Town honors Corsinetti family's 'support and generosity' with recreation center plaque

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Easter was an emotional time for Carol Corsinetti and her two sons, Chris and Anthony, and their families.

Sunday, April 21, would have been Anthony Corsinetti Sr.’s 78th birthday.

Moreover, that’s why the brothers Corsinetti, who own and operate Hartford Paving, called Monday night’s ceremony inside a packed Johnston Indoor Recreation Center lobby a “celebration in honor of our father, who passed away 17 years ago on his 61st birthday.”

Mayor Joseph Polisena – who was backed by Town Council members Linda Folcarelli, Robert Civetti and Joseph Polisena Jr. – held a special and surprise unveiling of a plaque to honor the Corsinetti family for its ongoing and outstanding contributions to Johnston and seemingly endless sponsorship of youth sports teams.

“The Corsinetti family is – and has been – a great, great corporate partner for our town,” Polisena said as he invited Carol Corsinetti to come forward and remove a square of cardboard to reveal a golden wall plaque. “This is for all the contributions to youth sports and what you did outside this great facility.”

Carol Corsinetti – with a little help from Johnston Parks & Recreation Director Dan Mazzulla – carefully removed the covering as the lobby filled with applause.

The plaque, which is affixed to the inner lobby wall alongside inscriptions honoring other major contributors, reads: “Special thanks to Hartford Paving and the Corsinetti Family for your continued support and generosity to the town of Johnston.”

“Hartford Paving, which Anthony Sr. incorporated in 1974, paved our front parking lot here then put down and rolled crushed asphalt on every inch of the side and back parking lots so we would not have a dust bowl,” the mayor said. “And they did all this for free, and that includes labor, materials and equipment.”

He added: “We can’t thank you enough for what you, the Corsinetti family, have done for and meant to the town of Johnston.”

Mazzulla later said the Corsinettis’ connection to the town “dates back to when Anthony Sr. used to grade the Little League fields [inside Johnston War Memorial Park] so the kids could have a good playing surface for their baseball games.”

To which Anthony Corsinetti, as he accepted well-wishes from a number of people, added: “Anything Dan asks us to do, we do; just as our father did, we enjoy helping out whenever and wherever we can.”

Chris Corsinetti, meanwhile, has had the same philosophy during his tenure as the head girls basketball coach at Johnston High School.

In fact, immediately after the plaque unveiling, Chris Corsinetti was back inside the spacious three-court, multi-use facility lending his coaching skills to a boys youth basketball team.

By way of Chris Corsinetti’s coaching, the Panthers have become one of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League’s most successful squads. That hasn’t been easy, especially since many of the state’s most talented players live in Johnston but opt to play at other schools.

“Chris loves the game and his players love him,” Mazzulla assessed. “The Corsinettis are a great family; they’ve been involved in all kinds of sports as sponsors, coaches, business owners … the family has always had a big heart and has been giving back to the town forever.”

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