Page 10 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, AUGUST 22, 2025 Gangsta Turkeys ruffle our feathers By Joanie Allbee G obble, gobble, and it’s not Thanksgiving. It’s the gangsta turkeys running amok with their posse around Heritage Heights. If you like a good morning scare to get the blood pumping like a jolt of espresso, these turkeys will make it happen. Turkeys are staged in bushes ready to boisterously pop, startle and stalk. If you hesitate before getting in your car, there’s a turkey waiting to hop your ride. Often, they make it difficult to open doors as they accompany you right in, and closing the doors might clip a feather from these fine birds of nonsense. These negative attention-seekers are found banging beaks on front glass ASKS | FROM PAGE 8 a transmission specialist. When he was a little boy, I gave him a coffee pot. He would take it apart and put it back together again. I was 51 when I had him. John was a draftsman. My daughter Joyce was a dental technician. She also typed out the reports of the Holocaust survivors of World War II to preserve their stories. Her name is down in Washington, D.C. [at the Holocaust Memorial Museum] as a historical transcriptionist. I have six grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and one great-grandchild who just turned five – a small little boy in Everett Q: How did you meet your husband? A: I met my husband at the bowling alley in Malden, right on Broadway. He wouldn’t let me out of his sight from that day on. He was at the house every day. We dated a year and a half and got married. We got married in Everett at St. Anthony’s. We lived for five years in an apartment in Revere. After five years he said, “Let’s buy a house.” I had saved $2,000 from the money he gave me. I was able to save it from doors. A few people are accused of feeding these wildlife, but no food passed through their hands. Feathers float down as you’re sitting, and if you look up you may find a lofting bowling ball above your head on low branches. Low-hanging branches are unable to support the heftiness of these tree loungers, so usually a branch tumbles. When you see fallen branches and feathers around, you know the gangsta bird is near. Editor’s Note: Joanie Allbee is a frequent contributor to The Saugus Advocate who has been watching the menacing movements of the gangsta turkeys near where she lives. shopping smart for food. I bought shoulder lamp chops. We had a lot of shin bone soup. We always had a balanced meal. Starch and vegetables. My uncle knew a real estate agent who knew about this house in Saugus (on Clinton Avenue). I’ve lived in this house for over 60 years. Q: During your time in Saugus, have you been active with youth organizations? A: I was a Campfire Girls sponsor for eight years. And I later became a leader. I had three girls who earned the WoHeLo Medallion – the highest award for campfire girls. Q: That would be the equivalent of an Eagle Scout badge for Boy Scouts? A: Yes. I’m very proud of those three girls. They all went onto college. Janet Griffen, Carla Saunders and Beth Agersea. Carla (now Carla A. Scuzzarella) went on to become a principal at the High School [Saugus Middle-High School]. Q: This meatloaf you cooked for lunch today is excellent. I enjoyed it. A: Thank you. I happen to like cooking. It’s a challenge. Q: Do you have a favorite dish that you love to cook? INTIMIDATING BIRDS: This pair of mischievous wild turkeys is part of gang that loves to raise havoc around local apartments. (Courtesy photo by Joanie Allbee) A: If I were cooking for company and they liked Italian, I would cook lasagna. I’ve made a lot of lasagna in my life. Q: Do you still drive a car? A: No. I lost my license a few years ago. I was a careful driver. I was 28 when I got my license. I never wanted to drive. But it was the best thing I ever did. I drove until I was 96. I had a minor accident on Route 1 and lost my license. I didn’t challenge it, only because my children didn’t want me to keep driving. Q: What was your favorite car? A: A Buick Skylark – a beautiful blue color. Q: Have you belonged to any clubs? A: I started a club. It had no name. Just a club to get together, and one time we had 16 women in the club, from Saugus and surrounding communities and one from New Hampshire. We went out to every restaurant around the area from the time I was 30. We made a lot of close ties. Q: What’s the most interesting thing that has happened in your life? A: Probably going out to California and having my brother (Joseph Saveriano) HOME SWEET HOME: Millie Doucette has lived in this Cape Cod-style, four-bedroom home on Clinton Avenue since she and her late husband bought it more than six decades ago. (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler) take me. He was living in Palm Springs, and he took me down to where my niece was. Her house was at the top of a cliff. It was a beautiful house. It was in Fallbrook, California. My niece was an actress – Pat Woodell – who played the smart sister [Bobbie Jo Bradley] in the TV program “Petticoat Junction.” She was born in Winthrop. After she left “Petticoat Junction,” she was in several movies: “The Class of ’74,” the “Big Doll House” and the “Twilight People.” Q: What were your favorite hobbies? A: Dancing was my main hobby, and I liked playing cards. I love reading. If you look around my house, you’ll see books everyASKS | SEE PAGE 11 LOOKING FOR TROUBLE: This wild turkey is determined to find it in the parking area of a local apartment complex. (Courtesy photo by Joanie Allbee)
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