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07/31/2024 08:30 AMAs someone who has dedicated much of his time and effort to supporting his community of North Branford and beyond, it’s no surprise to learn Hank Petroskey also quietly does his part to help out at the town’s biggest event, the Potato and Corn (POCO) Festival. POCO takes place this Friday, Aug. 2, through Sunday, Aug. 4. at Augur Field, 290 Forest Road.
Hank (and most certainly every other North Branford resident) has enjoyed watching the 22nd annual POCO take shape at Augur Field this week. Volunteers, vendors, and North Branford town departments, including Public Works, Parks and Recreation, and POCO leadership and committees, have been pitching to ready the site for three days of fun, food, live entertainment, and special events. The festival opens at 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 2. Find many more details and ticket information at nbpocofestival.com
“POCO is the biggest thing that happens in North Branford every year and there’s a really good group of folks that volunteer and come together to help,” says Hank.
As POCO’s volunteer supervisor of food vendors since 2011, Hank situates and oversees the festival’s huge variety of offerings on-site. This year’s POCO will feature 23 different food vendors.
Hank will be stepping down from the post after POCO ends this year. But first, there’s a festival to put on.
“The last couple weeks, as we finalize everything, it gets kind of busy,” says Hank.
That could be a bit of an understatement, says North Branford Parks and Recreation and Seniors Director Jessie Caetano. She says Hank’s organizational knowledge, supervisory skills, and hands-on help—such as making sure water and ice keeps coming in throughout the weekend—will be greatly missed.
In addition, “...his calm and kind presence has always made the festival run smoother,” says Caetano.
Caetano also points out that Hank’s a “silent community hero” for his many other contributions to North Branford, such as his work as an appointed member of the Town of North Branford Hazardous Waste and Recycling Committee.
“Hank is often found driving around town emptying the plastic recycling containers or volunteering to assist at other community events. He is also a generous donor to community organizers,” says Caetano.
A North Branford resident of 42 years, Hank has 40 years of information technology and project management experience under his belt.
“I was a computer guy,” Hank says simply.
After Hank retired from a 33-year career with United Illuminating in 2013, Hank really dove into giving back to his community, especially by joining nonprofit North Branford Land Conservation Trust (NBLCT) that same year. His participation started with buying a pair of tickets for himself and his wife, Debby, to take a spring tour of Lake Gaillard sponsored by NBLCT and Regional Water Authority (RWA).
By the fall of 2013, Hank was attending NBLCT meetings. He became a board member in 2014 and is currently NBLCT vice president. The NBLCT website notes Hank took the lead in coordinating, developing, and implementing the Land Trust’s investment policy. He currently chairs the Investment and Governance Committees.
Hank notes that NBLCT’s significant impact on preserving open space and extending passive recreation opportunities includes the impressive Beech and Pomps project underway. The project involves two forested, watershed parcels totaling 37 acres, including 17.6 acres on the west side of Beech Street and 19.4 acres on the north side of Pomps Lane. In May of 2023, NBLCT successfully landed a $385,450 state grant to assist with the $600,00 purchase of the land from the RWA. Plans call for preserving the valuable woodlands, once destined to be a subdivision. NBLCT will incorporate trails, a parking area with bike racks, and parking for two ADA-accessible parking spaces to accommodate visitors to a wheelchair-accessible path.
Even before Hank became involved with NBLCT, he was serving as a POCO volunteer. Hank’s association with POCO started in 2010.
“I was just more like a general volunteer, helping out where they needed me,” says Hank. “And then one year, I just got involved with the food vendors, and getting them into their places each year, and taking care of them during the weekend. And that’s what I’ve been doing the last 11 years.”
Even earlier than his POCO involvement, Hank became a member of the town’s Hazardous Waste and Recycling Committee in 2007. Hank meets monthly with the group, which helps keep the town in compliance with state regulations and researches and promotes current and new hazardous waste and recycling opportunities town-wide. The committee is currently undertaking community outreach to make sure residents know Connecticut’s new 10 cents per returnable beverage container includes an extensive list of containers.
“It’s not just the bottles and cans people are used to. Almost any plastic bottle you buy at the store now has a 10-cent deposit on it, like orange juice bottles and all different juices,” says Hank. “If people don’t want the 10 cents, that’s fine, just be sure it gets recycled and ends up at their blue tote at their house and not the trash.”
Hank’s volunteer assistance also reaches outside North Branford’s borders. A member of the Crosspoint Federal Credit Union board since 2000, Hank has served as board chair since 2008. Crosspoint’s main office is in Hamden, and there is a branch in Branford.
“Credit unions are just like banks, except it’s owned by the membership. You can get better rates on savings and lower rates on loans,” says Hank.
Hank also serves as a board member for the nonprofit Credit Unions Building Financial Independence (CUBFI), the charitable arm of the Credit Union League of CT. CUBFI acts as an overarching organization supporting all Connecticut credit unions.
“Our main focus is to provide financial education for people in the state,” Hank explains. “One of our main programs is financial literacy for high school students, and in the 10 years we’ve been doing this, we’ve had 40,000 high school kids go through the program.”
The simulation program is offered at CUBFI “reality fairs” six to seven times per year throughout the state and as visiting programs to high schools. The virtual program includes a mobile app that puts students through 12 different scenarios replicating earning and spending money while living on their own for one month.
“It actually gives them real-world experience,” says Hank. “What’s great is that, with a big push from Connecticut credit unions, within a few years financial literacy is going to be a requirement to graduate from high school in the state. We know teachers have enough to do, so we’ll be happy to be on of the ones to help facilitate that by coordinating with them. That’s our hope.”
Hank also finds the time to contribute to another volunteer organization that he values for its services, Shoreline Men Over Sixty (SMOS). The group is open to those from East Haven to Old Saybrook and meets once a month (October - June) for lunch and a speaker’s presentation at the Madison Congregational Church Hall.
“We have culinary students from the Emmett O’Brien Technical High School in Ansonia cook food and serve it to us, so they get real-world experience,” says Hank. “We have really interesting, experience speakers on a spectrum of topics,. Our first speaker in October will be a ship’s captain who’s going to talk about the container ship crash that collapsed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.”
SMOS membership includes men from every walk of life and experience, including physicians, engineers, judges, pilots, lawyers, chemists, authors, and others. Over 70 members strong prior to the pandemic, SMOS welcomes more members, Hank notes. For more information, email ct.smos.cp@gmail.com
Hank says he enjoys staying involved as a volunteer with many organizations. While he’s humbled to be recognized for lending a hand to others, Hank says the reward, for him and for so many other volunteers, is in contributing to the effort.
”That’s how volunteers are. You just do, “Hank says.