Rotary to honor Marenghi

0
58
Charley Marenghi

NAUGATUCK — The Naugatuck Rotary Club named Charley Marenghi this year’s recipient of the Paul Harris Award.

“I’m really honored and I’m astounded that I would be given an award like this,” said Marenghi, a Naugatuck resident and teacher at Cross Street Intermediate School.

The award is given annually to someone in the community who has exemplified outstanding professional achievement while maintaining very high ethical standards.

Marenghi said he knows many of the past award recipients, and they are people who he respects and admires tremendously.

“To be counted among them is really quite humbling,” he said.

Marenghi has served and continues to serve the borough in numerous capacities. He co-founded the Naugatuck Community Choir and Band as chair of the Naugatuck Arts Commission. He worked to raise $1.4 million to renovate the Naugatuck High School auditorium as co-founder and co-chair of the Davis Auditorium Committee.

Currently, he directs the Naugatuck Community Band, serves on several committees and commissions including chair of the Howard Whittemore Memorial Library Trustees. Marenghi has also served as a selectman for Naugatuck for five terms. Marenghi has also made it a point to speak out as an advocate of education and the arts at several forums including his position as vice president of the Naugatuck Teachers’ League, a release issued by the club stated.

Getting involved locally is about one thing for Marenghi — ownership.

“For me, it’s all about ownership. It’s our community. It’s our town. … If you’re going to be a part of a community you have to be active in it,” Marenghi said.

Being honored, Marenghi said, makes him realize people notice the work he’s done over the years. However, he’s not in it for the recognition.

“You do it because you think it’s the right thing to do,” he said.

Marenghi will be honored at the Naugatuck Rotary Club Annual Foundation Dinner at The Crystal Room, 98 School St., Naugatuck, Nov. 17. The dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. The cost is $40 per person. For more information or to make reservations, call John McCormack at (203) 651-9634 or Jennifer Merrill at (203) 206-0467.