By BOB TUROSZ
SENATOR BRUCE TARR and North Reading’s Citizen of the Year Chuck Carucci shared quite a few laughs at the Chamber of Commerce awards ceremony. (Bob Turosz Photo)
NORTH READING – The Reading-North Reading Chamber of Commerce’s Outstanding Citizens Awards Ceremony held at Teresa’s Prime Restaurant last Wednesday night was a roaring success, as 225 people from both towns came together to honor those who make Reading and North Reading such great places to live.
For North Reading, that meant honoring native son Chuck Carucci as the Citizen of the Year and Vincent Zarella as the Firefighter of the Year. Priscilla Gottwald, public relations manager of the Reading Municipal Light Department and a member of the North Reading Rotary Club, was similarly honored as the Outstanding Chamber Person of the Year.
As Gottwald said in introducing Carucci to the crowd, “everybody knows his name.” Carucci’s community service began as a child, filling the inkwells at the Batchelder School and continued through to high school where he was president of the Class of 1960 and captain of the football team. He and his wife of 52 years, Marianne, raised their three children here, where Carucci owned and operated C&C Oil Burner, Commonwealth Oil and Temple Fuel.
A former member of the North Reading Business Association, Carucci served on the Community Planning Commission, created and organized the NRHS Hornet Athletic Hall of Fame and the Turkey Trot road race on Thanksgiving Day and also served on the Board of Appeals, the John T. Berry Re-Use Committee and the Hillview Commission.
CITIZEN OF THE YEAR. Chuck Carucci and his wife Marianne at the Reading–North Reading Chamber of Commerce’s Outstanding Citizens Awards Dinner. The mirror with an illustration of Flint Memorial Hall was a gift to Carucci from the Chamber. (Bob Turosz Photo)
Carucci has also served as a Little League Coach, a youth basketball coach, treasurer of the Murphy School PTO and president of the Athletic Boosters. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus, serving as Grand Knight in 1979 and has been an usher at St. Theresa Church for over 40 years.
But it has been his chairmanship of the Secondary Schools Building Committee for over 10 years now, that will leave his most lasting legacy to the community, as he and other SSBC members have led the effort to construct the new North Reading Middle/High School. The project was dormant and forgotten by many for a period of years but Carucci never gave up on it.
“Chuck’s role within the Secondary School Committee touches every family in town and beyond,” said Gottwald. “His role in improving and rebuilding our schools translates into better students graduating from our schools and making North Reading a more desirable place to live.”
“Seriously, Chuck, when were you ever home?” joked Gottwald. “No wonder you and Marianne have been married for decades! Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
An emotional Carucci thanked the Chamber for this recognition, saying he was truly humbled. He also thanked the North Reading and Reading Rotary Clubs, the Selectmen, the Hillview Commission and his fellow members on the SSBC, charged with overseeing the $123 million project.
FIREFIGHTER OF THE YEAR Vincent Zarella, (left), and Chief William Warnock at the Reading–North Reading Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Citizens Awards Ceremony. (Bob Turosz Photo)
“I don’t know how many people get to spend $123 million,” but the end of the project is now in sight, Carucci said. “We actually started this project in 2000,” but the town turned down the first proposed project. He thanked SSBC vice chairman Laurie Witts, who has served with him on the SSBC for the full 15 years.
But most of all, he thanked his wife Marianne, whom he met 56 years ago. “If I didn’t have her, nothing else would have been possible,” he said.
Fire Chief William Warnock presented the North Reading Firefighter of the Year Award to Vincent Zarella, a member of the department for many years.
“Vinnie’s passion has always been for training and education,” said Chief Warnock. Zarella embraced a new program called “Retire the Fire” a few years ago and ran with it, making it a success, the reason why he was selected by the department and his peers as the Firefighter of the Year, Warnock said.
The program has an emphasis on home protection and safety, with the elderly as a key target group. Zarella inspected over 50 homes and many of those homes had little to no protection for smoke and carbon monoxide. As a result, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors were installed in these homes.
Zarella thanked the Chamber on behalf of the North Reading Fire Department and his brother firefighters as well as Elder Affairs Director Mary Prenney. “North Reading has many heroes. I stand before you as one of 21 heroes (his fellow firefighters) that should be recognized for their commitment and dedication. All 21 make the same sacrifices I do, with the same goal, to protect property and to save lives.”
State Senator Bruce Tarr presented awards to Carucci and Zarella on behalf of the State Senate and House of Representatives, representing also State Rep. Brad Jones Jr. who was unable to attend because of House business.
Tarr also presented awards to the Reading Citizen of the Year, former Selectman Camille Anthony as well as the Reading Police Officer of the Year, Justin Martell and Reading Firefighter of the Year, Joseph Lapolla.
