THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, AUGUST 2, 2024 Page 11 Read, Renew, Repeat! Saugus Public Library launches its Kids 2024 Summer reading Program (Editor’s Note: This info is from a press release recently issued by the Saugus Public Library.) H ey, Saugus parents of school-age children! If you’re looking for fun, educational activities, and summer programming to support your kids’ learning, stop by the Saugus Public Library. This summer, the Library presents “Read, Renew, Repeat!” – the 2024 Summer Reading program. Activities include literacy support, storytimes, discounted museum passes, Massachusetts park passes and take & make crafts. Families are encouraged to register their kids for the conservation-themed program using the Beanstack app. It’s easy – just download the Beanstack app, register under the Saugus Public Library and you’re on your way. For more information, or to register in person, stop by the Children’s Room at the library or visit the Kids’ Summer Reading page on our website. ASKS | FROM PAGE 3 “unknown soldier” buried in the Civil War plot. A: Yes. I hate anything “unknown.” I don’t think veterans should be “unknown.” I was so upset that I couldn’t fi nd out anything. This really bugged the hell out of me – that this couldn’t be solved. There was no record to be found in Saugus. If it weren’t for the photo showing up, I would still be sitting here wondering. How can you bury somebody and not know who it is? It just boggled my mind. Q: So when you went online and went shopping for the photo, you weren’t trying to solve this? A: No. I call it dumb luck. When the photo showed up, everything fell into place. I like to collect Saugus photos. I was on eBay and there was an auction for an old press photo. All it said was it was a veteran’s burial at Riverside. And it mentioned the name of the man being buried. I bought the picture about a year and a half ago, after the article had appeared in The Advocate. Q: Okay, so what happened next? A: When I received the photo, I thought something was wrong. Here’s a World War I aviator and he was buried in the Civil War section of the The program is open to preschoolers through sixth-graders. We’ll have their favorite titles, plus free e-books, audio books, comics, magazines and music you can download using the hoopla and Libby digital collections. Did we mention prizes? We’ve once again partnered with local businesses to reward summer reading. Many thanks to those businesses who have generously donated! We’ll have a full prize cart plus free books to give away. In addition, we’ll run drawings for ice cream, donuts, cookies, pizza, roller skating, bowling, mini golf, sports merch and grand prize drawings for tickets to Canobie Lake Park and North Shore Music Theatre’s production of “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” – and more! In addition, there will be special visits by Wildlife Encounters, Vinny the Bubble Guy, the Saugus Fire & Police Departments, Star Wars characters and Toe Jam Puppet Band – and bubble, magic and puppet shows. Check out the Library’s online event calendar for up-to-date information. The Saugus Public Schools recommend that students read at least 20 minutes a day this summer. The library is here to help families create a summer reading routine that is fun for kids and their families. Turn off the media before bedtime, sit with a child, share a book or read alongside them. Ask them questions, but above all, make it fun! Research shows that children who read during the summer months maintain literacy skills that they’ve worked hard to build during the school year. According to Reading Rockets.org, research with 116 first-, second- and third-graders in a school in a middle-class neighborhood found that the decoding skills of nearly 45% of the participants and the fl uency of 25% declined between May and September. So, stay smart! Have fun! Stop by the library to register for summer reading, or to fi nd a just-right book for your child. It’s all free, all summer at the Saugus Public Library! This monument that names the 26 Saugonians who served in the Civil War and who are also buried in the Civil War Plot at Riverside Cemetery includes an “unknown soldier.” (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler) cemetery. I could recognize it was the Civil War Plot. I could see the cannonballs and I could see the words “Our fallen” on the steps. Q: Isn’t it odd that they would be having the funeral right in the Civil War Plot? A: It wasn’t their fault. They didn’t know. They put him where “the fallen heroes” were. He was going to be buried in Saugus. It was winter. They had to put him somewhere. Really, I can understand why he was put there. They didn’t have much choice. The people come from Texas with the body and they see “Our Fallen Heroes” inscribed on the steps. What more do you need? Q: And then you embarked on a lot of research to fi nd out about Willard Swan. A: Yes. I love history. That was my favorite subject in school, and I happen to collect Saugus stuff . I got albums of old postcards. Q: How much time did you spend on your research? How many hours? A: Too much time. Off and on, I would go online to fi nd out who Willard Swan was. I can be like a dog with a bone – persistent – I just couldn’t let it go. Q: So, what are some of the things you learned from your research? A: He wasn’t old enough to be drafted. He enlisted. Willard grew up in Cliftondale. In the center of the Civil War Plot at Riverside Cemetery is a marker with the inscription “Erected to the unknown dead.” (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler) He grew up on Western Avenue. His name is on two monuments – one in front of Town Hall – and his name is also on a stone in the rotary at Cliftondale Square. He’s one of 300 men from Saugus to serve during World War I, and he was the fi rst person from Saugus to die during World War I. Q: What else did you learn about Willard? A: He attended public schools in Saugus and at the Hawley School of Electrical Engineering. He worked at the Burgess Company in Marblehead as a foreman of mechanics at the fl ying squad. He left the company to enter the U.S. Aviation Branch of the Army. Q: But Willard Swan is no longer buried at the Riverside Cemetery in Saugus. ASKS | SEE PAGE 17
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