The Sounds of Saugus

By Mark E. Vogler

 

Good morning, Saugus

We’re only three quarters of the way through January, a traditionally slow time of the year. But organizers of two major events of town-wide interest coming up next month and in March are keeping busy as they prepare their respective programs.

 

Saugus Cultural Festival Feb. 23

Planning continues for the Saugus Cultural Festival, which is set for Sunday, Feb. 23, at Saugus Middle-High School. This inclusive and family-friendly event will celebrate Saugus’ cultural diversity through the showcase of food, performances and other activities, according to Tori Darnell, Co-chair of the Saugus Cultural Council – the event’s organizers.

The Cultural Council is looking for:

• Performers: Musicians, dancers, poets, actors and artists of all kinds are invited to showcase their talents on our stage.
• Food vendors: Share your culinary creations with festival-goers. Local food trucks, caterers and restaurant owners are encouraged to apply.
• Volunteers: Help us make the event a success by joining our team. Volunteers will assist with setup, guest services, event coordination and more.

This is a great opportunity to share new experiences with the community. To apply or to learn more information, please contact the Cultural Council at:

• Email: saugusculturalcouncil@gmail.com
• Phone: 339-440-1017.

Don’t miss out on being part of this exciting celebration in our Town! We can’t wait to see you there! Deadline for applications: Jan. 19. Please reach out if you have any questions.

 

Saugus 4-1-1 set for March 15

The Saugus 4-1-1 forum that was originally scheduled for March 1 has been rescheduled for later in the month. “The Saugus 4-1-1 Committee would like everyone to know that the Saugus 4-1-1 event will be taking place on March 15, 2025,” Selectman Corinne Riley said in an email to The Saugus Advocate.

“(Please note the date change). Invitations to all new residents as well as non-profits will be mailed out in January. We are looking forward to having this wonderful event for new residents as well as those who have been here for years to learn what Saugus has to offer! Also, if you have a local business or service to promote, send your request or further inquiries to Saugus411@gmail.com, there are ‘Welcome Bags’ that are given out to the new residents with all kinds of information which could include your business or services offered to our Saugus residents. Stay tuned for further updates!”

Selectman Riley was the driving force behind the nifty program, which had two previous well-attended Saturdays at the Saugus Middle-High School in recent years (2022 and 2023). Stay tuned for more details.

 

Saugus United Parish Food Pantry

The Saugus United Parish Food Pantry welcomes all neighbors facing food insecurity on Fridays from 9:30-11 a.m. at 50 Essex St. in the basement of Cliftondale Congregational Church. Please note that the pantry is pausing food drive donations through the end of February because of the generosity of the community during the holiday season. Food drives will resume in March.

 

Legion Breakfasts today

There’s a good 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 2024-25 season. Doors open at 7:30 a.m., with breakfast served from 8-9:00 a.m. for an $8 donation. Veterans who cannot afford the donation may be served free.

 

This week’s “SHOUT OUTS”

We didn’t receive any nominations from readers on remarkable acts of kindness or impressive achievements by Saugonians this week. So, I will go with compliments that town officials heaped on the Department of Public Works during this week’s first significant snowfall of the winter. Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Jeff Cicolini praised the DPW for doing “a fantastic job.” He noted that the work crews did a good job of staying ahead of the storm by pretreating the streets.

 

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.

 

Looking back on 2024

Hopefully, readers will enjoy our photo spread in this week’s paper that includes the top cover photos of each month during 2024. It’s time-consuming, but fun to do this every year for our readers, usually following our Year-In-Review issue. Sometimes the photos are in the same issue. This year, we’re a few weeks late. But it’s still timely, as we have one more week left in January.

I’d like to thank my good photojournalist buddy, David Spink, who wrote about Saugus and took a lot of photos in town many years ago when he was a staff writer and photographer at North Shore Sunday. David has been an avid reader of The Saugus Advocate since I became editor in March of 2016. Practically every week, he helps me out with his photographic expertise by recommending which photos belong on page one and which ones don’t.

Here’s David’s take on our best photo of 2024 – the one taken by Saugus Advocate Photographer Tara Vocino. That featured a jolly green scene at the Saugus Senior Center during the Annual St. Patrick’s Day party: Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree and Lorraine Lewis dancing up a storm in their finest St. Patrick’s Day outfits.

It was a very close competition this year. “St. Patrick’s photo and flood photo jump out, with butterfly and bee finishing a tight third,” David told me.

“St. Pat’s wins in my book (unless flood was a super big story),” he said. I yielded to David’s better judgement.

I liked Charlie Zapolski’s excellent photo of Spencer Avenue, which we ran the full five columns across the top of Page One in our Jan. 19 issue, with the headline “A Floody Day in Saugus.” But when the competition is close, I prefer to go with compelling people over a shot of a street submerged with flood waters. But Charlie executed a great spot news shot, and that’s why we ran it big.

Another photo that I thought was outstanding was Laura Eisener’s shot of a bee trying to hitch a ride on the wing of a Monarch butterfly. That was a great nature shot and very worthy of sprucing up our front page that week.

Recapping, the St. Patrick’s Day Dance is the winner. The flood shot is a close runner-up and the bee on the butterfly is a tight third shot.

Feel free to weigh in with your opinion, loyal Saugus Advocate readers.

 

Town Democrats meet Jan. 29

Lin Bell, secretary of the Saugus Democratic Town Committee, invites all registered Democrats and those who aspire to be Democrats to a special meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 29, at 7 p.m. at the Saugus Public Safety Building (27 Hamilton St., second floor). “Please join us! It is never too late to be involved in protecting our democracy and freedoms,” Lin said in her recent announcement to the newspaper.

 

Fireside Chats at Breakheart have begun

For a period of six consecutive Wednesday mornings, beginning Jan. 22 and ending Feb. 26, Breakheart Reservation is hosting a Fireside Chat at its Christopher P. Dunne Visitor Center (177 Forest St., Saugus) from 10 to 11 a.m. Come warm up by a fire and join a staff member each week from the state Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR) who will be sharing their expertise and experiences at our parks. DCR staff goes well beyond the people you normally meet in the parks. There are many “behind the scenes” experts who are excited to share their role in keeping the park properties safe and healthy for the public. The Fireside Chats are scheduled for Feb. 5, 12, 19 and 26.

 

Preschool Registration 2025-26 – Pre-K Parent Info Night

It is that time again to start the registration process for 2025-2026 preschool programming. We are holding a Parent Information Night at the Veterans Early Learning Center for new parents who are interested in sending their child to Saugus Public Schools for preschool. The preschool program is based on a lottery system, and more information will be uploaded after the parent information night.

Please note that students eligible for enrollment must have a birthdate between dates as follows: three-year-old program (Sept. 1, 2021–Aug. 31, 2022); four-year-old program (Sept. 1, 2020–Aug. 31, 2021).

Preschool Parent Information Night is Feb. 6 at 6:00 p.m. Details are available in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Haitian Creole.

We look forward to seeing you then.

If you would like to be added to the “Getting Ready for PreK” parent email list to be informed of other events and programs that are held throughout the community, please email Jessalyn Memont at jmemont@saugus.k12.ma.us

Kindergarten registration: More information will be available soon.

Please note: Students eligible for Kindergarten for the 2025-2026 academic year must have a birthdate between Sept. 1, 2019, and Aug. 31, 2020.

 

A Video for Vets

Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree and Veterans’ Service Officer Paul Cancelliere have collaborated on a video that highlights the work the Town of Saugus’ Veterans’ Services Office does to help local veterans and their families. In the video, Cancelliere explains how the Veterans’ Services Office follows three main pillars in advocating for veterans. These pillars are:

• Implementing a variety of state benefits to aid veterans and their families
• Processing U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) claims for veterans and offering assistance for things such as homebuying, education, life insurance and burials
• Community outreach by working with the Saugus Veterans Council to help put together events, such as the Memorial Day Parade, POW/MIA Recognition Day and the Veterans Day ceremony

The Saugus Veterans’ Services Office is located on the main floor of Saugus Town Hall at 298 Central St. Paul Cancelliere serves as the veterans’ services officer, and Nancy Stead is the administrative assistant for the department. For more information call 781-231-4010 or email pcancelliere@saugus-ma.gov, veteransservices@saugus-ma.gov or nstead@saugus-ma.gov

 

What’s going on at the library

• Pen to Paper: A Writing Workshop begins Tuesday, January 28, 6:30-7:30 p.m.; Brooks Room, Saugus Public Library (295 Central St., Saugus). Other meetings – NO WORKSHOP FEB. 4 due to Adult Craft Night – Feb.11, 18, 25 and March 11, 18, 25.

Do you want to write? Perhaps you have thought about starting a blog, creating a memoir, writing your sixth murder mystery in a series, developing a series of articles, explaining how to knit or recreate a special family recipe, or writing a textbook or the great American novel? Whatever your level of experience, goals or preferred literary genre, this free workshop can help you enjoy writing more and encourage you to keep at it. We will use a combination of discussions, prompts and writing exercises to give you new incentives and confidence. There is some optional “homework,” but no preregistration is required and you can attend as often as your schedule allows. Led by Laura Eisener, local journalist, historian and horticulturist.

• Want to make a clay dragon? There’s another neat class coming up at the Saugus Public Library on Monday, Jan. 27, at 5:30 p.m. in the Brooks Room on the second floor. There will be a professional potter at the library from 5:30 to 7 p.m. to assist people who would like to make a clay dragon. This program is for fifth graders and up. Please register in advance at the library.
• Teen Board Game Nite: The Saugus Public Library will be hosting another Teen Board Game Group on Feb. 3 in the Teen Room from 5:30-7 p.m. Teens who want to play board and card games should put this one on their calendar. For more information, please call Rachel at 781-231-4168 or email rhuntington@noblenet.org.

 

About The Saugus Advocate

We welcome press releases, news announcements, freelance articles and courtesy photos from the community. Our deadline is 6 p.m. on Tuesday. If you have a story idea, an article or photo to submit, please email me at mvoge@comcast.net or leave a message at 978-683-7773. Or send your press release to me in the mail at PO Box 485, North Andover, MA 01845. Let us become your hometown newspaper. The Saugus Advocate is available in the Saugus Public Library, the Saugus Senior Center, Saugus Town Hall, local convenience stores and restaurants throughout town.