This Saturday is our annual fall fish fry. I know you can hardly wait to take a trip to the country where the view is fair to get your fill of an all-you-can-eat fish and tenderloin dinner. It is a pretty good deal, actually. The price is $8 for adults, $4 for kids 6-12 years old, and FREE for kids under 6. All the money we make is donated to Tri-County Ministries - the local benevolent association comprised of our church and 5 others that offers food bank vouchers and utilities/rental assistance for people in need. So besides great food it's also for a good cause. You can eat in the church basement, under the pavilion, or get it to go.
To be honest, I used to hate the fish fry. When I first came here we had one in the spring and one in the fall. And we prepared and cooked the fish ourselves. Now we hire Dan's Fish Fry to come and do the fish and tenderloin, and the people from church make everything else (cheesy potatoes, green beans, slaw, pie). Not only is it nicer not having to make the fish, but now it's all cooked in Dan's trailer, so it doesn't leave the entire church building smelling like fish like it used to.
I'm still not sure it's really worth it for our church to do this. Some people always try to justify it saying it brings the people of the church together. I don't know if that's really true or not, because it seems to always be the same people that do everything every year, and many of them grumble about having to do the same thing every year, every year. And there's always a whole big portion of the church that doesn't want anything to do with it. And there are always those who for whatever reason don't think they are a part of the church, even though they are. Plus we only net about 4 or 5 hundred dollars, which doesn't seem like a lot considering the amount of work it is. But it does still go to a good cause, which, again, is much better than when they used to do these sorts of things just to pay the bills.
My small part is usually to make the fliers and send out the advertising to area churches, radio stations, tv stations, and newspapers. I also do some of the arranging of rooms before and after, set-up and tear down, clean-up, and Jane and I take one shift at taking tickets (plus whatever else needs done). So if you arrive between 4 and 5:30 I will be greeting you at the door. There are a half dozen other people who do a lot of the legwork to make this happen, and I always worry that some of them won't be able to do it much longer. It wouldn't break my heart if we quit doing it, but it is usually a good time the night of. People usually start to arrive about 3:30 to see if we have anything ready yet. I will likely lock the door and leave around 8:30 or 9 pm.
It would be nice to meet any of my readers who I don't already know. So come on over, and let me know if you're here. I'll be the guy with the beautiful lady.
Peace out; and in.
2 comments:
Re. not netting that much, I think it may be like the food pantry where I volunteer. They can do a lot more with donated money than with donated food, esp. since many people use it to give away expired food and stuff no one wants, and they can buy stuff wholesale so their spending a dollar toward food goes a lot farther than you spending a dollar toward food and giving it to them.
But they like the food drives, too, because it brings people together and makes them feel much more tied to the pantry than just sending in a check. And maybe that's the side effect of that $400-$500. Dunno. Hard to say.
I'd come, but 495 miles is a long way to go for fried fish, and it probably wouldn't set well on the drive back. :o)
Good luck!
excuses, excuses. ;)
Post a Comment