Ben's Bell goes to 'Mount Lemmon hero'

Cozzetti was nominated by Danielle and Todd Clark, who have known him for almost two decades and described him as "a Mount Lemmon hero."

"He's really rescued a lot of people," Danielle Clark said. "He's honest. He has integrity. He's always willing to be there, to help anybody out."

Cozzetti's list of kind and helpful acts is long, from volunteering with the Mount Lemmon Fire Department to helping organize benefit potlucks.

The Clarks also lauded him for all the work the contractor has done to help rebuild some of the 322 homes and cabins on the mountain that were destroyed by the Aspen Fire in 2003.

The Clarks began spending their summers on the mountain in the mid-'80s and met Cozzetti then. He helped them when a tree toppled onto their deck, and they saw him at just about every community event. But they only became real friends recently. The couple lost their home in the fire and were working with a different contractor to rebuild. When serious problems arose, they turned to Cozzetti and his brother, Evan.

"He's completely trustworthy and honest," Danielle Clark said. "He'll do anything to help. If your car breaks down, he'll come and help you. It doesn't have to be building-related. He cares very much."

After the fire, Cozzetti opened his home to people who had lost their own, she said. But it's not just neighbors he's kind to, she said, explaining how he's in the process of learning American Sign Language to better communicate with a deaf employee of his company, Cozzetti Construction Inc.

She also lauded Evan Cozzetti and the rest of the family, saying they're all dedicated to improving others' quality of life.

"They're a great family," she said.

She'd been trying to think of a way to show Dennis Cozzetti how much his help has meant to her and others and recently had the idea of nominating him for a Ben's Bell.

"I thought it would be a great thing to nominate Dennis for," she said. "He really saved our lives."

How could the folks with the bells resist? With a little help from the Clarks, they managed to surprise Cozzetti at his Tucson home earlier this week.

The Clarks arranged the belling for a day when Cozzetti and his wife were home and also managed to get Evan at the house, too. Then the Clarks arrived and knocked on the front door with Ben's mother, Jeannette Maré-Packard.

"He was in total shock," Clark said. "I don't know that he even knew what was going on."

Several days later, Cozzetti was still wondering what he'd done that was so special.

The way he sees it, he was just doing his job, and following the guidance his parents gave him as a child, of trying to do what's right and help people when you can. Besides, he said, it was Evan who did all the heavy lifting.

"They just needed my advice and maybe someone to talk to," he said of the Clarks' problems with their cabin. "They needed help to see the light at the end of the tunnel."

Cozzetti and his wife, Maggie, have had their own cabin on the mountain for about a decade, although he's been working up there for more than 20 years.

He said he's volunteered with the Fire Department since before the Aspen Fire and has traveled to wildfire assignments elsewhere, including California, Nevada and Utah. He admitted to enjoying the work, but also deflected questions about it being anything special, the same way he pushed away praise for the potlucks and cleanup efforts.

"A couple of times a year we have a village cleanup," he said. "Usually it's in the spring, when all the pieces of things visitors used for sleds are exposed, and we do it again in the fall."

Again, he said, it's not a big deal. All the work is driven by the same motivation, he said:

"We're a little village, and everybody takes care of everybody else."

Ben's Bellings

The Ben's Bells project began in March 2003, one year after Ben Maré Packard died of croup, just before his third birthday. His family hopes it reminds people to be kind, to help ease one another's pain.

The latest phase of the project began in September 2005, weekly "bellings" for those among us who make our community a better, kinder place to live.

If you know people who deserve a Ben's Bell, you can nominate them at www.929themountain.com/ pages/jennie_itm.html and click on Ben's Bells Project. To learn more about the project, go to www.bensbells.org. Or help work on bells by dropping by the studio, 816 E. University Blvd., in Geronimo Plaza. It's open 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesdays; 2-7 p.m. Fridays; and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

And check the Star each Saturday to see the latest recipient.