CHICOPEE, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- For many families in the area, Easter Sunday isn’t complete without a trip to Bernat’s Polish Deli and the preparation started weeks ago.

By 9 a.m. Thursday, Bernat’s Polish Deli had a line all the way down the aisles and customers’ baskets were full. “I got here at 7 o’clock this morning and there was a car already sitting in the parking lot,” said Gregory Bernat, owner.

Bernat and his father opened the deli on Meadow Street approximately 25 years ago. The family tradition stretches back even further to his grandfather, who started making Polish meat products in Poland more than 80 years ago. “I kind of grew up with it ever since I was about knee-high. We would always make kielbasas and hand it out to the family for the holidays,” he explained.

Bernat added it’s all-hands-on-deck for Easter weekend and preparation started about two weeks ago. Workers make and tie each kielbasa, producing approximately 1,000 pounds a day. “That’s probably close to the maximum that we can support, so we do 1,000 to 1,200 pretty much every day, with very little sleep in between,” he noted.

Bernat’s brings in visitors from across New England. The deli even has a police traffic detail outside to direct customers into the parking lot.

Olen Bielski, a Chicopee resident and longtime customer, said the deli offers hard-to-find items. “There’s certain types of mustards that you can only find here and everybody that I interact with on Easter morning, they just love those mustards,” he added.

For many, Bernat’s is more than a deli. It’s a connection to family traditions passed down for generations. “The breads, the homemade breads. Both my parents have been passed away for about a dozen years. The closest to my mom’s homemade bread is here in Chicopee at Bernat’s Deli,” Bielski said.

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