Added on April 7, 2014 News News

Deep Fried or Baked? It’s All Good at the Lenten Fish Fry

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There’s a line out the door at Sharon United Methodist Church and there is fresh fish, french fries in the fryer, and friendly folks forging new friendships. It must be a Friday during Lent.

This is the seventh year that the Manchester Area Friends has hosted these Lenten meals and each year the event becomes more and more popular. According to Denny Steele, co-chair of the event, they served nearly 2,000 meals in the first four weeks this year. “People come from all around. We have a group of 15-20 that come every Friday from Saline – and they have a fish fry in Saline, but they come to ours.”

On Friday, April 4, they served 400 pounds of all-you-can-eat fresh fish to 401 guests. Members of the Manchester Youth Football organization volunteered to assist with the evening and for that, they reap a portion of the finances. Next week, the After-Prom group will be there to help during the evening. If you’re in the area of M-52 and Pleasant Lake between 4:30 and 7:30 next Friday night – or any Friday during Lent, stop in and have a great fish dinner. You might even make some new friends.

A few seats open up as people line the lobby waiting to sit down.

Co-chair Dawn Steele checks the temperature of the baked fish before serving. Dawn is generally in charge of the kitchen, from prepping all of the foods on Thursday to baking fish all evening on Fridays. Behind her in black to the left is her husband, Denny Steele.

Robert Long likes to think that he can tell his wife, Valerie, how to batter the fish. Valerie, however, has been doing this for years and handle this in her sleep – no help needed.

Most guests don’t realize that the fish is actually fried outside of the church, in what appears to be a carport. Four frying stations are needed to handle all of the fish and french fries for the sizable crowd that gathers.