SWRC holds annual picnic

SAUGUS – More than 100 kids along with their parents, friends and families spent last Wednesday night running around the Saugus Iron Works playing games, having their faces painted and eating snacks at the annual Saugus River Watershed Council picnic.?The entire purpose of this event is for kids to have fun,” said SRWC Executive Director Joan LeBlanc. “It?s not a fundraiser, it?s all free and all about having people come out to this beautiful site that?s next to the Saugus River. It?s a great partnership between the Watershed Council and the Iron Works”The free event included live acoustic music by “Kirsten and Dave,” a children?s art contest, balloons, face painting, and a variety of games and hands-on environmental activities.When she wasn?t cutting watermelon slices or setting up trays of cookies, LeBlanc manned the SWRC booth where a tank of two dozen baby eels swam around and tried to wriggle up the glass to escape.?It?s a great way to show how the river is connected to the whole world ecosystem,” said LeBlanc, holding up a map of the eels? migration route. “If you look at this map, you can see their whole life-cycle. These guys are probably between 1 and 3 years old. They can grow up to five feet long. When you see those really big eels, it?s the same guys. The kids can look at them and learn a little bit about the critters.”According to LeBlanc, the eels mature in the Saugus River and then swim out to Sargasso Sea near Bermuda to have their babies. The babies then make their way back to rivers up and down New England.Jamie and Jason Allocco were eating dinner on a blanket with their 3-year-old daughter Hailey Wednesday. Jason Allocco said it was their first time at the Iron Works.?It?s exciting for the family,” said Allocco. “She?s going to do all the games and the ball over there is her favorite apparently. We just had some lemonade and I see some stilts over there.”Amy Dovale and her three kids came from Melrose to enjoy the picnic. Dovale?s son Jaime waited in line to have a balloon fishing pole made.?They look forward to it,” said Amy Dovale. “Just being out and they like the Iron Works and the colonial type games. I don?t remember how I first heard about it, but I get an email every year and we look forward to it.”Saugus resident Carl Rezendez said he and his three daughters, 3, 5 and 7, come every year.?We like to take it all in and it gives the kids something to,” said Rezendez. “They do face painting and eat watermelon. That?s the first thing they ask is for the face painting. They love coming, especially with their grandparents.”Bryce Whitcomb, 11, was having a blast playing a game called horseballs, where you toss a pair of balls attached by a string and try to get to them to wrap around a horizontal pole.?You take the ball and swing it,” said Whitcomb. “It?s sort of like horseshoes except you have to get it around the pole instead of the stick on the ground. It?s kind of hard. It depends on how good your aim is. Mine?s pretty good.”Whitcomb?s mom, Maureen, said she took three of her quadruplets to the picnic as a surprise, noting she always tries to support the SRWC when she can.?We missed it last year, but I set my phone for it this year,” said Whitcomb. “I have three kids with me tonight. I was at Home Depot when my message thing came up and said it?s in half an hour. They didn?t expect it. They asked if they could go to the library and I said, ?I have something a little better in mind.?”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].