Saugus citizens of all ages jam Town Hall lawn for tree lighting

SAUGUS – Hundreds of Saugus residents young and old packed the Town Hall front lawn for the annual tree lighting ceremony Friday night.The Saugus High School band and chorus performed Christmas carols while parents and kids waited with excitement for the countdown to begin.Lynne Dwyer has been coming to the tree lighting for more than 20 years and said she enjoys the sense of community.Dwyer’s 10 year old daughter Erin tried to play it cool when asked if she was excited to see Santa Clause, but conceded she made a list for Christmas and is hoping to get an iPad this year.”She has two lists,” said Dwyer. “One for her parents and one for Santa Clause.”A classic train set was set up next to an old, red 1941 Ford fire engine, where Emergency Management Director Paul Penachio and Town Meeting member Jean Bartolo manned the popcorn machine. Penachio was handing out tubs of popcorn in exchange for a toy for the Fire Department’s toy drive.”The Town of Saugus stepped up to the plate once again and came through,” said Penachio. “We’re having an unbelievable year collecting toys for the fire department and the outpouring of support by the townspeople is incredible.”Jamie Deleidi was with his 4 and 2 year olds Friday night, and said he had originally planned to attend a tree lighting in another town.”It’s for the kids,” said Deleidi, 32. “They like the trees and Santa. A friend of mine invited me to Melrose, but I chose my home town over Melrose.”Friday was Ann Salzillo and her 7-year-old son Luca’s first time going to the tree lighting. Luca didn’t know Santa was going to be attending too.”Santa’s going to be here?” asked Luca, who is hoping for Mario Kart 7 and Mario 3D Land for Wii. “I forget the last one? but I already wrote it down and put it in the mail.”Kim DeSantis was with her 7-year-old daughter Lindsey and 4-year-old son Connor, who is asking Santa for the “spaceship from Toy Story.””This is our second time coming,” said DeSantis. “It’s nice. I love the train, I don’t remember seeing that before. This is a really nice idea that the town puts on.”State Rep. Donald Wong said Friday’s crowd was the biggest he can remember at Town Hall and said it wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of everyone involved.”I want to thank every single department and all the volunteers that have made this a great Christmas,” said Wong. “This is the biggest turnout I’ve seen. It’s the weather and it’s everyone working together.”Town Manager Andrew Bisignani finally took the microphone on the Town Hall steps a little after 7 p.m. and led the crowd in a countdown to the tree lighting. At precisely 7:09 p.m., the trees around Town Hall and the Saugus Center rotary lit up with red, green, blue and orange lights as the crowd erupted in applause.Shortly after, Santa Clause himself emerged from Town Hall and assured the crowd that he’s hard at work getting ready for Christmas.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected]. You can follow him on Twitter @MattTempesta.