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THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2020 Page 11 THE SOUNDS OF SAUGUS By Mark E. Vogler H ere are a few tidbits that you might want to know about this week in Saugus. Happy New Year, Saugus Best wishes to our loyal readers, their families and all the good people of Saugus for a safe, happy and healthy New Year. And, hopefully, it is one where we see COVID-19 wiped off the face of the earth. Not only does the killer virus ruin people by killing them or destroying their finances, it’s been my observation that it also breeds tons of negativity in the world. I notice a lot of road rage and reckless driving out there on the road. I also see the negativity in people out on the street or in the stores –people being rude, inconsiderate, selfish and unkind. I guess with all the bad stuff going on, it’s easy to get into a negative mindset instead of having a positive outlook on the world. Here’s an idea. Take one of those calendars or planners that we all get a surplus of this time of year and use one of them exclusively for a notebook to jot down every positive thing that happens to you. Then when you have a bad day, flip through some of your notes that talk about good things that happen in your life. My New Year’s resolutions As the editor of The Saugus Advocate, a couple of things come to mind. Get organized. Get rid of the clutter. Figure out ways to be more productive, which will lead to putting out a better, more interesting newspaper. As always, I’m interested in hearing from our Saugus readers on suggestions or story ideas. Some of the best ideas I received over the past year actually produced some special features for the paper. Laura Eisner’s well-sourced, informed and creative column, “Saugus Gardens in the Pandemic,” added a special dimension to this paper. Anyone who has been out there walking, wondering about the flowers and colors of the various plants and trees that they walk by probably learned something over the past nine months if they read Laura’s column. It was neat how she weaved in some local history with some nature or botany. And for every time Laura got the reader talking about or researching the plant, she took the reader’s mind off the pandemic. I am sure anyone who appreciates plants found her writings worthwhile this year. Wonderful stuff. Another meaningful contribution from a reader was served up by the person who goes by the name of “The Sketch Artist.” Her sketches were entertaining, and I’m sure they sparked some conversation around town, which is what you hope various elements in a newspaper do: get people talking. And when you get people talking, you hear some good stories. Of course, “The Sketch Artist” surely has a local following. There are some fan favorites out there who recognize her work and enjoy the sketches she produces. Two neat ideas which helped enhance the content of the paper for our readers. Our Year-in-Review Usually this time of year, newspaper editors love to trot out Year-in-Review issues and top stories of the year. This year, it was a little more challenging, because how much can you say about COVID-19 without boring the hell out of people? I sat down for three hours one night and leafed through every edition of the last 12 months. I concentrated on the front-page stories and scanned the rest of the papers to pick up interesting stories. I went through the papers a second time and grabbed a headline from each of the stories that stood out and marked it down. This edition is intended to be a synopsis of all of the stories we have covered over the past year. 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. But this week, there is no right or wrong answer. The winner will be the first person who calls or emails in their ideas on three great things they think will happen in the New Year. “Just a fun thing to add to the sketches,” the person known as “The Sketch Artist” told me this week. “Maybe it will spark someone out of negative thinking and help them get on with life, hoping and dreaming for better! You never know. I just try to put the little spark out there – maybe it will cause a candle to light within.” So if you feel creative, please email me at mvoge@comcast. net or leave a phone message at 978-683-7773. The first reader to respond between now and Tuesday morning with a creative response is the winner of a $10 gift certificate, compliments of Dunkin’ at the 1204 Broadway Saugus location at 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”) mony, the gala and fundraiser at the Saugus Public Library, the Lions Club Annual Thanksgiving Football Dinner, to name a few – tons of community effort and pride apparently went into the making of this year’s Christmas Eve Parade. So, it is indeed appropriate for some of our loyal readers to nominate “Santa and his Elves.” We’ll use that as shorthand for everyone who donated or volunteered to make the parade a successful community event in a year where COVID-19 has crushed the life out of so many worthwhile community events. So, we have nominations from two loyal readers: Precinct 6 Town Meeting Member Jeanie BartoCompleting this task made it easier to select what I thought were the top 10 stories of the year. It is not the definitive or authoritative list. But it should give the average reader a good grasp of interesting things that happened in the town during 2020. And there’s no doubt that COVID-19 has been the most dominating aspect of this strange, strange year. Next week, we’ll do another version of Year-in-Review by presenting “The Cover Photos of 2020.” Be well. Be safe. A couple of “Shout-Outs” for the Saugus elves With all of the great activities cancelled this year in Saugus – Founders Day, the Tree Lighting Cerelo: “A Shout Out to Santa and his Elves for the best Christmas Eve Parade ever! The Elves did an outstanding job decorating their sleighs for all of us to enjoy! Thank you!!” Sue Fleming: “I am sure you got many shout outs for the organizers of the Christmas Eve parade. I wanted to add my thanks to all of them and to all of the town employees for the lighting and banners and making the town look beautiful! The parade on Christmas Eve made me feel good about not being to see my grandchildren. I loved it! We all needed it! Thanks.” 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 of “An Extra Shout-Out.” No more than a paragraph; anything longer might lend itself to a story and/or photo. Food Pantry closed for the holidays We received this announcement from Saugus United Parish Food Pantry: The Saugus United Parish Food Pantry, located at 50 Essex Street, will be closed tomorrow (Fridays – Jan. 1, New Year’s Day). However, the Pantry will open to clients and those needing assistance next Saturday, Jan. 2, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. After the holidays, The Saugus United Parish Food Pantry will resume the Friday schedule between 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. despite concerns over the Coronavirus. The Food Pantry has made adjustments to protect its core of volunteers and the needy people who receive the food. Grab-N-Go meal distribution on hold There will be no Grab-N-Go service over the holiday break. Service will resume on Tuesday January 5, according to Healthy Students-Healthy Saugus (HS2). This group is an integral part of the Grab-N-Go meals program at the Saugus Public Schools, which keeps needy students from going hungry. As a reminder, free school meals are distributed to all Saugus students and take place at the Veterans School at 39 Hurd Ave. on Tuesdays & Fridays from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. No sign up is required. Please wear a mask and social distance at pick up. Healthy Saugus-Healthy Students (HS2) is a nonprofit group that helps to offset food insecurity in households. HS2 provides a weekend’s supply of nutritious food for weekends or school holidays during the school year. HS2 operates in partnership with Whitsons Food Service. For more information or assistance, please email hs2information@gmail.com or visit the Healthy Students-Healthy Saugus Facebook page. We have a winner! We have a winner in last week’s “Guess Who Got Sketched” contest. Congratulations to Rick Fail – a previous winner – who contacted us first and guessed correctly. Thanks to many other readers who sent the correct answer by email or phone message. Try again this week. Here’s last week’s answer, offered by the person who goes by the name of “The Sketch Artist”: Well, who is this ‘Guy’ (hint) who does all this?... The answer to last week’s sketch is the very talented, artistic, creative Guy Moley of Saugus Housing Authority! Guy designs and sets up multiple animations, lights, train sets and villages with his own equipment. He creates Christmas and winter scenes at various sites and places. He has set up displays and used his talent for other towns’ benefits as well. Guy is a Saugus High Class of 1987 graduate. THE SOUNDS OF SAUGUS | SEE PAGE 12

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