Thirty-five years ago a small group of civic-minded citizens of Marlborough came together to establish a chapter of UNICO National, the largest Italian-American service organization in the U.S. It was founded in Waterbury, Connecticut in 1922, with the stated goals of engaging in charitable works, supporting higher education and performing patriotic deeds.

A section of their mission statement says that, “The founders believed that UNICO would be the only one of its kind because it placed service to the community before and above fraternity. At the same time they hoped that the rest of society would come to know and understand the real contributions of Italian Americans to our way of life...The UNICO National mission is to promote the image of Italian Americans along with Italian heritage and culture by supporting charitable, scientific, cultural, educational and literary projects.”

In Italian, UNICO translates to “unique” or “only one of its kind” and additionally, the letters represent: U-Unity, N-Neighborliness, I-Integrity, C-Charity and O-Opportunity.”

At a recent special dinner at the Ship Lantern Inn, Marlborough UNICO named their new officers and celebrated 35 years of ‘Service Above Self’ to the community.

Ralph A. Contini, incoming National President of UNICO [July], said, “It is really a great occasion to be among all of you tonight. On behalf of UNICO National I bring you heartfelt greetings and we wholeheartedly congratulate the Marlborough chapter of UNICO for reaching this momentous 35 year milestone. We are honored to be part of your celebration and to recognize the outstanding accomplishments you have achieved over the past three and a half decades.”

Contini swore in the UNICO officers; First VP Mike Carofano, 2nd VP Nick Cracolici, Secretary Geoff Pesano and Rich Coppinger, Treasurer.

Contini also swore in Rich Cavazza as their new UNICO President.

When asked why he joined UNICO three years ago, Cavazza said his family owns a funeral home in town, “so when I moved home and started working for the business, my grandfather encouraged me to join everything I can, so I joined UNICO and it just stuck. The way the group is, is the reason I stayed involved.”

Cavazza’s grandfather Carl DiDonato is also one of the founding members of the Marlborough chapter of UNICO. In September 2018 Rich joined his grandparents at the funeral home and a year later he graduated from the American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Service. He became a licensed New York State Funeral Director in 2020 after serving his residency with his grandfather.

Cavazza said all of the members of UNICO are invested in Marlborough in some manner, “and the money we raise we give back to graduating seniors, to 7th and 8th graders, and at Christmas time we give anonymously to families in need.”

Cavazza said he had served as Secretary when Jerry Biviano was President and found himself handling all of UNICO’s emails, and scheduling, “and the guys said we need the next President and you’re kind of headed there anyway.” His term in office runs for two years.

Outgoing President Jerry Biviano said, “We take care of everybody in the community and we try to help people. To keep it going, that’s the name of the game and today so many people just give up, but we don’t. It’s rewarding for me personally that I am able to help the community that I live in.”

Three charter members were honored with 35 year pins.

Richard Gerentine said, “this club is fantastic in the sense of what we did for the community and for what we gave back to the community in many different ways. We helped a lot of people out that the average person doesn’t know we helped out, having done things behind the scenes.”

Founding member Joe Noto, now 94, is considered the elder statesman of UNICO.

“I am proud of being an Italian and proud to be in Marlborough. I think we’ve done a great job and we got along good,” he said.

Frank Ricciardone said this chapter, “is a great organization and there was a lot of camaraderie and we gave back to the community. We really put our heart and soul into everything we do and we enjoy everything we do. Friends, family and love of community are very important things to us.”

Ricciardone said when they put on a UNICO event, “it’s all hands on deck, everyone shows up” to ensure its success.

Nick Johannetts runs numerous events and recalls that he joined the chapter two years after its founding.

“It’s funny, 33 years ago I was the young guy and now it’s nice to see the passing of the torch and we’re growing. All of the officers are young guys and they want to do it and willingly raised their hands and said I’ll do it,” he said. “Everything we make goes back into the community and the more we make the better we can do.”