AUBURN – The Auburn Citizen of the Year went to the annual Auburn Business Association banquet Thursday night thinking her best friend was the recipient.
Donna Steckino had no clue that her friends and her husband were about to roast her at Lost Valley.
Steckino, president and chief executive officer of Community Credit Union for more than 23 years, went to the annual banquet thinking her close friend of 21 years, Diane McManus, was the recipient. McManus is a regional vice president and service market manager for United Kingfield Bank.
“Donna, I am so glad you got the key to the city before me,” McManus said from the podium when it was her turn to speak. She called Steckino a dedicated public servant and a wonderful mother.
McManus then presented Steckino with a duck decoy, and a man in the audience held up a sign that read “Aflac.” McManus had called herself the decoy that got Steckino to the banquet not suspecting that she was the recipient.
Speaking of their friendship, which has spanned more than two decades, McManus said, “When you put the two of us together, you end up with double trouble.”
“When you look at all the past recipients and you look at this year’s citizen of the year, you can see why we live in such a wonderful city,” said Mayor Normand Guay. “In the years that I’ve known her, there has never been a question of her dedication to this community.”
Calling Steckino “intelligent, creative and vivacious,” Guay presented her with a plaque holding the key to the city.
Steckino’s husband, Fred Frohardt, held up slides with images of his wife and explained the meaning of each. One showed her as a Lewiston High School cheerleader during the 1960s. “She was captain of the squad and was already demonstrating her leadership qualities,” he said.
Steckino also received a flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol in Washington last month. It was presented to her at the request of Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
Congratulatory letters from Gov. John Baldacci and each member of the Maine congressional delegation were read.
Other speakers included John Murphy, of the Credit Union League; Hugh Keene, chairman of the Community Credit Union board of directors; and Tom Robustelli, of Robustelli, Rotz, & Soucy, a Lewiston accounting firm.
“I am really speechless,” Steckino said. “I feel that I am one of the most fortunate women in the world.”
Referring to a decision she made concerning her now grown children when they were small and the meaning of community service, Steckino said, “I’ve got to set an example for them. We live in this community. This is where they grew up.”
Steckino said she believes that you can only make a difference if you are involved.
She is a past president of the Androscoggin Chamber of Commerce, and has served on numerous boards and committees in the Twin Cities.
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