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THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, SEpTEmbEr 29, 2023 Page 13 The Sounds of Saugus By Mark E. Vogler Good morning, Saugus! If another weekend day of rain doesn’t spoil things, there is a nice and free, family-friendly event tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 30) at Breakheart Reservation. The state Department of Conservation & Recreation, the Friends of Breakheart, Saugus Action Volunteers for the Environment (SAVE), the Saugus Cultural Council and Trader Joe’s are sponsoring the 2023 Breakheart Family Fall Festival. It is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Visitor’s Center at Breakheart, 177 Forest St., Saugus. The event will feature lawn games, a petting zoo, storytellers, music, pumpkins, scarecrows and family-oriented activities! Kids and grownups can come and watch and learn about owls with the Center for Wildlife. Or, you can hold a live snake with the Cape Ann Vernal Pond Team. Other activities include a guided tree tour walk and a Tai Chi lesson from state Rep. Donald Wong. If you go, be sure to wear comfortable shoes and bring water, sunscreen and bug repellent. SAVE has something special planned for this year’s festival: the Live Bird program. Mass Audubon will present five 20-minute sessions at the Breakheart Visitor’s Center with start times at 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m., noon, 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m. You can attend one or more of these sessions to view local wildlife up close and personal, as well as learn more about these incredible animals. SAVE will also sponsor another “It’s New To You” SWAP again this year at the Festival. The SWAP – an effort to help keep usable items out of the waste stream – will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. near the Visitor’s Center. The SWAP is part of SAVE’s continuing efforts to increase recycling by repurposing still usable goods and reducing what is put out as trash and incinerated. The SWAP is another free event – no money, just a simple swap. You can bring items or take items; you do not have to do both. Bring usable items in good condition to the SWAP, typically those things you no longer want but that are too good to throw away, and perhaps find a treasure or two to take home with you. (Please, do not bring items that require special disposal.) For more information about the SWAP, please contact Ann at adevlin@aisle10.net. You can also visit the SAVE website at www.SaugusSave.org Food Pantry notes The Saugus United Parish Food Pantry is open today (Friday, Sept. 29) from 9:3011 a.m. Legion Breakfast today There’s a good breakfast deal for Saugus veterans and other folks who enjoy a hearty breakfast on Friday mornings. The American Legion Post 210 at 44 Taylor St. in Saugus offers Friday morning breakfasts for the 2023-24 season. Doors open at 7:30, with breakfast served from 8-9:00 a.m. for an $8 donation. Veterans who cannot afford the donation may be served for free. Special “Shout Outs” This week we have a couple of nominations from our loyal readers. Carl Spencer, Pumpkin Patch Coordinator: “Shout out to the community of workers that came to unload the pumpkins for our Pumpkin Patch at First Congregational Church in Saugus Center last Saturday. Joining church members and their friends were Saugus High Students, Pioneer Charter Students, Saugus Community Football and their parents, cub scouts, elected town officials and neighbors. We unloaded 5,000.00 pumpkins! We could not have done this without your help. THANK YOU! We have another smaller delivery on Oct. 14 at 9 a.m. and again need help.” Bob Davis: “I would like to give a shout-out to Greg and Stephanie Bluestein who coordinate Saugus Youth Football and Cheer. They are providing a great service to the Town of Saugus by giving a lot of young people the opportunity to be involved in the playing of football and cheering. Stephanie is my granddaughter and I know how much she and Greg are dedicated to this great program.” 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 lonTHE PUMPKIN PATCH AT SAUGUS CENTER: Players, cheerleaders and coaches from Saugus Youth Football and Cheer and students from Pioneer Charter School and Saugus High participated in unloading the Pumpkin Truck on Saturday at First Congregational Church. (Courtesy Photo to The Saugus Advocate) ger might lend itself to a story and/or a photo. Historical Society hosts talk on Appleton’s Pulpit On Wednesday, Oct. 11, Paul Kenworthy will give a talk on “Appleton’s Pulpit: Samuel Appleton and The First American Revolution” at the Saugus Historical Society meeting at 7 p.m. at 30 Main St. Paul is a National Park Ranger at the Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site and Vice President of the Saugus Historical Society. In 1687, words were spoken from the top of a large rock outcrop in Saugus against the tyranny of Great Britain in its demands from the colonies. The meeting is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. Town Election Watch The countdown is on for the biennial town election – set for Nov. 7. There are only five more editions after today until the election. I’m making comprehensive coverage of the candidates and the issues my top priority for the next five editions after today. We should be able to get an idea next week about the placement of candidates on this year’s town election ballot. Town Clerk Ellen Schena and the Board of Registrars will meet at 5:30 p.m. next Thursday (Oct. 5) in the second floor auditorium at Saugus Town Hall for a drawing of the ballot positions. Getting their name placed higher on the ballot could provide an edge to candidates in races where a lot of folks are running. And, of course, nothing beats staying visible and getting the word out to potential voters. As a public service, The Saugus Advocate again will provide free political announcements accompanied by a headshot photo. But please be concise and straightforward in getting your message out. Candidates should be able to say what they need to say in 200 to 400 words. Introduce yourself, summarize your background and state what makes your candidacy special. But be brief and don’t wait until the final weeks to make your announcement. One of the most important jobs of any newspaper is to provide accurate, fair and thorough coverage of a local election. For the next five weeks up until election day, The Saugus Advocate will strive to do that, and, hopefully, win or lose, the election campaign will be a positive experience for the participating candidates. Hopefully, each candidate, through the campaign, will contribute to the betterment of Saugus. At the moment, I am in talks with Saugus TV, in hopes of arranging several candidate debates or forums to better educate the voters about the major issues being debated in the context of this year’s political campaign. Like the previous three town election campaigns I have covered since taking over as editor of The Saugus Advocate in March 2016, we will be dedicating “The Advocate Asks” column to questioning the Board of Selectmen and School Committee candidates about important issues which concern them. We will also take a closer look at the Charter Commission and the Housing Authority races as well as the 10 Town Meeting races. Candidates’ announcements on Saugus TV Saugus TV cordially invites candidates for the Saugus Board of Selectmen and School Committee to take advantage of our three-minute speech opportunities at Saugus TV. This is an excellent chance for you to introduce yourself to the community and share your vision for the upcoming election. Our state-of-the-art studio, conveniently located at 30 Main Street, will be available to candidates to deliver their speeches. To secure your time slot, kindly get in touch with Rachel Brugman, Saugus TV’s Operations Manager, at 781231-2883 or R.Brugman@SaugusTV.org. All speeches must be recorded by 5 p.m. on October 19, 2023. Additionally, we are pleased to offer digital signage opportunities for candidates running for all offices, granting you exposure on our community bulletin board located on Comcast Channel 8 in Saugus. These slides will run from October 7 to November 7. We look forward to collaboTHE SOUNDS | SEE PAGE 14

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