Upcoming Sammarco Roast Has all the Ingredients to be a Success

The is putting the final touches on the recipe for what should be another successful roast.

After roasting its own Executive Director, Terry Schneider in 2009, the Chamber r. This Saturday, March 10, the Chamber will roast Mike Sammarco, known for his years of work with Stoughton Babe Ruth Baseball and the Sons of Italy.

“We decided to make it an annual thing and we met several months ago and I had come up with a couple of names—Mike’s was one of them—and everyone just loved the idea because he’s such a character,” , the event chair, said.

“I think people like [roasts] because they like to watch people poking fun at people, all the while knowing that it’s in good fun,” Pazyra said.

This year’s roast will take place at the The event will run from 7 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. on the 10th. 

Tickets are $25 per person if purchased in advance, or $30 if purchased at the door. Tickets can be purchased on the Chamber’s website (www.stoughtonma.com) or at Windsor Tire on Washington St. in Stoughton or at Dirt Dawg Sports on Industrial Dr. in Canton.

While some of the jokes will be made at Sammarco’s expense, the funds raised that night will be going to a good cause. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Stoughton Babe Ruth Baseball and the Chamber’s charitable endeavors.

Pazyra said the “key to success of any event is having a really good committee.” The roast committee includes Pazyra, Schneider, Mark Snyder, Rick Kaplan, Chris Petrie and Fred Yaitanes.

The hardest part of organizing a roast is solidifying the roasting panel, Pazyra said. But the committee has put together an all-star list of roasters, many of them well-known characters in town themselves.

The panel includes:

• Francis T. Crimmins Jr. ~ Town Manager
• Rick Kaplan ~ AT&T/Cellco
• Fred Yaitanes ~ Fred & Nadine Team, Realtors
• John Batchelder ~ DPW Superintendent
• Joe Scardino ~ Stoughton Planning Board
• Donnie Connors and Rich Jasmin ~ Youth Baseball
• Dan Skiba and Dennis Gada ~ Son's of Italy
• Joe Mokrisky ~ Events Committee
• Mike Sammarco ~ Mike’s Son

Stoughton Patch About Town columnist Mark Snyder will host the event. Jeff Connors of Audio PA Systems will provide the sound. Coffee and deserts from Panera Bread will be served. The VFW also donated the hall for the evening.

Sammarco is looking forward to the event.

“I’ll enjoy being roasted…I hope,” he joked.

Sammarco likes volunteering around town and likes the feeling of “getting something done.” He loves to cook and has catered the annual holiday and spring dinners for the group.

He prides himself on making “real food.”

“Everything I do is from scratch,” Sammarco said. He takes particular pride in his meatballs and chicken cutlets (“no one can match me in that,” he said of his chicken cutlets).

Sammarco is hoping the roast can help jumpstart the fundraising needed to build a second Babe Ruth Baseball field in town.

A roast is the perfect way to get to know someone on a more personal level, Pazyra said.

“You can learn a lot about the person,” Pazyra said. “I came away from the Crimmins roast I learned so much about him that I never knew…You get this inside view from all these people who have known him all these years.”

Both Pazyra and Sammarco are hoping for a big turnout this Saturday.

“I’m looking to pack the place,” Sammarco said.

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For more information, contact event chair Cindy Pazyra at 617-212-2365 or visit www.stoughtonma.com.