With the number of cases of COVID-19 in Ohio slowly subsiding, several parishes in the Diocese of Columbus are resuming their traditional fish fries on Lenten Fridays after canceling them last year and in 2020 after the pandemic hit in March of that year.
But several parishes are holding off on bringing back the events this year because thousands of new COVID cases still were being reported statewide every day as of mid-February.
Diocesan parishes responding to a Catholic Times survey said they would have fish fries or other types of meatless Lenten meals this year on the six Fridays from March 4 to April 8. Some fish fries will be every other Friday, some parishes will have only one fish fry during Lent, and Columbus St. Dominic Church will continue its tradition of having a fish dinner on one Lenten Saturday.
Last year, 23 parishes told the Times they were having fish fries or pasta dinners during Lent. Nearly all were limited only to drive-thru or carryout meals because of state restrictions on the size of indoor gatherings.
In 2020, 50 diocesan parishes were hosting fish fries when Ohio’s bishops, in conjunction with statewide restrictions on public gatherings, on March 13 ordered the closing of all church activities in the state as the first effects of COVID were being felt. That date was the third Friday of the six-week fish fry season for that year.
Limits on the size of indoor gatherings in Ohio were lifted in early June 2021, allowing indoor dining at full capacity and enabling fish fries to be dine-in events again. Several parish fish fry chairmen say people are eager to resume face-to-face dining on Lenten Fridays in their parish halls after nearly two years.
“Everybody’s been missing the fish fry,” said Larry Pishitelli of Columbus St. Margaret of Cortona Church, which canceled fish fries last year after hosting the events every year since 1999. “The fish is great, but what people really were missing was the fellowship and the camaraderie. They’ve been isolated for too long,” he said.
“Father Jeff (Rimelspach, the parish’s pastor) said around Christmas that he wanted fish fries to resume, but he didn’t want there to be a drive-thru option. Several people tried to persuade him to allow a drive-thru, but he said doing that would be against the goal of fellowship that’s the reason for the fish fry. We are having takeouts, but that still requires people to come to the parish hall and see others.
“Nearly everything about our fish fry is the same except the price,” Pishitelli said. “Because of inflation and the supply chain issues occurring everywhere, we’ve had to raise it to $15 for adults, $14.50 for seniors, $7 for children 10 and under and $37 for families. That’s a 37 percent increase for perch and a 28 percent increase for cod.
“Supply chain problems mean we’ll be serving Canadian perch instead of Pacific perch, and the size of pieces of cod may be smaller. If that happens, we’ll increase the number of pieces per serving.”
Steve Davis of Gahanna St. Matthew Church said his parish will be serving only drive-thru meals for the second straight year. “We’re still being cautious, and when we did drive-thru last year, it turned out to be our best year ever,” he said. “We had been serving Alaskan perch, but the price for it has gone up $1.75 per pound, so we’re switching to Pacific cod, the best cod you can buy, from Frank’s Fish Market in Columbus.
“Besides the price of fish increasing, the cost for french fries and coleslaw went up about 4 percent, so this year, we raised our price $2, making it $12 for three pieces of cod, slaw and fries. It’s so much harder to find things because of the supply chain situation. Even with something as basic as Styrofoam, you can’t find the three-part containers we used to use for takeout. We’re having to make do with containers that aren’t divided. It’s not the best solution, but one we have to live with.”
Reynoldsburg St. Pius X Church is resuming indoor dining this year after offering only takeout meals last year. “A lot more people would rather sit down and eat than take it home,” said parish fish fry chairman John Swails. “Even so, we made just about as much with takeout last year than we did in 2019, the last full year of indoor fish fries. The demand was sufficient enough in 2021 that we added a third date to go with the two we originally scheduled.
“We had a meeting on Feb. 15 that took more than an hour to hash out dining protocol and prices. We spread out seating arrangements for social distancing purposes, and we’ll have people ordering from their tables instead of having a cafeteria-style line, making it more like fine dining and, hopefully, adding to the appeal. Prices will be $15 for adults, $8 for children under 12 and $40 per family.”
Columbus St. Mary Magdalene Church will be serving a Lenten fish dinner for the first time, with a menu reflecting its large Hispanic population. It will be offering fish tacos, Mexican street corn, tortilla chips and salsa for $10, with extra tacos for $3 apiece.
“We wanted to try something different,” said fish fry chairman Jessica Rudolph. “Father (Patrick) Toner (the parish’s pastor) didn’t want anything deep-fried, and we wanted to strengthen Latino parishioners’ sense of community with the parish. Fish tacos seemed to fit the bill. We’ve done dry runs making them for several individuals, and everyone seemed to like them and to be satisfied with the portions we’re offering. We’ll also have baked goods available for dessert.
“I know there are many people around Columbus who try to eat at a different fish fry each week during Lent. We invite them to add us to that circuit and to visit and see the beauty of our church.” Meals will be served in the church basement.
Judy Ward of Chillicothe Bishop Flaget School said she’s delighted to see the return of in-person dining. “Our drive-thru last year worked well – in fact, the school lot couldn’t hold any more cars than what we had – but there was an energy that was missing when everyone is in one place,” she said. “There’s just not the same appeal when you don’t have the school together.
“We increased prices to $9 from $8 for three pieces of fish, bread and two side dishes from either potato salad, macaroni and cheese or baked beans. We also have the option of more mac and cheese for kids who don’t like fish. We’ll also offer carside takeouts for anyone who calls between 3:45 and 6:15 p.m.” Proceeds from the fish fry go toward the school’s annual trip for seventh- and eighth-graders, which this year will be to Nashville, Tennessee for the first time.
One parish that had sponsored fish fries for a number of years but canceled them in 2021 and again this year is Columbus St. Matthias.
“We were all set to resume things this year, but then the omicron variant of COVID made cases start to go up early this year, and we decided it would be best not to have fish fries again,” said Father Anthony Davis, the church’s pastor. “We hope to resume next spring.”