Page 10 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2021 THE SOUNDS OF SAUGUS By Mark E. Vogler A true Christmas “Shout-Out” Avid Saugus Advocate reader Sue Fleming embodied the holiday spirit in her nomination for this week’s “Shout-Out”: “I would like to give a Shout Out to everyone who worked so hard organizing the Tree Lighting at Town Hall. It was so good to see so many families gathered. Also a Shout Out to Town Manager Scott Crabtree for playing it safe and having everything outside. You can never be too careful! “The center of Saugus and Cliftondale look beautiful for the Christmas season. Thank you to everyone involved!” 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. A few more days for toy drive Kevin Andrews has a couple of more days to play Santa Claus. Andrews and his elves will be teaming up with Sachem Friends for one more collection night – next Tuesday (Dec. 21), from 6 to 8 p.m. at the MEG Building, 5458 Essex St., Saugus. Andrews is still looking for help from the community – people who want to donate new unwrapped toys, sponsor a family wish list or provide gift card donations. If you want to help, he asks that you message his group at SaugusFriends@gmail.com. This organization includes me, Julie Cicolini, Jeannie Meredith, Terry O’soro and Tara Stackhouse. For logistical reasons, Andrews asks that people not wrap the gifts they are donating. The toy drive will once again operate in a corner out of the MEG Building. It is home of the Marleah Elizabeth Graves (MEG) Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the historic Cliftondale School. A chance for children participation The Rev. John Beach of St. John’s Episcopal Church has offered a wonderful invitation to the children of Saugus: Come participate in the Christmas Eve pageant the church has planned. (Please see story in this week’s edition: “A holiday invitation to Saugus: Celebration of Christmas with Children.”) Rev. Beach is encouraging the town’s children to come and participate in the reenacting of the Nativity of Jesus. In the spirit of Christmas, he has also invited all adults in the community “who enjoy (or would like to enjoy) a childlike heart” to come and watch this Christmas Eve pageant at 5 p.m. on Dec. 24. For those kids who want to perform, the young actors will be gathering at the church at 3 p.m. for the distribution of costumes and a brief rehearsal. If you are interested, please contact The Rev. John Beach at St. John’s Episcopal Church (8 Prospect Street, Saugus). You can email him at revjbeach@gmail.com. Or call him at the church office phone: 781 233 1242. We have a winner! Congratulations to Emily Grant for making the right identification in last week’s “Guess Who got Sketched!” Contest and then being the one selected from among several readers whose names were entered into the green Boston Red Sox cap. Here’s the correct answer, offered by the person who goes by the name of The Sketch Artist: “The answer to last week’s sketch is Crystal Cakounes. She is the Program Coordinator and Interim Director of the Youth & Recreation Department for our Town of Saugus. “Crystal has high energy and serves the Youth in a very warm and enthusiastic manner. “Crystal is an encouraging Leader with a good positive attitude. Crystal said of the tree lighting ceremony we were able to do this year after absence due to such hardships and trials of the pandemic ...‘We picked up where we left off’ Crystal added the positive statement of ‘Everything turned out really well.’ GUESS WHO GOT SKETCHED! 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 was sketched this week? If you do, please email me at mvoge@comcast.net or leave a phone message at 978-683-7773. Anyone who between now and Tuesday at noon correctly identifies the Saugonian being sketched 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 Dunkin’ at the 1204 Broadway, Saugus, location on Route 1 North. 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”) “Crystal has been coordinating and arranging all kinds of fun events for our Saugus Youth as Program Coordinator. There are many fun surprises along the way! In the past they even had helped set up with Adam Sandler – the popular actor, comedian and filmmaker – as he was getting ready to shoot Grown Ups 2 at Stackpole Field (back in 2012). “As Coordinator and Interim Director Crystal puts together and organizes Children’s events from Sports track, field, gym, rainy day arts and crafts, to movies! The creativeness in projects and adventures for the youth keeps growing Crystal strives to keep the Youth involved and interested in growing and learning new things. “Crystal is a third generation Saugonian, who continues to live in her hometown. And she has quite an impressive resume. She is a 2000 graduate of Saugus High School. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Earth Science and Psychology from Bridgewater State College (2004) and her Masters of Education degree in Middle School Education from Salem State College (2006). “She started out her career as an educator in 2001 as a substitute teacher. After graduating from Bridgewater State College, she became a 7th grade teacher in 2005, working as a Science teacher at the Belmonte Middle School. She later taught nearly three years in the Stoneham Public Schools as the Earth Science and Meteorology Teacher. “Crystal switched professional careers in August of 2010 when she applied for an opening in the town’s Youth & Recreation Department for programs coordinator, a position she’s held since then. In her position, she develops and runs numerous children’s and teen programs. She supervises and directs the part time summer employees. She performs all of the secretarial and clerical work that goes with running the office, including maintaining the website and keeping the community informed of recreational activity for Saugus youth. She organizes and runs the annual Founders Day celebration. “You will have to tune in to the ‘Saugus Youth and Recreation Newsletter’ to keep informed of what’s next! Crystal is known for doing many behind the scenes organizing of special compassionate acts such as starting a ‘Go Fund Me’ page in Memory of Greg Nickolas – Youth and Recreation Program Director for his family. Her heart is as big as her beautiful smile that greets everyone and anyone so freely! “Thankyou Crystal , you sure do shine with that megawatt smile and all you do – keep smiling! “Yours Truly, “The Sketch Artist” Breakheart’s “First Day Hike” So, have you resolved to lose some weight for the new year and engage in a more healthy life? If so, start off the New Year with an invigorating “First Day Hike” and make a resolution to burn off those extra holiday calories. The state Department of Conservation & Recreation and the Friends of Breakheart Reservation are cosponsoring “Breakheart Reservation First Day Hike” again. A flier issued recently by both groups notes “We will have two guided hikes through the paved loops of Breakheart. “Be prepared for cold weather – dress in layers and wear winter boots. Bring your friends and family and afterwards warm up with a cup of hot chocolate by the fire pit outside.” Jot this down on your calendar folks: Jan. 1, 2022. Hike starts at 10 a.m. Meet outside the Visitor’s Center of Breakheart Reservation (177 Forest St. in Saugus). The center will remain open until noon. For more information, call 781-233-0834. No 2022 Historical Society calendars It’s been a couple of years since Saugus native George Brown organized the production of those nice, large calendars for the Saugus Historical Society. George had been in charge of the calendar project for close two decades. There was no calendar last year. And George and his wife have recently moved to Danvers. Not sure why the calendar project stopped, as it was a great project. And I enjoyed the large size and the fascinating old photos and postcards that were showcased. I love those calendars – and I can’t wait ’til the society starts producing them again. “I have been getting questions about whether they will be available this year, and unfortunately the answer is no, not this Year,” says Saugus Historical Society President Laura Eisener. “People have been asking about the Saugus Calendars usually produced by the Saugus Historical Society. While we do enjoy putting them together and are considering resuming them in 2023, they do take many months to put together and we were not able to determine earlier in the season whether we would have sufficient sponsors, time to prepare them, and places (like the library, senior center, and town hall offices) to distribute them,” Laura said. “We are also still unpacking and getting organized from the major construction that took place in 2019 and 2020. While we have filled one of the vacant board positions, we still have an opening if anyone has an interest in local history and a desire to contribute to the community,” she said. The Society’s phone is still not functioning, so if you are interested in serving on the board or have other questions about the Historical Society, please call Laura Eisener on her home phone at 781-231-5988. Snow couldn’t stop this story Most young and budding newspaper reporters that I’ve run into during career travels, for some reason, always longed to cover the big front-page murder story. Young men and women that I met would jump for the chance of byline on a grizzly, gory story that would be the mostread article in any given day’s edition. Frankly, the murder story was never my cup of tea. I had a knack for always breaking a decent story when assigned to cover the cop beat at the various papers I’ve worked. But, frankly, I would yield if somebody else wanted to do the story. THE SOUNDS OF SAUGUS | SEE PAGE 11
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