Page 14 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, DECEmbEr 30, 2022 The Sounds of Saugus By Mark E. Vogler Good Morning, Saugus! Best wishes to all our readers for a Happy New Year. And hopefully, you will fulfill most of your New Year’s resolutions over the next 12 months. I’ve got a few of my own, a major one being the removal of clutter in my house and the removal of stuff that I no longer need or enjoy. I’ve got rooms full of stuff that can be given away, tossed out or recycled. This is something I’ve had on the radar screen for a long time. But I feel motivated to get it done this time and hopefully, I will. Health is another. Continue the walking and make adjustments in my diet to shed a few more pounds. In this week’s issue, we allowed Saugus selectmen and School Committee members to sum up the major town news stories during 2022 and to talk about their top priorities for the New Year. I’m mulling over a few projects at The Saugus Advocate that will help to make the paper more relevant to our readers. This coming year is a town election year. All five School Committee and all five Board of Selectmen seats will be up for grabs, along with the 50 Town Meeting seats. I’ve thought about helping to organize a political forum or candidate’s debate, particularly for the Board of Selectmen. That’s the kind of thing that newspapers usually do. Stay tuned. In the coming weeks, you might notice a few changes in our weekly package. I think it’s worth repeating what I told readers last week. As editor of The Saugus Advocate for six years and nine months now, I am making a renewed commitment to offer our readers an interesting and informative newspaper which always strives to be a force of good in the community – seeking to spotlight town people and events that lead to the betterment of Saugus. Our primary task is to provide useful information that keeps residents informed on important issues that affect the community as a whole and residents individually. We feel it’s important to shine a light on town and local government – including public schools, the town’s chief employer and the agency that affects the most lives in the community on a daily basis – when things break down and when the government needs to step up to address various challenges or problems. At the same time, we think it’s important to shine a public light on the many great things that are happening here, whether by individuals or groups. I recently turned 70 and I’m finishing my 50th year as a newspaper journalist since I began my career during my junior year at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, working weekends in the Northampton news bureau of The Springfield Union and filing stories I developed while living on campus during the week. My personal gift to the people of Saugus is that I will continue to work hard to provide Saugus a well-balanced and respected hometown newspaper as long as my publisher wants to keep me as the editor. I have no immediate plans to retire. I’ve told close friends and colleagues that I will continue reporting, writing stories and headlines, taking photos and editing stories relevant to Saugus as long as I am blessed with good health. Whether it’s five to 10 more years – or longer – I plan to continue doing what I’m doing, as long as there’s a place for a real newspaper (not online paper) in Saugus. We are Saugus’ hometown newspaper. We are the only newspaper that covers Saugus people and events exclusively. Right now, I am blessed to have people like Laura Eisener (“Saugus Gardens”), Bill Stewart (the Old Sachem columnist who writes about sports), Joanie Allbee (photos/essays/articles), Jay DeMarco (“Small Saves” cartoon), Janice Jarosz (articles and photos), Tom Sheehan (articles) and “The Sketch Artist” as a core of nonpaid frequent contributors who help make “The Saugus Advocate” the paper that it is. And, of course, we have part-time staffers Tara Vocino (who takes photos and writes human interest stories) and Greg Phipps (who covers Saugus sports). And publisher Jim Mitchell oversees the paper as it’s put to bed in Everett on Thursdays. So, a lot of hard work goes into putting out the paper every week. So, I feel honored to coordinate our coverage and collaborate with our paid staffers and unpaid contributors to put out the paper every week. “First Day Hike” at Breakheart on Jan. 1 The next event at Breakheart Reservation sponsored by the DCR is the First Day Hike on New Year’s Day. It is a wonderful way to start the New Year. Please check newspapers and flyers for further updates. Other activities are being planned to include the famous Maple Sugaring event and a park clean up when the weather improves. If you are interested in getting involved with the Friends Group, please call 781-2331855 x19. Happy Holidays and look forward to seeing you at the Park. Another week of holiday trash delays The Town of Saugus announced that trash and recycling collection will run on a one-day delay in observance of the New Year. Trash and recycling will not be collected on Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, due to the holiday. Collection will resume on a one-day delay on Tuesday, Jan. 3. Residents are kindly asked to leave trash and recycling curbside by 7 a.m. the day after their normally scheduled collection day. The Town of Saugus would like to thank everyone for their cooperation. Please contact Solid Waste/Recycling Coordinator Scott A. Brazis at 781-2314036 with any questions. New Year’s Eve at Kowloon Celebrate New Year’s Eve at the Kowloon Restaurant with “the biggest and best and maybe the last” New Year’s Eve party. WildFire and Vinyl Groove will perform live in concert along with DJ RMC. Dine, dance and ring in the New Year with a light Kowloon buffet, Champagne toast and party favors. Doors open at 8 p.m., and entertainment kicks off at 9:00 p.m. Tickets are $75 per guest and $250 for tables of four guests. To order tickets, call 1-781233-0077. Food Pantry schedule The Saugus United Parish Food Pantry will be closed today (Friday, Dec. 30) in observance of the holidays. The food pantry will then reopen on Friday, January 6 from 9:30-11 a.m. “Shout Outs” to Santa Helpers The Jarosz family nominated “all the Santa Helpers” for this week’s “Shout Outs.” The family expressed “A very special thank you for volunteering your time and energies on one of the coldest Christmas Eves in decades.” “To travel through the streets of Saugus spreading joy and excitement truly in the Christmas spirit! The 2022 Christmas Parade was just wonderful! Thank you.” 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. We have a winner! Congratulations to Ann Marie Swanson for making the right identification in last week’s “Guess Who Got Sketched” contest. Ann Marie is one of several readers answering correctly. But she was the only one to have her 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 Artist: “The answer to last week’s THE SOUNDS | SEE PAGE 15 —Cont est— CONTEST SKETCH OF THE WEEK 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”)
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