Morganti Citizen of the Year
June 19, 1986
Paul J. Morganti, chairman of the board of Morganti Inc. was presented the Rotary Club 1986 Citizen of the Year Award, at a surprise dinner last night at Stonehenge.
Mr Morganti received a plaque and certificate in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the town or Ridgefield. His name will also appear on a plaque in town hall alongside the previous recipients'.
Present at the dinner were family and close friends of Mr Morganti as well as members of the Rotary Club. Also present were past recipients of the Citizen of the Year Award, including Richard Venus and Romeo Petroni.
Mr. Petroni hailed Mr. Morganti as "Ridgefield's most famous son.' remarking that, "Paul Morganti has brought great honor not only to himself, his family, his community. his state, but I think he's brought great honor especially to the town of Ridgefield. Don Edwards, a close friend, noted, "Paul has been dedicated for many. many years to the betterment of Ridgefield for a better way of life for all of us.
Rotary spokesman Richard DePencier began the dinner with a biography which mimicked the Ralph Edwards program. This Is Your Life.
Immigrant's Son
Paul Morganti, son of Italian immigrant John Morganti, was the eldest of five children and was born in 1920 The Morganti came to America in 1903 and to Ridgefield after the first World War. Paul, after attending the Titicus School and the Ridgefield Boys School, joined his father's construction company in 1939. One of Paul Morganti's first projects was the remodeling of the high school, now Boehringer-Ingelheim.
While serving in the army in the 40's, Mr Morganti wrote to The Ridgefield Press, enclosing plans for a post-war airport and asserting, "I am vividly interested in the future of our town.
After World War I, he became executive operating officer of John Morganti & Sons, and later went on to become president of Morganti Inc., a position he held for nearly 25 years.
He also served as a selectman for five terms.
In 1984, 36 years after Paul joined the company, it was the 126th largest contractor firm in the country. The Morganti family enterprise had become a multimillion-dollar construction management company, now the largest in the state.
The list of the Morganti Inc. accomplishments is as extensive as it is astounding. Described by the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Co. as a company with "depth of experience and ability," Morganti Inc. has been a contractor for the Ridgebury, East Ridge, and Veterans Park schools, the Yankee Ridge and Commerce Park shopping centers, the Ridgefield Library, the Aldrich Museum, and town hall, to name only a handful.
Youth Commitment
Not to be left out, however, is the Morganti commitment to Ridgefield youth. Mr Petroni commented, "I can't think of any person who has given more for the youth of this community than Paul Morganti."
Mr. Morganti's contributions to the Family Y, the Boys Club, and the Little League are no accident. Mr. Morganti remembers his childhood, having ‘only a couple of pastures to play in.'
Morganti Inc., though, serves more than just Ridgefield. Other projects of the company have included a corporate center for Pitney Bowes, additions to Stamford and Yale New Haven hospitals, and a three-story annex to the State Capitol in Hartford.
In accepting his award, Mr. Morganti said of his hometown, “I think it's incumbent not only on myself but on a lot of people to make this a better place for people to bring up their children.”
Paul Morganti wasn't talking about his experience in high-rise condos, or his buildings in Hartford, New Haven, or Milford, impressive as they may be. He was talking about Ridgefield. Mr. Morganti sums it up, "I owe Ridgefield a lot. Ridgefield is a tremendous place. not only to live, but to boast about.”