Saugus River Watershed Council Honors

Two receive this year’s Environmental Stewardship Awards

By Gabriella Galbadis

William Leuci and Stephanie Shalkoski were given Stewardship Awards for their years of environmental activism in numerous organizations in town at the Saugus River Watershed Council’s annual dinner this month. Debra Panetta, president of the council and former awardee, heralded Leuci as an “unsung hero” and Shalkoski as “deeply committed” to environmental issues and civic engagement at the March 16 event, which took place at The Marina Restaurant & Bar at the Wharf in Revere.

“It’s a big deal to be recognized by your peers as someone who goes over and above,” said Panetta, in an interview days before the dinner.

The award ceremony is held every year to honor Saugus residents and members of the council who advocate for local environmental issues.

Nearly four dozen people gathered for the dinner, which included the awards ceremony, silent auction, and a recap of the council’s 2025 accomplishments. The keynote speaker was local engineer and outdoorsman Steve Fantone. Many members of town government were present, including multiple Town Meeting members.

Panetta presented the awards and shared the history and accomplishments of the two recipients. Leuci, who is devoted to bettering Saugus, was born in 1938 in Everett and attended Everett High School. He earned a degree in education from Fitchburg State College, Panetta said in her speech.

Leuci met his wife, Janet, in 1963 when they were both teaching at Woburn High School. The two got married in 1965 and after moving to Saugus in 1968, the first of their four sons were born. Leuci continued to teach. He later joined the board of directors of the local teacher’s association and was later elected president.

Janet was a member of the group Saugus Action Volunteers for the Environment and was a Town Meeting member representing Precinct 4 for 22 years before she passed away from cancer in 2013, Panetta said. Leuci took his wife’s place at Town Meeting for the remainder of that year and for the next 10 years. Leuci is a former School Committee member, is a current member of SAVE and the Conservation Commission and has been chair of the Aggregate Post Closure Committee for the past five years.

Leuci said it was nice to get the recognition. He explained that Janet’s generous involvement in the community was what pushed him to be the same way. “She taught me a lot,” Leuci said, laughing.

Shalkoski was unable to attend the dinner due to delays caused by traveling, Panetta said, but her parents accepted the award on her behalf.

Shalkoski earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Boston College and a public leadership degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Panetta said in her introduction of Shalkoski. Shalkowski now serves as the senior associate director of alumni relations at Harvard Business School.

She has been a property owner and Saugus resident since 2014, said Panetta. Shalkoski is a Town Meeting member, representing Precinct 4 since 2023. She is the co-president of SAVE and a regular volunteer for community cleanup groups and other environmental initiatives.

“She advocates for anything that is environmental in town,” said Panetta.

The watershed council, founded in 1991, has 675 members and hundreds of volunteers who work to protect the natural resources of the Saugus River watershed. Members promote public access and enjoyment of the waterway, advocate for improved water quality and work to restore river habitats. They also prioritize educating people about the environment through numerous community programs.

During the event Mary Lester, director of the council, highlighted the council’s top accomplishments in 2025 and said efforts to protect the watershed have resulted in more people and animals enjoying it in the past year. She chronicled the council’s numerous upcoming initiatives, such as working collaboratively with nearby communities on watershed issues, boosting federal grants for water quality testing and working with agencies for additional sediment sampling. She said the council is collaborating with McAllister Engineering to continue improvements through a federal water quality grant that would, among other things, allow them to explore areas for stormwater treatment along Fenton and Southside Avenues, to capture and treat runoff before it enters the Saugus River.

Lester shared that the Saugus council has been collaborating with neighboring cities, such as Revere, Malden, Everett, and Lynn, to combat threats to the watershed. “It’s the first time I’ve seen individual towns and cities come together for the betterment of the watershed,” Lester said, later adding, “In the watershed there are no borders.”

Gabriella Galbadis is a student journalist in the Boston University Newsroom program. She is a student in Meghan Irons’ Reporting in Depth class. This story is part of a partnership between The Saugus Advocate and the Boston University Department of Journalism’s Newsroom program.