THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, JUly 12, 2024 Page 15 The Sounds of Saugus By Mark E. Vogler Good morning, Saugus Hope you had a safe and fun Fourth of July shared with family and friends. If you are looking for something interesting to do this weekend, be sure to check out the 2nd Annual Boardman House Community Day, which is scheduled for Sunday (July 14) from noon to 3 p.m. at 17 Howard St. Historic New England – the oldest, largest and most comprehensive regional heritage organization in the nation – owns this historic home, which was built in 1692 for William Boardman III and his family. Boardman House has original 17th and 18th century architectural features and offers a story of unbroken family history for over 300 years. While William Boardman himself only lived a few more years after moving here, his descendants lived in the home until 1911. In 1914 the preservationist William Sumner Appleton acquired it for the Society for Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA) – now known as Historic New England. Folks attending Sunday’s Community Day can learn more about historic and environmental resources in the area from Saugus Action Volunteers for the Environment (SAVE) and the Saugus Historical Society. This is a free event which enables visitors to enjoy house tours while exploring Saugus history at their own pace. They can also try their hand at some family-friendly lawn games. For more information on Historic New England, visit HistoricNewEngland.org or call 978377-7459. A special Guy Moley car show to fight cancer If you want to do something cool with your kids or love admiring cool cars – or both – plan on attending Mom’s Cancer Fighting Angels’ 10th Annual Car Show, from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Saugus Middle/ High School (1 Pearce Memorial Dr.). The event will feature a live WROR 105.7 FM Street Team with games and prizes, DJ Jim Reece of Lil’ Jimmy’s Stack of Records and cool cars, trucks and motorcycles with raffles and trophies for the winners. Guy Moley started this event as a continued tribute to his beloved mother, Irene Comeau, who passed away from esophageal cancer over a deLIGHTING UP THE SKY: Freelance photographer Charlie “Zap” Zapolski captured a neighborhood fireworks display in Saugus on the Fourth of July. The awesome fireworks display that the neighbors put on was great. I used the Pentax 1017mm fisheye lens to get it all in, he said. (Courtesy photo of Charlie Zapolski) cade ago. With the love and support of his wife, Brenda; his sister, Jodi Lyn Comeau; and her daughter, Alexis, Mom’s Cancer Fighting Angels continue keeping Irene’s memory alive while raising money to strengthen the American Cancer Society. “We will be honoring the now closed Saugus Route One Fuddruckers one last time as we feel Fuddruckers held the first nine car shows – and if not for Fuddruckers, we may not be here today,“ Guy said. “We will be honoring Bill Pappas, the owner of the former Full of Bull Saugus Restaurant. Bill Pappas actually taught me ALL I know about how to run a Car Show,” he said. The 10th Annual Car Show Cruise Night is open to all cars, trucks and motorcycles. All proceeds go to benefit the American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Wakefield. There will be food, music, raffles, 50/50 trophies and more. The rain date is July 21. For any questions, please call Guy Moley at 781-640-1310. My half century reflections of UMass Amherst Fifty years ago this spring, I graduated from UMass Amherst with lofty goals of becoming a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper reporter who would become a force of good in the world while making his parents and journalism professors proud. I was an idealist who didn’t care about making the big bucks. I was only interested in busting the big stories that would make me stand out above the crowd of competing journalists. I was determined to practice the brand of journalism which contributed to the betterment of my community – no matter wherever I lived. Even before I received my bachelor’s degree in Journalistic Studies, I had an edge on most of the aspiring journalists in the graduating Class of 1974 at UMass Amherst. I had accumulated about two years worth of bylined news clips – including a number of front-page articles published in The Springfield Union – one of the state’s top daily newspapers. Besides being a fulltime student, I made the most of my time working part-time during the week and full-time on the two weekend days, working out of the newspaper’s Northampton bureau. My portfolio included a series of articles which led to a grand jury investigation and the indictments of two police officers and a head cook at a campus dining commons who were involved in a food theft scandal. I also had a meaningful internship in Washington, D.C., during the fall of 1973 with the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance. I used my Springfield Union press credentials and my time in the nation’s capital – living with a small group of interns within walking distance of the Capitol – to freelance articles to newspapers back in Massachusetts on the Watergate scandal, which led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. I even got cleared to join the Washington press corps at the White House on the night that Nixon nominated Congressman Gerald Ford to replace Vice President Spiro Agnew, who resigned in disgrace. When I returned to Amherst for my final semester at UMass Amherst, I organized a small group of campus journalists to produce a cable TV program focusing on the 1974 gubernatorial race. The project consisted of televised hour-long press conferences with each of the four major candidates vying for governor. We interviewed Republican Gov. Francis W. Sargent, Republican challenger and former state Commerce Commissioner Carroll Sheehan, state Attorney General and Democratic challenger Robert H. Quinn and former state Rep. Michael Dukakis – who beat Quinn in the Democratic Primary and went on to defeat Gov. Sargent. During my stint as a parttime cub reporter for The Springfield Union, I also got to cover the murder of a Smith College coed, which drew intense media coverage from around the state. While working on my college degree, I developed a hell of a resume as I embarked on a career in journalism. Essentially, I gained two years of experience during my final two years on campus. Fifty years later, at age 71, I find myself still going strong in my chosen profession. I never became rich and famous. I never really cared about that. But I did share in a Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting 21 years ago with The Eagle-Tribune of North Andover for spot news and follow up coverage of the tragic drowning of four Lawrence kids who fell through the ice on the Merrimack River. Many of my peers from the Class of 1974 have passed on or have long since retired from the dying newspaper profession. I’m probably 75 percent the reporter I was back in 1972 when I began writing newspaper stories. But my health and resolve are good enough to enable me to continue to be a force for good in the community I happen to be working in – Saugus, Mass. I’m also blessed with the backing of a publisher who encourages me to THE SOUNDS | SEE PAGE 16
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