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Page 12 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, SEpTEmbEr 30, 2022 The Sounds of Saugus By Mark E. Volger A nice start to fall What a way to begin the autumn season in Saugus. Tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 1), the town is fortunate enough to have two worthwhile outdoor community events going on. And each of these events features a live owl program. “The World of Owls,” presented by Wingmasters and the Saugus Public Library, will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site. Meanwhile, Mass Audubon will present a free educational program featuring live owls as part of Breakheart Reservation’s First Annual Family Fall Festival, which gets underway from 10 a.m. and lasts through 2 p.m. Saugus Action Volunteers for the Environment (SAVE) is cosponsoring the event with the DCR’s (state Department of Conservation and Recreation). Not a bad weekend day for Saugus families coming up tomorrow.It might be worthwhile to birdwatchers and nature lovers to take in both events. Sounds like a better deal than raking leaves! Saugus resident braced for Ian For over a week, I’ve been trading emails with Precinct 5 Town Meeting Member Pam Goodwin on a press announcement by SAVE (Saugus Action Volunteers for the Environment) highlighting Breakheart Reservation’s First Annual Family Fall Festival.She happens to be down in Florida on a vacation with her husband Phil. Then, all of a sudden, we started hearing reports earlier in the week that Hurricane Ian was threatening to become the storm of the century for Floridians. “We’re preparing for Hurricane Ian as best as we can.Fingers crossed,” she wrote to me on Wednesday. Then by Wednesday, Pam and Phil hunkered down in the clubhouse of a small manufactured home park located in Largo, where Phil’s brother and sisterin-law live year-round.Pam and Phil have been vacationing there since Sept. 3 and have another week and half to go. I called yesterday to see how Pam was making out with the storm. The manufactured home park was unscathed. No storm damage or power outage.“If the storm had stayed on the original track, we’d be in big doo-doo,” Pam told me. “I thank our lucky stars that we didn’t. I feel bad for people who did get clobbered Other than an uncomfortable night sleeping in the clubhouse as a precaution and feeling a little anxiety over the potential for a heavy duty hurricane, Pam and Phil can enjoy the rest of their vacation, thankful that the story skipped over the part of Florida where she’s vacationing. A Special Sunday for Saugonians This just in from Donna Sordello from the Saugus Catholic Collaborative at deadline. “Deacon Frank and Joanne Gaffney are both recipients of the 2022 Bishop Cheverus Awards Medals to be presented by the Cardinal at the Cathedral in Boston on Sunday (Oct. 2) at 2 PM followed by a collation,” Donna wrote in an email. “This is an honor for all their work for the people of the parish. They are truly amazing people helping the people of Blessed Sacrament and St. Margaret’s Parishes,” she wrote. She adds that there are 10 people attending to support Deacon Frank and Joanne. tails. Stay tuned for more deLaura Eisener would have made a pretty good reporter had she gone into journalism as a profession.Not only does she write the weekly column, “Saugus Gardens in the (whatever season), but she’s definitely got a nose for news and occasionally happens upon news that she makes me aware of or writes about. Sometimes when she gets a tip or a hold of a potentially good story on Wednesday, she will file a story with photographs. On Wednesday (Sept. 28), she came up with an interesting story about people protesting the cutting down of trees in Wakefield at the site of the new Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational High School also known as Northeast Metro Tech “I gather that the supporters of the forest destruction feel this is the only way to avoid having both Wakefield and the MetroTech school sharing playing fields during the construction, so to prevent this temporary inconvenience they prefer to destroy 20 acres of woods between the current parking lot and Breakheart Reservation.I was told that this forest was formerly part of Breakheart, but for some time has been owned by the school. It seems to me that it is a bad idea to destroy so much more forest, especially after 60 acres worth of adjacent areas of Breakheart Reservation were destroyed this summer by fire.The current plan is to blast the hilltop and pave the area for student parking. “A ceremonial groundbreaking was held in the middle of the current parking lot under a canopy. I was allowed to take a couple of pictures but I was not “on the list” so was not able to get very close to the event.(I didn’t say I was from the Advocate since I have no press ID or anything and was not expecting to do interview of those attending the groundbreaking. “Down at the intersection of Farm St. and Hemlock Rd. a group of people protested the planned destruction of the woods adjacent to the school to create a parking lot.Rather than use already disturbed land for the project, the current proposal is to blast hillside and forest to create a new parking lot for the new school. The forest area is also adjacent to the Wakefield entrance of Breakheart Reservation.While all the towns involved voted to build the new school, very few people seem to be aware of the plans to destroy the forest. “According to the Friends of the Northeast Metrotech Forest, rather than build Wakefield’s new Northeast Metro Tech vocational school on the playing fields next to the current school in over 20 acres of open space as recommended in the pre-feasibility report, the new school building committee voted for a hilltop school with a $40 million view and over 20 acres of athletic fields. Thirteen acres of Northeast Metro Tech‘s forested hilltop https://ebird.org/hotspot/ L18308054adjacent to Breakheart Reservation is scheduled to be clearcut in March 2023 followed by a massive 6-month blasting and rock crushing operation that will disturb or destroy breeding habitat for Eastern Whip-poor-will, American Woodcock, Prairie Warbler, Eastern Towhee, Field Sparrow, Indigo Bunting, Wood Thrush, Pine Warbler, Brown Creeper and more. The proposed new half-mile road from Farm St to Hemlock Rd runs through endangered species habitat and multiple wetlands including vernal pools. The area is known for ancient Native American sites and should have required both a full archaeological survey and an environmental impact assessment. The group is not opposed to the building of a new school, but to the destruction of so much undisturbed forest when there is already disturbed land - currently paved parking areas and playing fields that could be repurposed.” Thank you Laura for sharing this with our readers. Interesting story. Though it’s in Wakefield, it’s still very local as The Town of Saugus could be paying $40-million or more as its share for the new school that’s under construction Stay tuned for more details. Autism Eats and Wally Lenard Zohn, owner of Prince Pizzeria, is hosting the restaurant’s annual Autism Eats With Red Sox Wally event on Oct. 13 at the restaurant on Route 1 South in Saugus from 6 to 8 p.m. Zohn and Delphine Zohn were motivated to create “an autism friendly environment” at the restaurant “where all behaviors are welcome,” because the parents of a child with autism. Their son Adin got stressed out by the dining experience several years ago. So, the family stopped dining out. Then they came up with the idea of “Autism Eats.” They trained staff on how to make customers with autism feel comfortable. And they made adjustments in the restaurant environment as well. “Autism Eats is here to give autism families an opportunity to enjoy restaurant meals without the stress that often accompanies these outings,” a promotional poster says about the special dining program. “Since everyone in our private room ‘gets it,’ there’s no need to explain any behavior or feel that all eyes are on us. It is a wonderful way to spend time with other families in an autism-friendly, nonjudgmental environment.” Reservations are required at www.autismeats.org Saugus Lions Club fundraiser Oct. 22 The Saugus Lions Club is hosting a Halloween dinner/dance on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. at the Saugus Knights of Columbus, 57 Appleton St. There will be a full buffet, cash bar, DJ, raffles and door prizes. Costumes are optional but there will be a prize for best costume. Tickets are $50 with proceeds supporting the Lions’ efforts in funding eye research. For more information or to purchase tickets email pattyfierro@hotmail.com. Or call 781-640-9176. A “Shout Out” to the pumpkin brigade We didn’t receive any nominations this week from readers recommending the recognition of Saugus folks doing good deeds and acts of kindness or special contributions to the betterment of Saugus.So, let’s have a few cheers for the brigade of volunteers who showed up last Saturday for the unloading of pumpkins after the “Pumpkin Truck” arrived at the First Congregational Church in Saugus Center. “We’re happy to get our pumpkins and appreciate all the people who helped unload the truck,”Pumpkin Patch coordinator Carl Spencer said.“We had about 100 people who helped with the unloading. About 50 players and cheerleaders from Saugus Youth Football and Cheer under the direction of president Greg Bluestein participated on Saturday. The church appreciates their help as well as the off-loading of pallets by Agganis Construction. The church THE SOUNDS | SEE PAGE 13

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