Peabody 11-22

12
BOSTON — Thanksgiving
is a wonderful family holiday,
but the day can be ruined
with a cooking or candle
fire, a burn injury, or a carbon
monoxide incident from longterm
use of the oven, warned
State Fire Marshal Peter J.
Ostroskey.
There are more home fires
on Thanksgiving than any other
single day in Massachusetts,
twice as many as New Year’s
Eve which ranks second.
“The good news is that there
are some simple steps you can
take to keep your family safe.
To start with, every home
should have working smoke
and carbon monoxide (CO)
alarms,” Ostroskey said in a
statement.
Here are some tips to have a
tragedy-free holiday:
Cooking -
Check to make sure your
oven is empty before turning it
on.
Wear short or tight-fitting
sleeves when cooking.
Catering
available
SU CHANG’S
Turn pot handles inward over
the stove.
Remember to “stand by
your pan" and stay in the
kitchen when boiling, frying or
broiling.
Use a timer when baking or
roasting and never leave the
house with the oven running.
The best way to respond to a
stovetop fire is to “put a lid on
it” and turn off the heat.
The best way to respond to
an oven or broiler fire is to keep
the doors closed and turn off the
heat.
If the fire is not quickly
snuffed out, leave the house and
call 9-1-1 from outside.
“Last Thanksgiving, firefighters
across the Commonwealth were
busy responding to cooking fires,”
said Ostroskey.
Examples of 2017
Thanksgiving fires include
Milford Fire Department's
response to a gas oven fire.
Residents in the home were
alerted to the fire by fire and
smoke alarms.
We Wish Everyone A
Very Happy Thanksgiving
– Closed Thanksgiving Day –
Functions
from 2-200
373 Lowell St., Peabody • Tel. 531-3366 • Fax 531-3060
LUNCH M-F 11:30-3PM • Take Out Always Available Daily by Phone, Fax or our Website
SUN-THURS 11:30-10 PM • FRI-SAT 11:30-11PM
www.SuChangsPeabody.com
WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880 NOVEMBER 22, 2018
Resident celebrates 15 years in recovery
By Steve Krause
In was a lifetime ago when
Joel Levine was part of a
Peabody Veterans Memorial
High School's baseball team
that came close to winning a
state championship.
The year was 2003 when
the Tanners routinely used Jeff
Allison and Mark Shorey to blind
the opposition with high heat.
But Levine, among others
on that team, got tangled up
in drug problems that derailed
college and pro careers, and in
some cases cost athlete's their
lives.
Levine was the featured
speaker last week at the Saugus
and Peabody Lions Clubs’
pre-Thanksgiving game dinner
at the Holy Ghost Hall near
Peabody Square.
The physical education
teacher and baseball coach in
Authentic Chinese Cuisine
Everett, has been in recovery
for nearly 15 years. In addition
teaching, and raising a family,
he speaks to students, such as
the seniors from both teams
who were in attendance in
hopes they can avoid what happened
to him.
“I grew up with values instilled
by my parents,” he said.
“But along around the seventh
or eighth grade, I started to veer
off a little bit and rebel.”
It started, he said, by smoking
weed, and graduated to other
drugs such as oxycontin. He
ended up a heroin addict, to the
point of injecting the drug and
sharing needles, things he’d
vowed never to do.
“I’d wake up in the morning,
angry that I hadn’t died the
night before,” he recalled.
But in 2004, Levine said he
saw the light.
“I got the right kind of treatment,
and I’ve been sober
since,” he said.
While his life improved,
others did not fare so well.
Some died of overdoses, one as
was he preparing to get married.
“Can you imagine, the parents
of those two brothers,
losing two of their children a
year apart?” he said.
Later in the evening, Peabody
coach Mark Bettencourt alluded
to Levine’s talk.
“I experienced some of that,
because at the time I was a
Peabody policeman,” he said.
“I have so much respect for
Joel because he got help and
straightened himself out.”
Bettencourt also praised his
Saugus counterpart Michael
Mabee, and the Saugus seniors
for making something out of what
could have been a bad season.
Thanksgiving is the number
one day for home fires
Tewksbury firefighters responded
to a cooking fire in
the driveway of a single-family
home. A deep fryer and a 20 lb.
propane tank were on fire about
10 feet from the garage. No one
was injured by this fire. There
was heat damage to the paint on
the garage and damages were
estimated to be $500.
Just as a Haverhill family was
getting ready to sit down to their
holiday meal around 4:30 p.m.
last Thanksgiving, they called
the Haverhill Fire Department
for a cooking fire in their single-family
home. Even though
the smoke alarms did not
work, no one was injured. The
building did not have sprinklers
and damages were estimated to
be $2,000.
Gas ovens - crack a window
for fresh air when using the gas
oven for an extended period of
time.
Candles -
Use candles inside a 1-foot
circle of safety free of anything
that can burn.
Think twice about lighting
the candles on that lovely centerpiece
if it means you can’t
follow the 1-foot circle of safety
rule.
Use extra care with candles
when children and pets are
around.
Consider using flameless,
battery-operated candles
instead.
Blow out candles when
leaving the room; don’t leave
candles burning unattended.
Use non-combustibles
holders or saucers.
Keep all matches and lighters
out of reach of children.
For more information contact
your local fire department or
the Department of Fire Services
Thanksgiving web page.
The Sachems’ coach,
Anthony Nalen, was suspended
and then fired before
the season started. Mabee took
over and the Sachems went into
Thanksgiving with a 4-6 record,
the same as Peabody’s.
“Whatever happens on
Thanksgiving Day, you
guys have all my respect,”
Bettencourt said. “You won
four games in the middle of
that situation. I’m sure during
a lot of those weeks you had
no idea what was going to
happen the next day.”
Bettencourt recalled some
of the rivalry’s more memorable
games, including one at
Stackpole Field that started out
on a sheet of ice and ended up
two inches deep in mud.
“We won the game when
we stopped Marc Fauci on a
conversion attempt,” he said.
Lynnfield's Emma Mancini
and Peabody's Emily
Diezemann of the Endicott
women's volleyball team have
been selected to play in the New
England Women's Volleyball
Association (NEWVA) Senior
Classic on Sunday, Dec. 2.
The game will be hosted by
Eastern Nazarene College in
Quincy and will be comprised
of the top 30 seniors in the
region.
Over their four-year careers,
the two seniors helped Endicott
to back-to-back Commonwealth
Coast Conference (CCC) championships
in 2016 and 2017,
ending their careers in the semifinals
in 2018.
Diezemann and Mancini led
the Gulls to an overall record
of 86-43, and a record of 30-4
against CCC foes. Their senior
campaign saw the Gulls defeat
four regionally-ranked foes in
Springfield, Tufts, Amherst and
Wesleyan, the latter of which
advanced to the NCAA DIII
Quarterfinals to end the season.
"It is exciting to see both
Emily and Emma recognized
on this level and invited to compete
with the other top seniors
in the region," said Head Coach
Tim Byram, in a statement.
He said what they and the
team accomplished during this
four-year span speaks volumes
to what they both brought to the
program.
"All of those things were
needed to get to where we are
today," he said.
The two crushed workouts
and showed up daily ready to
work hard, he said, while also
encouraging and pushing others
to do the same. They both regularly
looked for ways to help
and were always the first to grab
a net pole or a broom or whatever
was needed and not pass it
“I guess our fat guys were just
a little tougher than their fat
guys.”
Mabee, a 1996 graduate, said
he never beat Peabody during
his time in Saugus.
“Hopefully, that changes this
year,” he said.
He also talked about the joy
of playing next to kids he grew
up with, something the seniors
will never experience again,
even if they play in college.
“It’s a lot different,” he said.
“So all you guys, play this game
for your teammates.”
Each team presented an endof-year
award. Saugus’ Heisman
Trophy went to co-captain Jake
Morgante. Peabody’s award,
given, as Bettencourt said, to
the person who shows up to
practice every day without any
assurances that he’ll play on
Friday night, went to Evan Bun.
Diezemann picked to play
in NEWVA Senior Classic
along to an underclassmen, he
added.
"Individually, it was always
easy to talk to Emily and she
always was looking for ways to
help," Byram said. "She could
walk the line of listening to
something and then guiding a
teammate to what's best for the
team and the individual. She
learned to take control in practices
and call timeouts or address
people to help get everyone on
the same page and moving the
right direction. Her presence at
the net was something to contend
with too and I can picture
she and Tori closing out the 2016
CCC final with a fitting block."
For her part, Mancini had
presence in the weight and
locker room and on the court,
he said.
"I don't fully understand how
someone can be so powerful
and dynamic and then awkward
enough to trip over a line or a
teammate dancing and have us
wondering if she was hurt every
other day," he said. "Her presence
on the pin reached new
levels during her junior and
senior year and watching her
set and reset kill records was
impressive."
Not willing to settle for just
being a hitter, she worked hard
to improve her passing and defense
to become a six-rotation
outside for her senior campaign,
he added.
"I think these two sum up and
model what it means to be a terrific
student-athlete, teammate
and friend," Byram said. "The
team and program are eternally
grateful for all they've done and
glad they have the opportunity
to represent the Gulls one
more time at the senior classic.
Congrats ladies and thanks for
making it Another Great Day To
Be A Gull."