My family attends All Saint's Catholic Church and I'm a member of the Knights of Columbus, though this year my participation with the group has been cut way back due to other family and civic duties. The Knights biggest fund raising event happens on five Friday nights whereby they serve fish dinners to the entire community. If you haven't experienced one of their tasty meals, the last chance to do so is this Friday evening where these fine Dunwoody gentleman will be serving from 5 to 8 pm.
From the Georgia Bulletin: A small army of Knights of Columbus members is responsible for the traditional Lent fish fry dinner at All Saints Church. In a three-hour window, close to 1,000 meals are sold, which averages to be about one meal every 10 seconds. (Check out the photos of this fine event.)
What does it take to pull together this noisy, carnival atmosphere on the eight Fridays of Lent?
Just to start: 140 pounds of potatoes. 72 pounds of green beans. 397 individual pieces of seasoned salmon. Not to mention the coleslaw, fried cod, buckets of clam chowder.
And that’s not to forget the hard-working men, who crack jokes at each other’s expense. Like Bill Luckerd, who spends a couple hours hovering over the boiling pots of green beans. He said the steam rising to his face is like a spa. A colleague shouts that the steam gives him the best complexion of the group.
Members of Knights of Columbus Council 11402 have been doing this for more than a dozen years. They have gotten the meal service to a science: they know to have waiters deliver food to sitting customers because a buffet takes too much time. Golf carts deliver vegetables and wrapped fish from the lower kitchen. There are two lines, the fast-moving take-out line and one for the dining room. In fact, veterans of the fish fry crew have gone to other parishes to offer advice on making other operations run smoother.
The money they collect supports the many charities supported by the organization.
Lou Hlad, the leader of the Knights of Columbus at All Saints, said so many people attend because it is a close-knit parish and the meals are inexpensive: $7 for fish meal, $8 for salmon, and a $1 off for the over-55 crowd.
“Where in town are you going to get a better deal than that? It’s $4 for the kids meal, so people bring their families. It doesn’t take long to get up to 1,000 meals,” he said.
“People from all the churches around here buy our fish. We have Methodists and Baptists—they see our sign, and they drop in.”
“It is kind of like a carnival. There is a lot of noise. It is just a lot of fun.” said Hlad.
All Saints Church, one of many parishes in the Atlanta Archdiocese hosting fish frys during Lent, is located at 2443 Mount Vernon Road, Dunwoody.
2 comments:
John,
As a fellow member of the Knights - I sincerely thank you for plugging the Fish Fry. We have as much fun putting it on as the great folks from all over Dunwoody who come to eat. And yes, everyone is always invited!
www.dunwoodyusa.org
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