Carini Named 2011 Oak Creek Citizen of the Year

Editor's Note: This story originally appeared on April 23. With the tonight, here it is again for those who may have missed it.

Frank Carini didn’t know what to think when he got a phone call saying a group of people, including an Oak Creek alderman, was about to pay him a visit.

“I paid my taxes,” Carini thought to himself. “What could possibly be happening?”

As it turned out, the news was all good.

The group coming to his house was the selection committee for the Citizen of the Year award. And they came to tell him he was their pick to win this year’s honor, which will be formally awarded at an event in June.

“I was totally not expecting it,” Carini said.

However, when one realizes the long list of community-service activities Carini participates in, it’s easy to see why he got the nod.

His highest-profile work is as president of the Oak Creek-Franklin School Board, a position he has held for the past three years.

But that's really only the start of his community involvement.

He’s the treasurer of the Oak Creek Kiwanis Club and an Oak Creek Community Center board member.

He often uses his Italian cooking talents to help with meals at community center events and Festa Italiana.

He’s also a regular at the annual children’s bike rodeo, Bender Park clean-ups and National Night Out.

To hear others tell it, Carini has never met a volunteer opportunity he didn’t like.

“The guy, goodness, he’s here almost any time we ask him if he’s available,” said Rich Duchniak, executive director of the Oak Creek Community Center.

“This is one guy who, when he says he wants to help, and is willing to help, he does it. He acts on his statements. He’s a wonderful leader in the community.”

Carini said Duchniak is the person who inspired him to get involved with the community. He also volunteers to be a good role model to his two kids, ages 3 and 5.

“If there’s something I can do to make this community a better community, I want to do it,” Carini said.

“God gave me a gift, and I want to share it.”

The Citizen of the Year selection committee is made up of some 30 former winners of the award.

With Carini’s long history of community service, he embodies everything the committee is looking for, said Steve Scaffidi, an Oak Creek alderman and 2009 winner of the award.

“Frank understands the link between just being a citizen and actually being involved,” Scaffidi said. “It’s not just enough to be a resident, you have to take the next step and be involved with your community.”

On March 31, the night Scaffidi and other former winners knocked on Carini’s door, the surprise reaction is exactly what they hoped for.

“He says what everybody says when we personally let them know. It’s like, ‘I can’t believe this; I don’t think about this when I do this stuff.’ That’s the exact answer you’d want to hear from somebody,” Scaffidi said. “They’re not doing it for the attention, they do it because they really care about the issues and want to be involved.”