Page 10 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2021 THE SOUNDS OF SAUGUS By Mark E. Vogler H ere are a few tidbits that you might want to know about this week in Saugus. A night of unity for Saugus Sunday night’s (Sept. 19) candlelight vigil reflected a great collaborative effort by town officials – particularly Board of Selectmen Vice-Chair Corinne Riley – and the Saugus Faith Community, which is led by Rev. John T. Beach of St. John’s Episcopal Church, to bring together the community more than 18 months after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. An estimated crowd of more than 200 people gathered on the lawn in front of Saugus Town Hall in a noble event intended to give public recognition to a number of local heroes who helped the town through these challenging months of the Coronavirus that’s been linked to 74 deaths since March 2020. At the same time that the heroes received public recognition, Saugus residents reflected on the passing of some 400 loved ones and friends who died during the pandemic – most of them of causes unrelated to COVID-19. But many of their families and friends were hampered by the virus in the way funeral and burial arrangements could be held. From everything I have heard from folks who participated in or observed the COVID Memorial at Saugus Center, it was described frequently as “a very moving” and comforting night of reflection. It served as a great example of what a town like Saugus can do when people work together for a common good. Help out the Pumpkin Patch people! Here’s a good community volunteer project to get involved in – First Congregational Church’s 19th Annual Pumpkin Patch. If you are not busy tomorrow morning (Saturday, Sept. 25), head down to Hamilton Street and help unload the “Pumpkin truck” that will be arriving at around 9 a.m. to unload a few thousand pumpkins in all shapes and sizes on the church lawn facing Saugus Town Hall. If you have small children, what a treat it would be to introduce them to this town tradition that goes back nearly two decades. And it’s a convenient trip if you planned to buy a pumpkin or two for your kids or house, anyway. The Annual Pumpkin Patch will run from Sept. 25 through Halloween, October 31. Pumpkins will be displayed on the church lawn and 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. “The Pumpkin Patch” offers a great way to get in the fall spirit. For more information, please contact Carl Spencer at 781-233-9196. Saugus is one of many communities receiving pumpkins from the Navajo Reservation near Farmington, N.M., working with a program called Pumpkin Patch USA, which coordinates the destination of the pumpkins. The church and the Navajo Reservation both benefit from the pumpkins. Election season is definitely here! Every two years, Saugus voters elect their citizens’ Legislature (the 50-member Town Meeting), their five-member Board of Selectmen, the five-member School Committee and a representative to the Housing Authority. One of the most important functions of a community newspaper is to provide readers with as much information as possible about the candidates on the ballot in a local election. So, for this week’s edition and for the next five issues leading up to the Nov. 2 Town Election, we’re going to be bird-dogging the candidates in the major contested town races and try to illuminate meaningful issues worthy of public discussion on how town government should operate. Who are these people? Why are they running? What qualifications, educational and professional backgrounds do they bring to the table? What separates them from the field of candidates? What’s been their past history of public service to Saugus? Those are a few of the questions we will be asking in pursuit of what I hope will be fair and balanced coverage of all of the candidates in the contested races – especially GUESS WHO GOT SKETCHED! In this week’s edition, we continue our weekly feature where a local artist sketches people, places and things in Saugus. Got an idea who was sketched this week? If you do, please email me at mvoge@comcast.net or leave a phone message at 978-683-7773. Anyone who correctly identifies the Saugonian being sketched between now and Tuesday at noon qualifies to have their name put in a green Boston Red Sox hat with a chance to be selected as the winner of a $10 gift certificate, compliments of Dunkin’ at the 1204 Broadway Saugus location on Route 1 North. But you have to enter to win! Look for the winner and identification in next week’s “The Sounds of Saugus.” Please leave your mailing address in case you are a winner. (Courtesy illustration to The Saugus Advocate by a Saugonian who goes by the name of “The Sketch Artist”) It certainly wasn’t anything to write home about. In fact, I stayed home most of the time. I guess the highlight of my first vacation in more than five years was many hours spent in my garage, getting rid of clutter that had built up over many years – some of it long before I was even born. I was happy to connect with my friend Rick Sibley, a painter from Chester, N.H., who was more than happy to help remove the clutter and find a good home for all the reusable stuff instead of just taking it to the dump. Old dishes, furniture, antique stuff, old tools, sports memorabilia and a wide range of books and magazines just sat in my garage for years. Rick is a consummate recycler who believes that there’s a future use for all sorts of wood and metal materials that many folks would just take to the dump. It didn’t cost me a dime for Rick’s services, but of course Rick gets something in return for his help – a few New England Patriots game tickets – including a pair to the big one coming up in a couple of weeks against former Patriots quarterback great Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Some friends have told me that I could have sold those tickets for thousands of dollars. Well, for me, it was worth getting somebody to help get the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee. We will be dedicating “The Advocate Asks” in next six editions (including our Sept. 24 Issue) to questions to the candidates who seek election to these two important town bodies. Stay tuned. How was my vacation? A lot of folks in Saugus are curious and keep asking what I did on my vacation during the last two weeks of August. They wanted to know what exotic places I went to and whether I did anything interesting. rid of years of clutter. That could cost thousands of dollars, too. Legion Hall news Here’s some good news for people who enjoy those Friday morning breakfasts at the Saugus American Legion Cpl Scott J. Procopio Post 210. Debra Dion Faust, Building Manager of American Legion Post 210, shared this information with us: Legion Hall, located at 44 Taylor Street, has resumed its Friday breakfasts and will continue through the last Friday in May of 2022. The buffet breakfast is served at 8:00 a.m. for a donation of $7. Want to be a Knight? The Knights of Columbus is looking for new members to join. If interested in becoming a member of this local organization, please call 781-233-9858. We have a winner! Congratulations to Anna Simoes for getting her name drawn from the green Boston Red Sox hat as the winner of last week’s “Guess Who Got Sketched” contest. She was one of several who answered correctly. Here’s the answer, offered by the person who goes by the name of The Sketch Artist: “The answer to last week’s sketch is Cathy and Kenny Strum. These two are high school sweethearts married 48 plus years! Kenny and Cathy are heartfelt missionaries with such an interesting background connected to many organizations of help. “There are many trips they go on to help others, one to name is The “Give Kids the world.” Cathy is quoted telling of their experience: ‘Then my favorite mission trip was working at Give Kids The World in Kissimmee Florida. That is a magical place where all the wish kids and families are put up in villas. Everything there is free..... food, rides and anything you can think of. Every child there is happy as can be. They have Christmas parties every week because some of the kids won’t make that holiday. Parents couldn’t thank us enough. Little did they know we got just as much out of it. What a great feeling.’ Cathy. “These two have gone to Louisiana to help rebuild homes and help the people there during the Hurricanes. Cathy states, ‘We went to the lower nine to help rebuild houses that were lost in the flood. We did that twice. We spoke with a lot of people to hear their stories. I even went to the Senior Center there to hear their stories. Pretty sad what they went through.’ Cathy. “Kenny and Cathy have various missions. Cathy states, ‘We also did mission work in Boston at the Seafarers. It’s a place where freight & cruise ships out of Boston can go and shop for snacks, food or soda etc. on the first floor. On the second floor. They pick up their Amazon UPS, FedX packages. On the third floor they send their money home to their families.’ “As well as being faithful monthly volunteers for Bread of Life, they involve their family and guests in their yearly tradition.’ “Cathy states, ‘On Thanksgiving, we have 14 people come for dinner at my house. Before they can eat here, I make them work at the Bread of Life. Ken and some of our friends and family deliver the meals to the shut-ins. The others and myself stay and put desserts on plates, work on the serving line and some of us deliver the meals to the people that come to the high school for dinner. Then we help clean. They look forward to this every year.’ “‘My church (Green Street Baptist, Melrose) hosts the meal on the 5th Wednesday of the month. We and people of our church all pitch in. Some shop, some cook, some serve and some clean on these days’” Cathy. “Cathy and Kenny serve on the Saugus Senior Center Board. “Such a giving life in multitudes of ways I couldn’t cover all they do and their many pictures! “Such lights only a full Mark E. Vogler Interview could do justice! THE SOUNDS OF SAUGUS | SEE PAGE 11
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