local laws. SAVE also wants to support all national, state, & local legislation to reduce or eliminate all pollution (water, air, noise, & visual). With SAVE being the ‘watchdog’ in our Town over the last 50 years, we’ve had a strong group of members looking out for the best interest for everyone’s health and well-being. That’s one of the reasons SAVE had continuously had a candidate’s night for all prospective Selectmen, so that the voters can see where these individuals stand on environmental and health issues. I also think the banning of single use plastic bags and the Styrofoam ban were significant to Saugus. SAVE has sponsored owl shows, swap tables, community outreach programs, educational forums, and so many other events over the last 50 years. SAVE has also had much community outreach over the years, where members helped form the Alliance for Health and the Environment with Clean Water Action, Community Action, the Saugus River Watershed Council, Slingshot, Just Zero, and other organizations and State Representatives. They work closely with the Garden Club and participate in Breakheart’s Fall Festival and other community events. Each year, they sponsor a scholarship for a deserving student going into a career involving the environment. A huge thank you to all the volunteers over the last 50 years, and I hope SAVE is still active 50 years from now. Joyce Rodenhiser She is a longtime SAVE member who served as co-president with Tim Hawkes in 20052006. She has lived in Saugus for 80 years and lived in Groveland for 18 months when she first got married to her husband Al. She is a 1959 Saugus High School graduate. She has served on the Saugus Annual Town Meeting. 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: Because of SAVE and readhas been for SAVE and I was part of Saugus Town Meeting for twelve years, some at the Saugus Public Library and, now, for the Garden Club and at the Saugus Senior Center. Al and I have done lots of “clean-ups” in Saugus with various groups like the Tree Committee and the Saugus River Watershed Council but we fi nd it diffi cult now! Q: During your time as president, what did you consider the top three accomplishments of SAVE? A: An outstanding event that took place was that we invited Dr. Paul Connett to speak. He was the guru of the times and explained how “Zero Waste” was happening all around the world with his help and the help of others like him. The other exciting thing that happened was that we presented a forum on the adverse effects of lead, mercury and cadmium on the human body. We invited all the DPW leaders in as many cities and towns as we could find near here. We had tables of items containing lead, mercury and cadmium, explaining which element was in each item — big charts were made showing how these chemicals adversely affected systems in males and females — and pleaded with them to remove these items from the waste stream. Q: In the course of half a century, what do you consider SAVE’s top contribution to the betterment of Saugus? A: Environmentally geared groups like SAVE, the Saugus River Watershed Council and the Tree Committee in our community have given a far healthier quality of life to residents of Saugus for many years! What can be more important than the ground in which we grow our food, the air we take into our lungs, and the water that nourishes us? These are the ultimate goals that environmental groups like SAVE strive towards. JOHN MACKEY & ASSOCIATES ~ Attorneys at Law ~ * PERSONAL INJURY * REAL ESTATE * FAMILY LAW * PERSONAL BANKRUPTCY * LANDLORD/TENANT DISPUTES 14 Norwood Street Everett, MA 02149 Phone: (617) 387-4900 Fax: (617) 381-1755 WWW.JMACKEYLAW.COM
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