Board Member Spotlight: Bill Mascetti

“It’s not a chore; it’s a gift.” This statement about serving on the Mohawk Board of Directors sums it all up when it comes to Bill Mascetti. This is the first thing he said about serving on the Board.  Our discussion of building many structures at camp, his general feelings about the importance of Mohawk, his belief that camp must continue, and description of seeing happy campers shows how true this is for Bill.

Bill Mascetti has been on the Board since the late 90s and is a past president. Like many Mohawkers and other Board members, Bill was first introduced to everything YMCA and hence, Mohawk, via the Torrington YMCA and the Northwest YMCA Camp Board. Bill was on the latter’s Board of Directors. He was first introduced to that group as a kid when Sandy Roberts (our long- serving and current treasurer of the Board) and the beloved late Mary Coutant were on it. Bill was a member of its Leaders Club. He acknowledges Sandy and Mary for his long history with the YMCA.  Like many others in and around Torrington and the YMCA organizations, he was led to Camp Mohawk.

There is another strong connection to camp. Bill grew up with the Marchands and is a distant relation. Fran Marchand’s mother was Bill’s Cub Scout den mother in Torrington, where Bill grew up. All three of Bill’s daughters are former campers. His granddaughters have also attended Mohawk’s Day Camp. To this day, when his daughters or granddaughters are hiking, they all sing Mohawk songs! Bill relayed a precious story of his youngest’s first experience with Camp Mohawk. She was a bit shy and frankly, Bill and his wife were jittery about how she would do away at Camp. Enter Fran Marchand. He had planned a race of some kind in which he thought Christina, Bill’s daughter, would excel. She won. Not only did she smile from that moment on but she carried the trophy everywhere around camp. All trepidation about staying at camp vanished!

I spoke with Bill as he was driving to the airport, which he does a lot. He comes to Goshen, CT, for a couple days a week where he catches up with his company (third generation) that is based in Bristol, CT. He then hops a plane to return to his home and his wife, Patti, in Jupiter, Florida. Incidentally, Bill met Patti at the YMCA in Torrington, CT! They were married in 1981. After a few days at home, Bill (now officially a Florida resident) turns around and repeats this almost every week. Bill described himself as a general contractor but he and his company are so much more: Bill and his company design and build everything from hotels to hospitals. He comes by his success justly. His grandfather began a business that in 1925 became the largest road building company in the Northeast. Bill’s father ran the company for years. It was sold when Bill was a Freshman in high school. Upon graduation, Bill went onto Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston and then Hartford State Technical School, receiving two A.S. degrees (in Building Construction, Road Construction and Civil Engineering). He worked for five years with a large design and build corporation in East Hartford, CT, and then started a general contracting firm focusing mostly on interiors for the next ten years. He grew another company resulting in projects built and designed in eight states. His current Bristol-based company just completed a $65 million dollar hotel and convention center.

At Camp, Bill’s company has worked on structures like the renovated lighthouse, the new Jawak shower building, the new summer office, Coutant Rising, and the Moore Lodge. These may seem like small potatoes compared to the major projects Bill is routinely building and managing, yet as he put it, “These are all important to the campers.” He wants to give campers more freedom to walk around safely and enhance their experience. A future consideration in this regard would be eliminating large trucks driving up to the Dining Hall. That would be accomplished by relocating or building a new Dining Hall - a topic for another article!

Bill has focused on and arranged big infrastructure projects over the years at Camp. He worked with a local engineer on the underground sewer system using the existing septic fields and this design met the requirements of the State of Connecticut. Additionally, to give the first sight of camp better “curb appeal” as one drives in, Bill worked with an electrical engineer to bury the electrical lines into a main server and to add a generator. Bill gives Patrick and the Board a lot of credit in making steady progress in improving so many things at Camp. The Board’s focus on investments for the future resulted in the ability to plan for the future. Planning and fundraising is ongoing. Bill emphatically stated that his goal is that these buildings must last one hundred years.

Bill cited the success of the Boys and Girls Club of Bristol, CT, of which is a past president. It was in financial trouble and the members, called “Club Kids,” raised $11-12 million for a clubhouse and received endowments to continue. This was a volunteer-heavy effort and received national attention for its success. Bill reflected that Mohawk is looking at and preparing for endowments to be able to have success in continuing for years. He is convinced that Mohawk will do this.

Bill has spent the majority of his life volunteering in many capacities. He has served many non-profits. He is the District Governor of UNICO, continues to serve on the Boys and Girls Club, the Chamber of Commerce Board, and is helping St. Peters Church in Torrington to prepare for its 100th anniversary by renovating it and the adjacent theater. It is apparent that the idea of service took hold for Bill as a child at the YMCA and continues to this day. When asked the last time he was at Camp while it was in session, Bill’s comment was “It’s a gift to be involved in Mohawk. Just look at the kids.” For all involved with Camp Mohawk, this writer believes that the gift is Bill Mascetti, the Board, and all who in many different ways, continue to make camp the special place we all cherish.