By Melanie Petrucci, Senior Community Reporter
photo/Melanie Petrucci
Shrewsbury – Angela Cornacchioli Snell, director of Shrewsbury Parks, Recreation & Cemetery, has been named this year’s Spirit of Shrewsbury (SOS) Fall Festival Grand Marshal. Recipients of this distinction are selected because of their record of community service and good citizenship.
Snell said she couldn’t be “more thrilled” to have been selected as this year’s grand marshal, of which she has humbly accepted.
“Tom Falzoi (SOS committee member) totally caught me off guard when he called, which was awesome, because I didn’t expect this at all,” she said, adding that she thought he was calling her about the Dean Park fountains. (Falzoi’s family donated the fountains several years ago, which are lit and play music during the summer months, at the park.)
A native of Auburn, Snell studied physical education at Bridgewater State University. Her plan was to teach and coach. However, a job right out of college in the recreation department in Paxton changed the direction of her career.
She said, “At the time I said ‘this is what I want to do’ so I steered into that field.”
Snell served as Northborough’s Recreation Department director before coming to Shrewsbury, where she has been director for the past 17 years.
Snell has made Shrewsbury her home since the year 2000. She and her husband Jerry have two daughters, Ariana, 15 and Annika, 11.
Her contributions to Shrewsbury go well beyond her professional duties. She has devoted 20 years to Girl Scouts, serves as public information officer for the Shrewsbury EMS, has been a member of the Memorial Day Parade Committee 10 years, serves with the Lake Quinsigamond Watershed Association and the Lake Quinsigamond Commission and is very active with causes related to veterans.
Most recently Snell has been named to the Board of Directors for the Shrewsbury Federal Credit Union and she is a member of the Shrewsbury Coalition for Addiction Prevention and Education (SCOPE.) She has volunteered for many Eagle Scout courts of review and is especially passionate about being a Special Olympics Coach and a Unified Partner.
Snell is an avid sports fan and in her spare time she relaxes by going to the beach, exploring walking trails and checking out parks in other towns.
For more information about this year’s Spirit of Shrewsbury Fall Festival which will be held Saturday, Sept. 29 and Sunday, Sept. 30, visit www.spiritofshrewsbury.org.
