Saugus PD salutes longtime workers

SAUGUS – The Saugus Police Department will be losing not one institution but two from its administrative staff as longtime coworkers Donna Gould and Sandy St. Clair leave for retirement.Combined, the duo have more than 50 years of experience working for Saugus police, and have been working with each other for 20 years.?We?ve helped each other through thick and thin, through all the work stress,” said St. Clair, who most recently worked as principal clerk and record office supervisor, but said she?s had many jobs over her 33 years with the department.?It?s been the best 20 years of my life because of the people involved,” said Gould, who worked as the administrative aide for a few police chiefs, including five years with Chief Domenic DiMella. For Gould, working in the department has been “like having 73 sons and one daughter,” she said, “because they?re all like kids to me.”The training room on the second floor of the Saugus Public Safety building was filled with well-wishers on Friday for the pair?s farewell celebration, including DiMella, Fire Chief Don McQuaid and Town Manager Scott Crabtree, who said he had known both St. Clair and Gould since the early 1990s when he served in the police department.Gould said working with the police department had been such a big part of her life, she thought she might have to stop by the department on Monday just to say hello. She looks forward to traveling to visit her sons in Dublin, Ohio and New York City as well as just over the border in Melrose. Gould also plans to give more of her time to the Historical Society and Saugus Friendship Club. “Saugus is a big part of my life and the people in it,” said Gould. “It?s been a trip and I?ve really enjoyed it.”St. Clair said come Monday, she will be enjoying a slow morning start to her day sipping coffee with her husband, whether it happens in the morning or later in the day. “I?m not a morning person, so it will be strange not having to get up for work,” she said.St. Clair said come summer she is looking forward to camping with her motor home in Kennebunkport, where she has another friend who is a former employee of the Saugus Police Department.About her friend and coworker of 20 years, St. Clair smiled at Gould and said, “We?ll miss seeing each other, but we?ll get together.”Filling the pair?s shoes will be Charlene Berrige, a former Town Hall employee, and Christine Finnocchiaro, with a few months already under her belt training with St. Clair.?I?m leaving them in good hands,” Gould said of Berrige.Speaking for the department, DiMella said of the pair, “We?re going to miss them very much. They were a vital part of the organization for many years and they?ve done a lot for the community. They will be sorely missed.”