Community and Caring

Editor’s note: Find more tips for savoring the season in the full feature story.

University of Southern Indiana political science professor Matt Hanka and his wife, Ann, love entertaining at their East Side home, and their Christmas party is a favorite occasion for both the hosts and the attendees. Matt tells Evansville Living how the annual gathering has become something to savor.

“We’ve hosted our party every year since 2011, except 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have between 30-50 people. Some have come as far away as Lexington, Kentucky.

Sometimes, we’ve had a contest for the best ugly Christmas sweater, and one year we had karaoke. Annie makes a great spread that includes smoked salmon, tomato caprese basil skewers, pigs in a blanket, prosciutto rollups, shrimp, sausage balls (which are addictive), and other appetizers. Usually, we serve chili, spaghetti, or pizza. Guests bring whatever dish they want to complement what we prepare. We have an extensive bourbon collection — more than 80 bottles ranging from Jim Beam to top-shelf bourbon such as an 18-year Elijah Craig and a 15-year Pappy Van Winkle — and all kind of spirits, beer, and wines. An old friend declared that we have ‘the best bar in the Tri-State.’

We pass around a basket to collect donations for two organizations each year, and one year, we raised $510. We have raised money for Tri-State Food Bank, Albion Fellows Bacon Center, Meals on Wheels, Ark Crisis Children’s Center, Aurora, Vanderburgh County CASA, Parenting Time Center, Dream Center Evansville, Building Blocks, and United Caring Services, along with the City of Pigeon Forge Fire Relief Fund, when there were wildfires in East Tennessee in 2016, and the Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund for the tornado victims in December 2021.

We love hosting parties and gatherings at our home. We like bringing people from different walks of life together to celebrate, and it’s a great opportunity to see people we normally don’t see all year. Community is in our bones and in our DNA. It’s important for us to continue to build and maintain community, and our parties hopefully accomplish this.”