THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, OCTObEr 3, 2025 Page 15 The Sounds of Saugus By Mark E. Vogler Good morning, Saugus And Happy Home Coming to Saugus Middle-High School! It’s been a big week for the school’s faculty, staff, students and their families, with daily events that began Monday to observe “A Celebration of Our First Five” – that’s half a decade in the new school building. Grades 6 and 7 have each had their own Ice Cream Social. Eighth graders will have their Ice Cream Social today at 1:30 p.m., in the Cafe. There will be a Home Coming Dance for students in grades 9 through 12 in the Cafe at 6 p.m. today. The grand finale to this week’s activities is set for tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 4), beginning with SMHS Band and Chorus Performances at 9:30 a.m. The Field Hockey team will host Swampscott in Serino Stadium at 10 a.m. At 10 a.m., there will be a brief ceremony to mark “Celebration of Our First Five” at the front of the school. There will be tours of the building beginning at 10:30 a.m. The Gym will be decked out with new banners to celebrate Saugus High’s athletic successes. Then at Noon the Girls Soccer team will host North Andover in Serino Stadium. This will definitely be a special day for the Saugus Middle-High School community, and certainly for the Sachem alumni from all graduating classes from the school’s past. A Pumpkin Patch “Shout Out” We received only one nomination from our readers for a “Shout Out” this week. But it was a big one, offered by Karen Spencer of the First Congregational Pumpkin Patch: “The First Congregational Pumpkin Patch would like to shout out Matt Serino, Saugus High School Athletic Director, and Greg Bluestein, Saugus Pop Warner President for their help unloading our 3,000 + pumpkins last Saturday. Matt showed up with the high school sports teams (football, soccer, track, cheerleaders etc.). There were 70 high school students. Greg came with Pop Warner football players, cheerleaders and parents. We had over 100 young THE SENIOR CENTER HOSTED A HEALTH FAIR: On Friday, Sept. 19, the Saugus-Everett Elks Drug Awareness Committee and the Saugus Senior Center cosponsored a health, wellness and resource fair at the Saugus Senior Center. Over 30 vendors representing the health industry participated and provided free giveaways, raffles and educational material health screenings, including free Covid-19 and flu shots. This is the second annual health fair by these two organizations, and for the 300-plus residents proved to be a very successful event. Pictured from left to right: Elks Bill Pothier, Senior Center Director Laurie Davis, Elks Janine Mulligan, Linda Fuller and Ron Visconti. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate). people on our lawn taking pumpkins from the truck to the lawn working side by side with each other. A very large task was made small because of their efforts. This was a true community event and we are proud of the young people who came to help. If you would like to help, we have another delivery on Saturday, Oct. 11 @ 9:00 am.” 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. Saugus United Parish Food Pantry The Saugus United Parish Food Pantry is open today (Friday, Oct. 3) from 9:30-11 a.m. at 50 Essex St. in the basement of Cliftondale Congregational Church. The food pantry welcomes all neighbors facing food insecurity on Friday mornings. Volunteers are also welcome. Please call the Food Pantry Office (781-233-2663) or go to the website (cliftondalecc.org) for details. SAVE Candidates’ Night next Wednesday Here’s a message from SAVE about its environmental forum scheduled for next week, featuring the candidates for Board of Selectmen in the Nov. 4 Town Election: For more than ten years, Saugus Action Volunteers for the Environment (SAVE) has held a Candidates Night event featuring environmental questions to those running for the Saugus Board of Selectmen. This year’s forum will take place on Wednesday evening, October 8th at 6:30 p.m., in the Saugus Town Hall Auditorium, 298 Central Street. Doors will open to the public at 5:45 p.m. Light refreshments will be provided by The Saugus Garden Club. We are fortunate to have Joyce and Al Rodenhiser, who have agreed to act as Moderator and Time Keeper at our Candidates Night event again this year. They have a long history with us, being part of the original founding group. We appreciate their contributions over the past 50+ years, as well as their continued involvement with our organization. The format will include an Opening Statement by each of the candidates, then a series of questions drawn randomly from our fishbowl by the Moderator. All questions are related to environmental issues having direct impacts on our town. Each candidate will then have the opportunity to present their Closing Statement. SCTV will be present to televise the forum live on Comcast Channel 8, and it will also be available online. We hope you join us for a valuable opportunity to see and hear the Selectmen Candidates’ views on important environmental issues in order to make an informative decision this upcoming Election Day. ABOUT SAVE: Founded and incorporated in 1973, Saugus Action Volunteers for the Environment (SAVE) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting a better quality of life in Saugus through environmental concern and action. SAVE has a long history of advocating for increased recycling and composting, preserving and protecting open space, and raising awareness through educational programs. Our mission is to safeguard the town’s natural resources for the benefit of present and future generations. For more information, visit https://saugussave.wordpress.com Hear the Louise Hawkes story Wednesday night Here’s a special notice from Laura Eisener, president of the Saugus Historical Society, about an interesting program scheduled for Wednesday (Oct. 8) at 7 p.m. at the society’s offices at 30 Main St.: “Louise Hawkes changed the history of Saugus in ways that impact everyone in town, although many residents don’t know her name. For 35 years she worked as a clerk in the office of the Saugus Board of Assessors, but it may be her extracurricular activities as president of the Saugus Historical Society and treasurer of the Parson Roby Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution that had the most influence on the average Saugonian. Longtime residents may remember how she started a penny drive among the schoolchildren to buy the Appleton Taylor Mansfield House (then known as the “Ironmaster’s House”) to keep it in Saugus and prevent it from being taken apart and shipped to Dearborn Michigan! Hear more about this 20th century woman who helped this town become renowned worldwide for its contributions to industry. Janice Jarosz, Samantha Hawkes Clark, Kathy Blasingame and other direct descendants will share many of the efforts of Louise Hawkes that saved the Saugus Iron Works for generations to come at 7 PM on October 8 at 30 Main Street. The program is free to the public and light refreshments will be served.” Library hosts history of Boston comedy tomorrow Check out 100 Years of Boston Comedy with Nick Zaino at the Saugus Public Library at 295 Central St., Saugus, Mass., tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 4) from THE SOUNDS | SEE PAGE 16
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