THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, SEpTEmbEr 23, 2022 Page 15 The Sounds of Saugus By Mark E. Vogler MassDEP officials will visit Saugus Wednesday If you have concerns about whether the town should close the ash landfill near the WIN Waste Innovations trash-to-energy plant on Route 107 or support its expansion, this is a meeting that you might want to attend next week. Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) representatives are scheduled to meet with town officials and concerned residents at 6 p.m. Wednesday (Sept. 28) in the second-floor auditorium at Town Hall for what is expected to be a discussion on the potential future of the ash landfill. The meeting comes just eight days after the Board of Selectmen approved a Host Community Agreement (HCA) with WIN Waste Innovation officials. WIN’s deal offered to pay the town up to $18.8 million in return for using the ash landfill for another 25 years. But the amended version offered by Selectman Jeffrey Cicolini and approved on a slim 3-2 vote replaced that offer with a provision that would eliminate the $900,000-a-year tipping fees that the town pays WIN for waste removal. And the length of the deal would be reduced from 25 to 20 years, and the town would not see reduced economic benefits if WIN is forced to pay more than $5 million in capital improvements or mandated upgrading of the plant. What the MassDEP officials tell the town Wednesday night could, of course, render the deal meaningless if MassDEP doesn’t allow for expansion of the ash landfill. And if MassDEP approves, the Board of Health would have a role in a site assignment hearing. And Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree would also be involved in what could be a long and cumbersome process. If the deal dies, WIN will have to pursue other plans, like trucking the ash to Shrewsbury. The ash landfill is expected to meet its capacity by the end of 2025. And for what it’s worth, the 50-member Saugus Town Meeting will consider a resolution opposing expansion of the ash landfill when it convenes on Oct. 24. Stay tuned. Welcome, “Orange Glow”! The calendar officially changed to fall yesterday. But a sure sign of fall in Saugus Center is when “the Pumpkin Truck” arrives from New Mexico, delivering several thousand pumpkins of all shapes and sizes on the Hamilton Street side lawn of the First Congregational Church, creating a phenomenon known to the Saugus locals as “The Orange Glow.” And that is synonymous with the start of fall in Saugus. If you have some time on your hand tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 24), show up at about 9 a.m. and help the other volunteers unload the “Pumpkin Truck” to set up “The Pumpkin Patch” at “the Pumpkin Church.” Oh yeah! We have pumpkins on our brains for the next several weeks. Pumpkins will be available for purchase every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Volunteers are also needed to help staff the various shifts for the selling of pumpkins. If you are interested, please contact Carl Spencer at 781-233-9196 or just stop by and sign up. “The Pumpkin Patch” will continue through Halloween, Oct. 31 or whenever the pumpkins run out. Get in the fall spirit. Take your kids to buy one. Or buy one for your friends or loved ones. Updating Gino details Time flies when you are having fun. And sometimes we lose track of it and don’t get the details straight. Last week, we had an item in this column on Gino Figliola, of Haverhill, the kid drummer who has traveled down to Founders Day celebrations for several years, delighting the crowd. His mother, Brenda Figliola, who sort of works as his manager, texted us last week to update the information we received on Gino’s age. “Gino started performing at Saugus Founders Day in 2013 at 7 ½,Brenda wrote to us. That’s two years earlier than the information we had received previously. “I think I may have told you Gino was in 9th grade but he’s actually in 11th and [his brother] Rocco is in 9th, she added. Gino has no direct connection to Saugus, but the town residents who watch him play apparently love him, appreciate his drumming skills and welcome him every time he returns to Saugus for another performance. But Brenda’s love of Saugus is the reason why she has taken Gino to Saugus to perform for several Founders Days. She grew up in Saugus and lived in the town for 12 years before moving to Peabody in 1978. Five of her seven siblings graduated from Saugus High School. This week’s “Shout-outs” We have a pair of “Shoutouts” this week. From Precinct 2 Town Meeting Member Chris Riley: I’d like to offer a shout out to Steve Castinetti. Steve did a great job leading the POW/ MIA ceremony this week, and also does a great job running the Memorial Day parade and Veterans Day ceremony. Steve has served our country and continues to serve the town and veterans of Saugus. I appreciate his leadership.” From Laura Eisener, the popular author of “Saugus gardens in the fall:” “I wanted to send a shout out to the anonymous person who weeded the Veterans’ Park this weekend. Crabgrass and other weeds had spread out over the bricks, making some very hard to find or read, and now it looks beautiful!” Want to “Shout-Out” a fellow Saugonian? This is an opportunity for our paper’s readers to single out – in a brief mention – remarkable acts or achievements by Saugus residents or an act of kindness or a nice gesture. Just send an email (mvoge@ comcast.net) with a mention in the subject line of “An Extra Shout-Out.” No more than a paragraph; anything longer might lend itself to a story and/or a photo. Legion breakfasts resume Saugus American Legion Post 210 is hosting its popular breakfasts again – from 8-9 a.m. on Fridays. The price is $8 for those who are looking for a delicious meal at Legion Hall. Bon appétit! Transparency at its best Some local politicians love to talk about “transparency in government.” I would have to say that the Town Manager and Board of Selectmen and most of the folks in Saugus Town Hall are pretty good at making public documents available to me. I wish I could say the same thing about Saugus Public Schools. Most of the School Committee members are accessible and answer my emails. But the School Department could do a lot more to make public information available. The agency is not really compliant when it comes to public records requests. I’m still waiting for a response to a request I made to the public information officer a couple of months ago. As I reflect back over my 50 years in newspaper journalism, few public officials I’ve met in my travels come close to matching the late Ector County Judge Gary Lynn Watkins, who I worked with when I was covering Ector County government in Odessa, Tex., for the San Angelo Standard Times. One day when I was making the rounds at the Ector County Courthouse, Judge Watkins – who actually functioned as the chair of the County Commission – invited me into his office as he was sorting through his mail, all of it pertaining to county government. As I sat down in a chair near his desk, the county judge started pushing correspondence he had finished reading in my direction. He said something like “You’re welcome to read it to see if there’s any news there… It’s public record anyway.” So, in 1977, as a 24-year-old enterprising newspaper reporter, I discovered an honest West Texas county judge who was as transparent as any public official I’ve ever met could be. And yes, his generosity paid off indeed. I did get a couple of scoops. One of the letters that Judge Watkins let me read turned into a front-page story – how Odessa, Tex., was one of three West Texas cities in the running for a medical school. I broke that story. Unfortunately, some weeks later while working out of the San Angelo Standard-Times bureau in Odessa, the newspaper’s bureau manager (another name for local publisher) put the kibosh on a story I was about to write about a grand jury investigation turning up evidence that local doctors were looking the other way on nursing home abuse at the city’s newest nursing home. It was my investigative series on nursing home abuse which sparked a grand jury investigation that led to the indictment of the nursing home administrator for stealing a veteran’s check. Yet, when I tried to write the story about the doctors’ role, the bureau manager told me that story wouldn’t be written. He was concerned that such a story would ruin Odessa’s chances of getting a medical school. I quit my job at the Permian Basin news bureau but went to work several weeks later in the city room in San Angelo. We have a winner! Congratulations to Kim Alba for making the right identification in last week’s “Guess Who Got Sketched” contest. She is one of several readers answering correctly. But Kim was the only one to have her name picked in a drawing from the green Boston Red Sox cap. Here’s the correct answer, offered by the person who goes by the name of The Sketch Artist: “The answer to last week’s sketch is Joseph Alba from 2018 photos! This was a sketch request by one of our Saugus Advocate readers using 2018 photos of Joseph. “Joseph Alba is a Saugonian and class of 2018 Saugus High. Throughout Joe’s High-school years he was running track and wrestling; proving to be one of the best and advancing rapidly. “Joe has been a long-time participant with the Saugus Youth & Recreation Department. He now heads the track program, wrestling, street hockey, and flag football for our youth! He has worked in the afterschool program as well. “Joe has faithfully assisted with various duties for Founders Day events. In December, at the Tree Lighting ceremonies, Joe was right there working on projects & events. “He was seen several times dressed in character costumes for the kids which brought much delight! “Joe, fellow Saugonians notice you and all you do! “Keep on shining! “Oh, by the way, this week’s winner just happens to be Joe’s mom. “Yours Truly, “The Sketch Artist” What’s happening at the Saugus Public Library For schoolchildren looking for interesting projects and programs to participate in this fall, there’s plenty to do at the Saugus Public Library. Makeup FX 101: Check out Halloween makeup by Decimated Designs, which is set for . Thursday, Oct. 13, 6-7 p.m. in the Brooks Room. Grade 6+ please. Please sign up in advance. We will cover the do’s THE SOUNDS | SEE PAGE 16
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