This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
08/10/2016 08:30 AMLinda Hennessey has lived in town for her whole life except for five years when she lived in New York for her husband’s career. A year after their first child, Thomas, was born in 1985, the family moved back to East Haven.
“It’s the sense of community here—a small community where people knew each other and are friendly,” says Linda. “It’s a great place to be. My family was still here, my husband’s family was here.”
Linda and Tom raised their four children—Thomas, Michael, Steven, and Patrick—in town. From the time her children started preschool until her youngest son graduated high school in 2014, she volunteered in a variety of capacities. Over the years, she volunteered as a room mother, library aide, lunch mother, and with the PTA.
“I loved working with children all the time and I liked keeping busy,” says Linda, who now has three grandchildren. “Being at the schools, with the children, with the teachers gave me a great sense of accomplishment and it was a lot of fun.”
The scope of her volunteer work expanded when her boys got involved with sports, including Little League, Sal Tinari Biddy Basketball, football, and more. She coached all of her boys in basketball and worked concession stands for a variety of sports. She served on the Board of Directors for Biddy Basketball for 18 years and is still an active member.
“The reason I did all of it was for my children,” says Linda “It kept us all close together. They felt I was involved in their lives; whether sports or academics, they knew I cared about what they were doing. They liked having their mom around and involved.”
When her youngest son graduated from high school, Linda shifted her volunteer efforts to her church—St. Vincent De Paul—where she has been a member since she was a child. She remembers spending Sundays with her family after Mass every week.
“I was baptized there, did my sacraments there, and later got married there,” says Linda, who is on the church finance council, serves as a trustee, volunteers at bingo, and more.
Linda is also president of the Lady’s Guild at St. Vincent De Paul. Throughout the year, the group works on fundraising for the church and conducts community outreach projects. They have held gift card drives at Thanksgiving to donate to the local food pantry and fundraisers for the animal shelter and diaper drives for homeless women and children at Christmas.
Since the church carnival began nine years ago, she has also served on that committee. The Lady’s Guild hosts a bake sale at the carnival, which raises about $1,500 over the four-day event.
“We bake up a storm in those four days,” says Linda, who works at her family’s gas station, Forbes Premium Fuel. “It’s a lot of fun.”
In the past couple years, Linda has also gotten involved in town politics. She began as a member of the Republican Town Committee and during the last election, Mayor Joseph Maturo asked her to run for Town Council of the Fourth District. Linda won the seat.
“I was kind of overwhelmed by it that night to see those tallies come up,” says Linda. “Sometimes you take for granted living in a town and don’t know what’s going on behind scenes so the first few meetings were an eye-opener for me.”
All of Linda’s volunteerism were recently recognized when she found out she was named a 2016 Merit Award winner. The Merit Awards recognize East Haven residents who have made contributions for the betterment of the town, and are annually presented at The Merit Award Dinner, which is the kickoff for the East Haven Fall Festival being held Friday, Sept. 9 to Sunday, Sept. 11. Other Merit Award recipients are George Papuga and Adele and Joseph Sicignano.
“When I got that phone call from Bob Sand, I was very surprised and very honored,” says Linda, who also noted that she has developed many friendships through her volunteer work. “I do what I do because I love to do it.”
Tickets for the Merit Award Dinner, which is Thursday, Sept. 8 at the Country House Restaurant, are available at the Mayor’s office.