Page 18 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, OCTObEr 27, 2023 The Sounds of Saugus By Mark E. Vogler Good morning, Saugus! If you own a pet that you are very proud of and feel comfortable with showing it off in public, there’s an event tomorrow that you might want to attend. If you don’t own a pet, but are an animal lover with young kids, this still might be worth checking out. Breakheart Reservation will host its First Annual Pet Parade on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 10:30 a.m. in front of the Christopher P. Dunne Visitor Center (177 Forest St., Saugus). “Hoping for a good turnout. The weather is going to be great,” Joyce Vecchiarelli, of Peter A. Rossetti Insurance Agency, Inc., told me this week. “Nice parade route has been mapped out by DCR and the Saugus animal control officer will be present, as well as Saugus Animal Hospital, Poochies Grooming and a Pet Trainer,” she said. Joyce is a member of the Friends of Breakheart, which is sponsoring and organizing the contest with Peter A. Rossetti Insurance Agency, Inc. “Trophies for best personality and cutest animal will be awarded,” Joyce said. “Costumes would be great but optional. There will be treats, a raffle and giveaways,” she said. Registration begins at 10 a.m. A $10 cash only donation is requested to enter the contest. Proceeds will be used by the Friends of Breakheart Reservation for park activities and future events. Food Pantry notes The Saugus United Parish Food Pantry is open today (Friday, Oct. 27) 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 202324 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. Hammersmith Quilters Show – Nov. 4-5 The Hammersmith Quilters Show: Around the Block is just two weekends away. It is set for Nov. 4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Nov. 5, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Saugus Senior Center at 466 Central St. Admission is $6; age 12 and under free. There will be quilts on display, a boutique with quilts and homemade items for sale, vendors, penny sale baskets and more! The show will feature a featherweight sewing machine raffle as well. Handicap accessible and plenty of parking. Board of Selectmen Food Drive – Nov. 4 The Board of Selectmen will hold a food drive on Saturday, November 4, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Elementary School. The Saugus United Parish Food Pantry needs donations, especially with Thanksgiving and other holidays coming soon, as well as people who need help during the year. Saugus has always been extremely giving, and we are asking for you to drive up to the Veterans School (39 Hurd Ave.) and drop off any food item you would like to donate. Nonperishable items, such as canned vegetables, stuffing mix, canned gravy, cranberry sauce, canned soups, cereal and pasta, or any other food item to help people in need, would be appreciated. Please check the expiration dates on your donations to be sure they haven’t passed the use by date. Thank you for always being there in time of need! “The Old Sachem” to address Saugus Historical Society on Nov. 8 On Wednesday, November 8, at 7 p.m., “The Nation’s First Subway System” will be the topic of the Saugus Historical Society meeting at 30 Main St. Bill Stewart, “The Old Sachem,” who writes a weekly column in The Saugus Advocate, will speak about the beginning of the subway system in Boston – the first such transportation in the country. Light refreshments will be available, and this event will be recorded by Saugus TV. As always, this meeting is free and open to the general public. We are hoping to reschedule the Appleton’s Pulpit lecture, which was canceled due to illness in October. “Saugus Over Coffee” is over The tenth and final in a 10-month-long series of forums titled “Saugus Over Coffee” ended this week (Monday, Oct. 23) with residents of Precinct 10 getting the opportunity to meet their Town Meeting members and express their concerns about issues in their precinct. As was the case with each one of the previous forums, there were positive aspects and disappointing aspects. This was probably the most challenging forum for me to moderate, because it took part in the midst of the campaign for the biennial town election. As expected, all five Town Meeting members showed up. I also believed it was necessary to invite the two challengers to sit at the front table in the Community Room and have equal time in answering the questions I asked. On the disappointing side, the turnout was not as good as I had anticipated. Library Director Alan Thibeault and I set up 50 chairs in the Community Room instead of the usual 24. Alan also brought in two large boxes of decaf coffee. But only a few folks enjoyed the coffee. It was disappointing that only about half of the 20 or less people who showed up were Precinct 10 residents – disappointing because the event had been scheduled 10 months ago. I also got the “stink eye” from several panelists and people in the audience for my efforts to keep the event from becoming another forum on WIN Waste Innovations, which is located in Precinct 10. I didn’t want it to become a WIN Waste forum. It was a forum dedicated to the residents of Precinct 10 to discuss their chief concerns and frustrations. Some members of the audience and some of the panelists didn’t like the idea that I didn’t allow “cross talk” between the audience and the candidates. I stressed this was not supposed to be a debate, but a forum on Precinct 10 issues, which happened to take place in the middle of an election campaign. The audience was allowed to question the Town Meeting members in the previous forums. My concern was that by allowing questions from the audience in the latest forum, some of the panelists would not get a chance to speak. And that wouldn’t be fair. There was also the danger of the audience trying to make certain candidates look good or bad. That wouldn’t be fair either. Of course, there were some good points – as has been the case throughout the 10 forums. Though only a few Precinct 10 residents took advantage of the forum by attending, those who did attend and the folks from Precinct 10 who will be watching the forum from home will get to view each of the seven candidates on the ballot answer questions and also make their campaign case to voters in Precinct 10. That’s huge because the Town Meeting races seldom get public attention and here’s a case where seven candidates in one precinct were allowed to spend up to five minutes apiece responding to a moderator’s questions. And any Precinct 10 voter who cares can watch on their home computer what all of their candidates had to say. The voters who view the video will be better informed when they go to the polls on Nov. 7. Stay tuned for a potential return of “Saugus Over Coffee” next year. Final day of voter registration Town Clerk Ellen Schena says that tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 28) is the final day to register to vote for this year’s town election (Nov. 7). This will take place in the Community Room of the Saugus Public Library from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will also be the final day for Early Voting in person. As of Oct. 1, there were 21,471 registered voters, according to the town clerk. Deadline for candidate announcements A reminder: Saugus residents wishing to announce their candidacy for public office in the fall’s town elections may submit a statement along with a photo attached to the email in jpeg format to The Saugus Advocate, which will be published as a courtesy to town voters. Friday, Nov. 3, is the last day for publishing these announcements. We do this as a courtesy to the candidates and the voters. Space is limited. So, please don’t wait until the last minute to subTHE SOUNDS | SEE PAGE 19 —Cont est— CONTEST SKETCH OF THE WEEK Can You Guess Who? If you know, call 978-683-7773 and your name will be entered into a drawing contest to win. The prize is a $10 gift certificate from the contest’s sponsor, the Hammersmith Family Restaurant (330 Central St. in Saugus).
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