SHELBURNE FALLS — Tony Hanna has been called “a steady heartbeat” by his family and friends, due to his work leading the weekly community meals at the Trinity Church on Severance Street for the past 25 years.
Hanna, who owns the Shelburne Falls Bowling Alley, was celebrated by friends, family and members of the church this past Friday, and was surprised with a meal already prepared for him when he arrived at the church.
“I wondered what was going on here,” Hanna joked as he walked into the church to find his three sons and three grandchildren among longtime meal attendees and volunteers. “I’m in shock.”
Hanna said that volunteering to run the community meals was “such an easy thing” and has brought him a lot of joy over the years. He said the celebration was not a goodbye, and he plans to continue running the meals for many years to come.
“It’s an amazing community, I feel blessed to be a part of it,” Hanna said. “I feel somewhat selfish because it’s just such a fun thing. It’s such a great place to be and we have a great time.”
Tony’s son, Ted Hanna, has been volunteering with the meals for the past five years and said he was inspired by his dad’s commitment to serving the community.
“I came on because I was inspired by how long he’s been doing it and how long it’s been,” Ted Hanna said. “He tells the story that the year was 1999, and the woman who started this [the community meals] with the Trinity Church, Dot Gifford, she did it for about 10 years. The reverend said ‘Dot has been doing a great job, but she’s decided to take a step back and we’re looking for someone to pick up the mantel, and my dad said all of a sudden the minister was talking to him and he looked at his hand raised up, and that was 25 years ago.”
Ted Hanna said that the meals see an average of 60 people per night, and when he was growing up, there were even more who would attend. Over the past 25 years, they estimate Tony Hanna has served over 70,000 meals.
The community meals have a group of core volunteers that help plan the menus, cook and serve, Ted said. But Tony shows up for the meals more than anyone else over the years, and even when volunteers told him not to come help cook on Friday, he showed up anyway.
“He’s the glue,” Ted Hanna said. “If anybody’s sick, forgets to buy something, just has a conflict, he just steps in. Tonight, he showed up when we told him not to come. We were like ‘man we’ve got this,’ and he was like ‘I have to clean the linens.'”
Jessye Deane, executive director of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, presented Hanna with a cape that the chamber typically reserves for honorees at the “Super Chamber Breakfast” and said that Hanna, too, is a Franklin County superhero.
“I can’t help but think how much better the world would be if everyone were a little more like Tony Hanna,” Deane said.
“Our dad, Tony Hanna has it figured out: the key to happiness is service. He’s the happiest guy we all know,” Tony’s son, Tory Hanna, said.
Tory Hanna said that over the years, Tony has taught in the Gill-Montague school district and taught after-school and summer programs, mentored through Big Brothers Big Sisters, worked with incarcerated people and those with substance abuse disorders, all while being “an amazing father and husband.”
The community meal at the Trinity Church Fellowship Hall in Shelburne Falls Friday night where Tony Hanna was honored for his 25 years of serving community meals. PAUL FRANZ / Staff Photo 
Tony Hanna, at right, with his wife Cheryl at the community meal at the Trinity Church Fellowship Hall in Shelburne Falls Friday night where he was honored for his 25 years of serving community meals. PAUL FRANZ / Staff Photo 
Tony Hanna with his granddaughter Geneviene, 2 ½, at the community meal at the Trinity Church Fellowship Hall in Shelburne Falls Friday night where he was honored for his 25 years of serving community meals. PAUL FRANZ / Staff Photo
Before blessing the meal, Pastor Ben Durfee thanked Tony Hanna for all his work over the years to make sure all who enter Trinity Church feel welcomed and are fed.
“For 25 years Tony has been the steady heartbeat behind this community meal, and week after week, month after month, year after year, he’s shown up, planning, organizing, cooking, setting up, cleaning up and making sure that everyone who walks through these doors is welcomed,” Durfee said. “That kind of commitment doesn’t happen by accident. It takes patience; it takes compassion and it takes a deep sense of what you do here … whether you come from the church, another faith or no faith at all, I think we can all agree that feeding people is sacred work, but even beyond that, creating a place where people are treated with dignity and kindness, no matter who they are, that’s the kind of thing that changes the community.”
Community meals are held in the fellowship hall of the church, located at 17 Severance St., at 5:30 p.m. on Fridays.
