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home Significant Dates in Spag’s History 1934 Spag starts a small store 1940 Anthony "Spag" Borgatti marries Olive Lutz 1956 First Expansion –
"the ramp" and "Butler" building added 1965 Trailers added for
warehousing goods in the parking lot area. 1966 New Building added 1966 Spag’s becomes
Spag’s Supply, Inc. with Olive Borgatti as its President and Spag as Treasurer. 1970 Old Canada Dry Bottling
Plant at 335 Maple Avenue purchased for warehousing merchandise 1982 Ward School purchased and
renovated to become Spag’s Olde Schoolhouse 1983 Small building on Route 9
purchased and renovated to become Spag's Crafte Shoppe (closed in 1995) 1984 A seasonal tent for sale
merchandise added in the parking lot area 1986 Schoolhouse expansion,
with office added on the second story 1989 Small Building at the foot
of the Schoolhouse parking lot renovated to become Spag’s Sportshop. 1990 Olive Borgatti, President
of Spag’s Supply, dies after a short but intense struggle with lung cancer. 1993-1994 Ballfield purchased
and major expansion of main building begun – expanded retail space and the Harrington
Avenue receiving area developed. 1994 Spag’s new main
entrance on Baker Avenue constructed. 1996 Anthony "Spag" Borgatti dies after a five year battle with bladder and kidney disease. Anthony A. Borgatti Jr., or "Spag" --the name that has become a household word in
central Massachusetts--was born in Worcester on February 29, 1916. He graduated from
Shrewsbury High School in 1934, and started his business the same year. He achieved
national recognition in financial circles with a front page piece in the Wall Street
Journal in 1981. He celebrated his fiftieth wedding anniversary with his wife, Olive I.
Lutz, in November 1989. He ran the business, now in its 62nd year, with a management team
that included his three daughters until his death in February 1996. At the time of his death, he had three
daughters, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. He has been associated with many organizations
in the Worcester area. Member, Knights of Columbus Adelphi Council
#4181 4th Degree Knight in the Bishop O’Reilly
Council Charter Member of the Shrewsbury Rotary Club Charter Member of the Shrewsbury Lion’s
Club Lifetime Member of the Worcester Horticultural
Society Director Emeritus of the Worcester County Better
Business Bureau First Honorary Member of the Worcester
Boys’ Club He served on the Board of Trustees, St. Camillus Hospital,
Whitinsville; He chaired the Mechanics Hall Organ Restoration Fund (Hook
Organ) with his late wife Olive. He was well known for both his business and personal support
of many community organizations--from the church bazaars and high school band fund-raisers
to the research efforts of the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology. He donated
the first Bookmobile to the Town of Shrewsbury. He has become identified with a
compassionate program of providing food for after-funeral receptions for families who live
in the town of Shrewsbury and for the people in his employ. He and his wife Olive established three funds to serve the
community in perpetuity: A fund at the Shrewsbury Public Library, a fund at the Greater
Worcester Community Foundation, and a fund at Worcester State College, his wife’s
alma mater. Most recently, Spag gave $750,000 to the Town of Shrewsbury for the purchase
of a large tract of land in the center of town in order to maintain that land as
recreational space for the community that he lives in and that is home to his business. Many organizations have given him awards in recognition of
his professional success and his service to the community. Letters and plaques line the
hallway leading into the Olde School House (and now, a wall at the Main Store as well)
cataloguing his achievements. Sales awards are almost too numerous to mention -- but the
gold plated General Electric Iron, the Gold Shovel presented by Union Tools and the
gold-plated Stanley circular saw stand out. Among the many awards given to him are: 1959: Achievement Award by the Sons of Italy 1968: Beth Israel Brotherhood Good Neighbor
Award 1970: Housewares Merchandiser of the Year Award
[national] 1970: Man of the Year -- Worcester Area
Association for Retarded Children 1974: Honored at the 4th Annual Jimmy Fund
Testimonial Banquet 1974: U.S. Jaycees Distinguished Service Award 1975: Isaiah Thomas Award [Worcester Ad Club]
for community service 1977: Honorary Doctorate in Business
Administration, Central New England College 1986: National Conference of Christians and Jews
Distinguished Achievement Award for Community Service 1987: Worcester State College Community Service
Medallion for distinguished leadership in the business community (with his wife
Olive) 1988: Italian American Victory Club Award for
service to the Town of Shrewsbury 1989: Employer of the Year Award, Personnel
Management Association of Central Massachusetts 1989: Entrepreneur of the Year award for Central
New England [Arthur Young & Co.and Inc. Magazine] (with his wife Olive). 1992: Housewares Industry Entrepreneur’s
Hall of Fame 1993: Honorary Doctorate in Business
Administration, Worcester State College 1994: Selected as the "Face of Retail"
in Worcester county as part of a documentary program sponsored by the Worcester
Historical Museum to record visually the significant individuals and important
"characters" at this point in the city’s history. 1995: Enrico Fermi Award, Italian American War
Veterans, Worcester Post #3. 1995: Massachusetts Safety Council Award 1995: Torch Award for Integrity in Business and
Commitment to the Community, Better Business Bureau of Central New England 1995: Harry S. Cutting Jr. Award for Community
Service, Shrewsbury Community Services. 1997: American Library Trustees
Association’s Major Benefactor’s Award (with his wife Olive). Olive I. Borgatti was
born Olive Lutz in Boston on September 15, 1917. Math whiz, Latin scholar and honor
society member, Olive graduated from Worcester State College in 1939. The following
November she married her brother’s classmate from Shrewsbury High School, Anthony
"Spag" Borgatti. Olive graduated at the height of the Depression, and there were
few teaching positions available. So she went to work at W.T. Grant’s, as a cashier,
and until she had children, her paycheck supported the family in order that her husband
could plow his earnings back into his fledgling business. While her family was young,
Olive continued to help out as needed, doing everything from picking up fertilizer in
their 1934 Chevy and burning the midnight oil with the toy distributor to keep the shelves
filled at Christmas time to keeping the store’s bills paid on time. Olive assumed an
increasingly active role after the birth of her third daughter in 1948. She ran the office
out of her home by day, joining Spag at the store in the evenings. When Spag’s was
incorporated in 1966, Olive became the company’s president. She moved the office out
of her home and to the second floor of Spag’s Olde Schoolhouse in 1986. Beyond family and business, Olive believed in
community and education, supporting both through philanthropic as well as personal
efforts. She served as a Trustee of the Shrewsbury Public Library; Co-Chair of the drive
to restore the Hook organ at Mechanics Hall; Trustee of the Executive Committee and Vice
Chair of the Board of Trustees of Central New England College (1978-1986); and member of
the Masonic Home Study Committee of the Town of Shrewsbury. She was an active member of
the service organization Quota International. At the time of her 50th college reunion, when
most individuals are considering retirement if they have not already retired, Olive was
still working approximately 100 hours per week. She continued to seek new challenges and
to learn. She had taken up flying at age 55, earning a pilot’s license in 1972, a
commercial pilot’s rating in 1976, and a rating for the Cessna Citation II in 1988.
At the time of her death in 1990, she was company president, jet pilot, wife, mother and
grandmother – a busy woman who had made the time to serve her community throughout
her career. In recognition of her achievements, Olive, like Spag,
received numerous awards. In 1972, the Worcester Area Association named her Woman of the
Year for the Retarded. In 1980, she received an honorary doctorate in Business
Administration from her Alma Mater, Worcester State College, and in 1987, a doctorate in
Human Letters from Central New England College. In 1985, she and her husband were awarded
the Community Service Medallion from Worcester State College in recognition of their
philanthropic involvement with community organizations. Quota International of Worcester
honored her as their Distinguished Career Person in 1988, and subsequently named this
award after her. The Town of Shrewsbury recognized Olive in 1988 for her generosity to the
Shrewsbury public schools and she received the Lion’s International Eye Sponsor Award
for her efforts in sight conservation in 1989. Also in 1989, Inc. Magazine and Arthur
Young and Co. designated Olive with Spag as "Entrepreneurs of the Year." In
1992, The Builders Association of New England gave out its first annual humanitarian award
in Olive’s memory. In 1997, Spag and Olive received posthumously the Major
Benefactor’s Award from the American Library Trustees. |