Fish fries will be curtailed or axed this year
Observer-Reporter
O’Brien Hall at St. Benedict the Abbot Church in McMurray is crammed tight with patrons for its fish fry in this file photo. This year’s fish fry will be drive-thru only due to the pandemic.
Observer-Reporter
In this file photo, an army of volunteers keeps the fish fry moving at St. Benedict the Abbot Church in McMurray.
COVID-19 crashed into Southwestern Pennsylvania in the middle of Lent last year, bringing the curtain down on fish fries that are the staple of Catholic churches, volunteer fire departments and veterans service organizations after Ash Wednesday.
Back in March, few could have foreseen that the coronavirus pandemic would still be rampant 11 months later, but that reality has led organizations that sponsor fish fries to modify them or call them off altogether this year.
For instance, the fish fry for St. John XXIII Parish, which includes St. Benedict the Abbot Church in McMurray and St. Francis of Assisi Church in Finleyville, is going to be drive-thru only starting Feb. 19. Rather than venturing into the church and placing an order, or even picking one up, customers can place on an order online, and then drive up at St. Benedict the Abbot Church and pick it up. The church is also providing instructions on how to reheat the meal once it’s home.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to do this safely,” said Pat McKinney, who is the chairwoman of the fish fry. The number of volunteers participating will also be halved, going from 18 people to nine, McKinney explained, so that social distancing can be maintained.
The Point Marion Volunteer Fire Department in Fayette County got a jump on the crowd and started its seasonal fish fries on Friday. “We just decided this year to go ahead and get started with it,” said Gary Ganoe, the fire department’s chief. “We did it last year during the pandemic.”
Meanwhile, some churches and nonprofit organizations have decided to take a pass on fish fries this year. The St. Ann’s Knights of Columbus fish fry in Waynesburg has been called off due to COVID-19, along with the fish fry at St. Marcellus Church in Jefferson, according to the Rev. Francis Frazer of the St. Matthias Parish.
“It’s a good social event and it’s a good fundraiser,” Frazer said.
And it’s still up in the air whether the American Legion Post 175 in North Franklin is going to go ahead with its fish fry, according to Dave Staniszewski, the commander of the post.
“We’re not 100% sure,” Staniszewski said. “We don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s hard to say.”
Still, even if the fish fries are not quite the same this year, they will help revive a sense of community that has been diminished amid the pandemic. McKinney pointed out that some parishioners have watched services exclusively online since last March, and the fish fry “is a way to bring people together,” she said.