Butler County fish fries return
COVID-19 precautions and rising prices on everything from fish to takeout containers have battered Butler County fish fry events. But the annual tradition has returned, although in different forms.
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season, and the Catholic observance of Lent, which includes days of fasting and abstinence from eating meat every Friday.
Because of this, Friday fish fries are a popular Lenten event for Catholic churches, although other denominations and secular organizations also offer the meals during Lent.
For Cabot United Methodist Church, 707 Winfield Road in Cabot, Friday’s fish fry is the first since the church discontinued the event in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In 2020, the first was well attended, the second not so much and the third was a challenge,” said Marilyn Shaw Anderson, the secretary at Cabot United Methodist.
The church didn’t have any fish fries in 2021, but plans to have the dinners from 4 to 7 p.m. offering dine-in and takeout options every Friday, beginning this Friday.
“We are going to go for it and see what happens. We are going to try and keep things as normal as possible,” said Shaw Anderson. “We’ll make revisions as they are necessary.”
There have already been revisions for the fish fry offered by St. Mary of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church, 821 Herman Road in Herman, that began Feb. 25. St. Mary’s fish fry runs from 4 to 7 p.m. every Friday up to and including April 8.
Gary Martin, who is in charge of the event with Tonya Collins, said this year the fish fry is once again drive-through only.
“We have them come in the cemetery entrance to the church,” said Martin, adding that this where volunteers take the drivers’ meal orders and money.
“Then they go down the hill to the school where people bring dinners out to them,” said Martin. “Last year, the longest anybody waited was five minutes.”
St. Mary has had to streamline its menu to keep its drive-through line moving. Traditional side dishes of scalloped potatoes and Spanish rice are off the menu for the second year because the side dishes slow down meal production.
“We hope next year to have a full-fledged meal back on again, sit-down and takeout,” said Martin.
St. Kilian Parish, 7076 Franklin Road in Cranberry Township, will again run a contactless drive-through-only fish fry from 3:30 to 7 p.m. beginning Friday and running through April 8 in the parking lot of the church.
Chelsea Elliott, the development director for St. Kilian Parish in charge of all events and fundraisers, said customers can preorder their fish dinners by going to the parish website — www.saintkilian.org — or by calling 724-625-1665, ext. 9, after 1:30 p.m. on the day of the fish fry.
"They can prepay online and over the phone by credit card,“ said Elliott. She said the price of the dinner is higher this year because the parish is facing higher costs on everything from the fish itself to takeout containers and bags.
The meal itself has been simplified to cut on preparation time. It will be a fish sandwich, fries, cole slaw, homemade tartar sauce and a side dish of either pierogies or macaroni and cheese on alternating weeks with pierogies being the side Friday.
The contactless drive-through takeout service will be held at the church location. There will be no service at the school site.
St. Kilian's School students and volunteers will deliver food to cars lined up, placing the orders in the vehicles' trunks or back seats.
The fish fry at Holy Sepulcher Roman Catholic Church, 1304 E. Cruikshank Road in Middlesex Township, is operated by the church’s Knights of Columbus organization, which is undecided if it will have one this year. It canceled its fish fry in 2021.
Fish fry plans at St. Ferdinand Roman Catholic Church, 2535 Rochester Road in Cranberry Township, are also still undecided. The church hasn’t hosted a fish fry since 2020.
The fish fry at St. Conrad Roman Catholic Church’s Social Center at 125 Buttercup Road in Meridian started Feb. 25. It is takeout only.
Customers will be able to order takeout online at AllSaintsButler.org/fish-fry and then pick up orders without getting out of their vehicles by pulling into the St. Conrad parking lot and following the lot attendants’ directions.
Customers will also be able to park, go inside the social center to place orders and pick up food.
In St. Faustina Parish, its churches’ fish fry dinners will be takeout only. St. Peter Roman Catholic Church, 670 S. Main St. in Slippery Rock, will serve dinners from 4 to 6:30 p.m. St. Louis Roman Catholic Church, 202 W. State St. in West Sunbury, will serve dinners from 4 to 6 p.m.
American Legion Post 778, 150 Legion Memorial Drive, will have its fish fries from 4 to 6 p.m. every Friday from March 4 through April 8. Plans call for the post to offer mostly takeout meals with some limited indoor seating available.
There will be no fish fry this year at the American Legion Post 474 in Zelienople.
