Saugus Boosters announce holiday raffle winner

SAUGUS – Saugus resident Frank Gordon won?t have to head to the grocery store anytime soon, after winning the top prize at the Saugus Boosters Club?s annual holiday raffle.Gordon, 85, won 15 lobsters, 10 pounds of steak, 10 pounds of roast beef, a five pound canned ham, four pounds of shrimp, beer, wine, and as a precaution, a bottle of Alka-Seltzer.?I was surprised,” said Gordon. “I?ve been buying those tickets for years. It helps (the Boosters) out. I bought two like I usually do and this time I hit. I never expected to win. It came in very handy at Christmas time. I didn?t have to go out and buy anything, it was all paid for so I just went up (to Hilltop Steakhouse) and got what I needed. I had a big roast at Christmas and I had my kids down.”Gordon said he ate a few of the lobsters himself, but gave the rest away to his sister, his son and his daughter.?(The lobster) is all gone,” said Gordon. “It went quickly. Fifteen lobsters you know, you can?t hold on to them too long. They were good. I just boiled them. I didn?t want to mess around.”The food came courtesy of Hilltop Steakhouse on Route 1 in the form of tickets that Gordon can use to pick up any of the items whenever he wants.?You don?t have to buy it all at one,” said Gordon, who graduated from Saugus High School in 1944. “They give you tickets. I?m widowed so I?m here by myself. I don?t need 40 pounds of steak all at once. It was a very nice prize.”Other contributors to the first prize gift award were Stop & Shop, Trader Joe?s, O?Brien?s Pub, Amato Liquors, M&M Liquors and Guy?s Liquors.It?s been a lucky year so far for Gordon, who said he also won four lobsters recently at a raffle at the Senior Center.?I guess this is my year of the lobster,” said Gordon. “Fifteen lobsters go a long way, but who can eat 15 by themselves?”Harry Mazman, president of the Boosters Club, said the raffle raised around $6,000 and will go toward athletic scholarships to high school seniors to help pay for user fees. Mazman said they give out around 14 of these scholarships every year and the raffle will help pay for eight of them.?We have an application for the students,” said Mazman, who has served as president since 1980. “We go by their academic record and if they play a lot of sports. There are all different criteria. All of our 15 members have a chance to review the application.”Other prizes given out include Red Sox tickets courtesy of Wheelabrator, a three month membership to the Boston Sports Club, tickets to either Kowloon Komedy or Giggles at Prince Pizzeria, savings bonds, and gift certificates to various local restaurants including J & M Subs and Kelly?s Roast Beef.The raffle drawing is one of several fundraising efforts put on by the Boosters Club throughout the year. In the fall businesses pay for advertising on the Boosters? annual high school football posters and in the spring they have a sports award ceremony where sponsors can by ads on place mats.The Boosters also help pay for transportation costs if out-of-state games arise and in the past they have donated money to help update the high school gym and provided the football scoreboard at Stackpole Field along with the glass basketball backboards, championship banners and the trophy cases at the high school.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].