SAUGUS — The School Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to accept a $6,000 gift from WIN Waste Innovations that would cover the cost of purchasing new athletic banners for the Middle-High School Complex.
The funds will go toward the purchase of banners honoring teams that have won conference championships since the complex opened in 2020, and banners representing the ten teams in the Northeast Conference. School Committee member Dennis Gould indicated he believed an additional $6,000 was needed to fund the cost of legacy banners reflecting conference, regional/sectional, and state championship winners of years past.
With the gift in hand, Acting Superintendent Michael Hashem has the go-ahead to purchase the first slate of banners. Hashem said it is unclear how long it would take for the banners to arrive, but the committee is aiming to get all three sets by Spirit Week in November, with plans in place for a ceremony to unveil the historic recognition then.
The banners honoring recent champions would hang in the entryway of the Middle-High School, while the legacy banners would hang in the gym.
Plans for funding the legacy banners remain in flux, with the committee still working to track down a source for funding the cost. Hashem said those would be priced at $350 each for 19 single-sport banners.
“The only thing holding us up right now is funding,” Hashem said.
Hashem said he would begin looking into the lead time for acquiring the banners Friday.
Earlier Thursday, the Athletic Subcommittee reviewed existing data compiled by Hashem, Athletic Director Terri Pillsbury, and Gould, which includes championship teams dating as far back as 1944, though the records are incomplete.
The subcommittee also got a lesson in Saugus sports history from Dave Soper, a former Saugus High School athlete and coach who served as an area scout for the Philadelphia Phillies. Soper pointed the committee toward at least three additional football championships — a regional/sectional win in 1953, and state “exchange bowl” victories in 1949 and 1950.
Individual records, like 1000-point scorers in basketball or 100-point scorers in hockey, would get their own banners as well, Hashem said.
Gould is still seeking information regarding historic achievements and can be reached at [email protected].
The subcommittee also heard an update on the impending fall season from Pillsbury, who said 135 students have registered to participate thus far. Pillsbury and Middle-High School Principal Brendon Sullivan also floated the idea of using Serino Memorial Stadium as a host for neutral-site athletic events, which appeared to earn a positive response from committee members, though Sullivan acknowledged doing so was a long ways off.
