North Huntingdon fish fry organizers fulfill big task - TribLIVE

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As with most Lenten fish fry events at churches and fire departments across the region, it takes a village of volunteers to make it success.

It takes time to order supplies and accept deliveries, then prepare, cook and box food to be picked up drive-thru style because of the pandemic. Cleanup follows, and the cycle begins anew for the next week’s fish fry.

It is no different at St. Agnes Catholic Church in North Huntingdon, where “a great team of volunteers” help make the massive fish fry a success, say the chairwomen who oversee the operation — parishioners Geralyn DeFelice and Lisa Findlay, both township residents.

“We are organizing the troops,” said Findlay, referring to about 90 people who offer their time and talents to volunteer.

It’s a big job, given the fact they said they typically sell between 1,300 and 1,400 pieces of fish — baked and fried — each week.

“Different volunteers work on different days throughout the week. Over the six-week period, the volunteers know what tasks need to be completed and each covers the various ones,” DeFelice said.

During lent — when many Catholics abstain from eating meat on Fridays and nonprofit groups snap up the opportunity to raise much-needed funds by holding fish frys — DeFelice and Findlay said the work for the next week begins immediately after one is finished. They take inventory and determine order quantities, said DeFelice, who has a business management degree and was an industrial buyer for the majority of her career.

Findlay, a veterinarian, keeps track of food sold on an Excel spread sheet. That helps her plan orders, which are placed Saturday morning.

The flash-frozen cod is delivered Monday by a local supplier whom the women declined to identify, preferring to keep it a secret from the competition.

On Tuesday, the fish is rotated and “flipped” in the cooler to aid in defrosting. Wednesdays are devoted to making many roasters of haluski, as well as the church’s own recipe for tartar and cocktail sauces. Volunteers make two homemade soups.

On Thursday, the fish is individually trayed in preparation for hand breading or baking the next day. Before the sun rises Friday, volunteers are getting ready for the meal, making fresh coleslaw and cutting lemons. A crew takes on the task of baking and frying fish, dishing out soup and putting pierogis and haluski in take-out containers.

The two women oversee the operation in a kitchen that would draw envy from many restaurateurs.

“We kind of complement each other. We are in sync,” Findlay said. The pair has been running the fish frys for the past eight years, after a previous organizer retired.

Despite the covid pandemic, DeFelice said sales this year are about the same as in 2019.

They have adjusted their operations to an all-takeout, drive-thru system where people order from their vehicles and pay at one side of Resurrection Hall. Volunteers get the order to the kitchen crew. The customer drives around to the rear of the building, where volunteers deliver the food curbside. To make the transactions easier and reduce contact with volunteers, the women instituted a payment system to accept debit and credit cards this year.

Even in the busiest of times, volunteers can take an order, get it filled and delivered to a waiting car within 15 minutes, DeFelice said.

“We’re just doing what Chick-fil-A perfected,” Findlay said, noting the long lines of vehicles seen at the restaurant chain along Route 30 locations in Hempfield.

DeFelice said volunteers put in so many hours to help raise money for the church for good reason.

“It’s about commitment and the love of God and for the glory of God,” she said.

Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe at 724-836-5252, jnapsha@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Categories: Local | Norwin Star