Hilltowns to fete retiring firefighter

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JERREY ROBERTS

Anthony "Tommy" Thomas Jr., of Goshen, a longtime firefighter for the Goshen Fire Department and the former owner of The Lunch Box restaurant, is retiring. Here, he sits in his basement Tuesday in a booth he saved from his restaurant, including a menu and other restaurant items. Also on the table is a vintage fire helmet and a picture of him in his GFD uniform.

GOSHEN - Although Anthony "Tommy" Thomas Jr. does not particularly like the idea of parties in his honor, Hilltown residents are determined to throw him one.

"I'm really not that important," Thomas said, with a laugh.

He categorically dismisses the idea that he has had any significant role in the Hilltowns. But the stark facts show that's simply not true.

Just add up his various contributions over the years. Thomas served on the Goshen Fire Department for 50 years, the Williamsburg Fire Department for 20 years, and was on call for the Chesterfield Fire Department for 22 years. He also served as an emergency medical technician for 18 years, including more than a decade with Goshen Ambulance and then its successor, the Highland Ambulance EMS.

With the exception of his time with the Williamsburg Fire Department, his work as a firefighter and EMT was always volunteer.

Now 73, the Goshen native is retiring from the town's volunteer fire department and ambulance crew.

His retirement party is from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday at the American Legion on Bridge Street in Haydenville.

"It sounds a little funny, but I feel like I was put here to do it," Thomas said of his work with the fire departments. "That's what it was all about - helping my neighbors and friends. I just felt so dedicated to it."

Thomas said his decision to retire was difficult, but timely.

"It is one of the hardest things I've ever done," he said. "Now there are things I can't physically do. It used to be I could crawl into an overturned car or out of a window of a burning house. You better be able to do those things, or you put everyone in jeopardy."

Thomas joined his town's fire department on May 13, 1952, two days before his 16th birthday. He said that his father, Anthony Thomas Sr.'s role in the department made joining an easy decision.

"My father was one of the original members that started the department. I was proud of him for what he had done with it, and I kind of tagged along to a lot of Fire Department stuff (before becoming a member) because there wasn't that much to do in Goshen," he said.

"Tommy Thomas is so loyal to the department," former Fire Chief Francis Dresser of Goshen said.

"He went on many, many calls over the years and was very dedicated to both the Fire Department and the ambulance." Dresser served as chief for 53 years, watching Thomas grow from a 16-year-old trainee to the Hilltowns' first tri-town firefighter.

Thomas was asked by Williamsburg, in 1980, and then shortly after, by Chesterfield, to assist on their fire departments.

"It was kind of unheard of to be on two towns' fire departments, because you don't want to leave your town short, but I ran it by Francis [Dresser] and he said I could help in other towns whenever I wanted," Thomas said.

"He was so town-oriented and volunteer-oriented," Dresser said. "His whole basis was to serve."

Good company

When he wasn't volunteering in the Hilltowns. Thomas owned and managed the Lunch Box, a small diner that was located at 5 Main St., the current location of the Cumberland Farms gas station. Thomas bought the diner in 1968, and kept it cooking until the gas station bought the land in 2003.

Thomas first got involved in the restaurant business when he worked as a cook and a linen salesmen in restaurants in Northampton from 1958 to 1968.

"After 10 years in Northampton I realized that because restaurants are such family businesses, I'd always be an outsider and it would be just a job," Thomas said. "So I decided I wanted to go into business for myself."

When he bought the diner, which had been called the Lunch Box since it was built in 1946, it was just a room and a kitchen. Thomas put on the first addition two years later, and went about building his business.

"Business wasn't great at first, but it was better than most people told me I'd do," he said. "It was a truck stop for a lot of logging people, but it changed over time to be a spot for everyone."

The diner became the major social hub for the town. Hilltown residents came for their morning coffee, the lunch specials and the good company.

"It was the combination of people that worked there and those that came in," Thomas said of the diner's close-knit community. "The Lunch Box family was very large."

Thomas' fellow public servants especially filled the booths at the diner. "I used to joke that it was the safest place in the world because all the police officers and firefighters were always here," he said.

Dresser said that it was customary for everyone to stop at the Lunch Box after an ambulance or fire call.

"There were lots of times when the Fire Department tones would go off and all the firefighters would have to clear out fast. It was the same with the police," Thomas said. "I never asked them to pay, obviously, because I know when the tones go off you just have to go."

Thomas was among the responders that rushed out of the restaurant when there was a fire or car accident. "He was always ready to go and a really dependable guy," said Roger Bisbee of Williamsburg, who served as fire chief for the majority of Thomas' time on the Williamsburg Fire Department.

When Bisbee retired as Williamsburg fire chief in 1999, Thomas offered him a job at the Lunch Box when he found out that Bisbee had always dreamed of being a cook.

"It was great cooking there because I knew so many people. It was like working with your family," Bisbee said. "I always told him it was the best job I've ever had."

Although Thomas will not take credit for it, he acknowledges that there was something special about the diner he owned for 35 years.

"Towards the end I used to think that the Lunch Box was kind of like a church. People would come and then leave feeling better; everyone got along. It was one of the things that kept me there, even after the years making no money," Thomas said.

At the same time he was running the diner in Willliamsburg, Thomas also served on the Goshen Board of Selectmen.

"I always felt drawn towards politics," Thomas said. He was a selectman for 15 years starting in 1970, and was involved in Democratic politics on the state and national level.

Not surprisingly, Thomas plans to remain involved in town affairs. He serves as Goshen town moderator, a position he has held for almost a decade, and is the president of the town's Historical Society. He lives with his wife, Beverly, on South Main Street.

He is also an active member and volunteer at Our Lady of the Hills Church on Main Road in Williamsburg.

"Tommy is just a dedicated public servant and an all-around nice person," Bisbee said. "We always need more people like that."

Tickets to Thomas's retirement party cost $13 each and can be purchased by calling the Williamsburg Fire Department at 268-7233, the Goshen Fire Department at 268-7161, or Gilman Smith in Chesterfield at 296-4443.

Rebecca Everett can be reached at reverett@gazettenet.com.