Page 12 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – WEDnESDAy, nOVEmbEr 23, 2022 The Sounds of Saugus By Mark E. Vogler Good morning, Saugus! Best wishes to everyone for a safe and happy Thanksgiving Day weekend. If you are traveling long distances on the highways over the holiday weekend, be careful out there. If you are looking forward to a family gathering or a get-together with friends, have a good time. But limit your alcohol consumption to two drinks. It’s usually the third one that gets you in trouble. Better yet, have somebody who isn’t drinking be the designated driver. The highways will be crowded enough without impaired drivers endangering motorists Tomorrow, Saugus, along with other communities across Massachusetts, will enjoy High School football rivalries. Saugus High will host the Peabody Tanners tomorrow (Thursday, Nov. 24) at 10 a.m. at the Christie Serino Jr. Memorial Stadium at the Saugus Middle/High School Complex. On its website this week, the administration of Saugus Public Schools is requesting that all spectators purchase tickets online to save time and money. Online sale ticket prices are as follows: $9, adults and $6, students/senior citizens. Cash sales will be available at the door; however, all tickets will cost $10. The School Department will also have the online purchase option available at the gate on game day at the reduced cost. For more information for the online tickets, check on the Saugus Public Schools website. Counting our blessings Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. Families and friends gather around a great meal after a High School football game rivalry. And many people count their blessings, reflecting on the positive things going on in their lives. This week, I asked selectmen to share their own thoughts on what they believe Saugus residents should count their blessings for (See story in this week’s edition). I gave my own situation as editor of The Saugus Advocate for the last six and halfplus years some reflection. I am thankful that I’m healthy enough to continue working as the Editor of The Saugus Advocate as I observe my 50th year in newspaper journalism. I still enjoy the challenges of putting out a small community newspaper that comes out on Fridays – except on special holiday weeks. And I am blessed to have a supportive publisher backing me up and a cast of contributors who file interesting articles, photos and artwork on a regular basis which enhance the paper. So, I am very grateful to receive frequent contributions from Laura Eisner (Saugus Gardens), Jay DeMarco (Small Saves cartoon), Joanie Allbee, Bill Stewart (The Old Sachem), Janice Jarosz, Tom Sheehan and The Sketch Artist – to name a few. I also count my blessings that I met a wonderful lady that I enjoy being around, and she’s a Saugus woman. I really, really, really like her so much that I gave her my high school graduation ring. Stay tuned. A big night for Saugus coming up Plans are already in the works for one of the town’s most popular community events – the annual tree lighting ceremony and holiday festivities, set for 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2. Santa Claus will be coming to town. There will be some outside fun and games for kids – including the popular petting zoo. Santa Claus will make his arrival. This is a Saugus event that I always look forward to attending. It’s a great family event. Stay tuned for details. Special Town Meeting Monday night Just weeks after having one Special Town Meeting, town officials are gearing up for another. The key item on the warrant for a Special Town Meeting set for Nov. 28 is an article that would grant the town manager authority to research, develop and participate in a contract, or contracts, to aggregate the electricity load of the residences and businesses in the town. Another article on the agenda would authorize the Board of Selectmen to acquire title to the land and buildings located at 42 Jackson St. for public parking and other municipal purposes. Another article will permit the town to appropriate money for acquiring the land and buildings at 42 Jackson St. In addition, there are several fiscal housekeeping initiatives that will be considered at the meeting, which gets underway at 7:30 p.m. in the second floor auditorium at Saugus Town Hall. Saugus Lions Club Toy Drive Saturday The Saugus Lions Club will hold its 3rd Annual Roaring Toy Drive 2022 Saturday (Nov. 26) at the Saugus Senior Center, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Saugus Senior Center at 466 Central St. Because of last year and continuing this years’ craziness, more families are hurting more than ever and are in need of help for Christmas. As we all know when times are tough, toys for the children may get overlooked. Retired Capt. Bill O’Malley of the Saugus Fire Department will be collecting the toys and delivering them to those families in need. Please share this information with your family, friends and co-workers. If we can all tell a handful of friends who have found themselves far luckier than most, to donate 1 extra toy, imagine all the toys we can collect. Let’s all try to make Christmas of 2022 far better than the rest of the year. Together we can make a difference and help put some smiles on many faces. This week’s “Shout Outs” Debora de Paula Hoyle, Administrative Assistant, at the Cliftondale Congregational Church, wants to publicly acknowledge and thank the folks and organizations who contributed to making the Thanksgiving Food Drive at the Saugus United Parish Food Pantry a successful event that will help about 100 needy families in the Saugus area have a decent Thanksgiving Day meal. “We had the following entities host food drives for us: Saugus Public Library, Belmonte Middle School field hockey team, Saugus YMCA, Girl Scout Troop 67718, ATCK Fitness, Pioneer Charter School of Science II, Rockland Trust, Saugus Catholics,” Debora wrote us in an email yesterday. “We also received financial donations from the Elks and Kowalsky Insurance. Across the two days, we had volunteers from the other churches in Saugus, the community, Saugus High football team, M&T Bank, Salem Five Bank, Pioneer Charter School of Science II, Saugus YMCA, Bishop Fenwick High School (Peabody),” she continued. “This is in addition to the many, many others who donated their time and resources--including those who do GUESS WHO GOT SKETCHED? If you know the right answer, you might win the contest. 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’s being sketched this week? If you do, please email me at mvoge@comcast.net or leave a phone message at 978 683-7773. Anyone who identifies the Saugonian sketched in this week’s paper 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 Hammersmith Family Restaurant, 330 Central Street in Saugus. 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”) so anonymously and also our dedicated team of volunteers from across Saugus who help us every week.” We received a second “Shout Out” from Precinct 10 Town Meeting Member Peter Manoogian: “Here is a shout out for BoH (Board of Health) member Maria Gangemi Tamagna who did a great job pointing out the ridiculous emission agreement the committee agreed to in by the sub committee . Kudos to her for pointing out that with agreed to improvements Saugus residents will be exposed to higher emissions from WIN than what other incinerators are able to achieve. 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 the mention in the subject line, “An Extra Shout Out.” No more than a paragraph. Anything longer might lend itself to a story and/or a photo. We have a winner! Congratulations to Bob Davis for making the right identification in last week’s “Guess Who Got Sketched?” Contest. Bob is one of several readers answering correctly. But, he was the only one to have his name picked in a drawing from the green Boston Red Sox cap. Here’s the correct answer, offered by the person who goes by the name of The Sketch THE SOUNDS | SEE PAGE 13 —Cont est— CONTEST SKETCH OF THE WEEK
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