The first of six area Knights of Columbus Fish Fries will kick off this evening, February 20, starting at 5:30 PM at the Merna Community Building.
According to one of the organizers, Paul Holland, the funds raised at the fish fry go to support scholarships, as well as a number of activities that the Knights of Columbus participate in throughout the year.
“The Knights of Columbus is through the Catholic Church – we take and utilize our funds from our fish fry for scholarships,” Holland told KCNI/KBBN. “We use it for different activities, the one-rose program, we try to get involved into the the kids basketball program. If we have a member of our church that’s having a hardship, maybe their house burnt down or loss of a family member or somebody having medical problems, we usually take one of our fish fries and donate to that.”
The area Knights of Columbus council is a county-wide organization, with members from Callaway, Anselmo, Ansley, Broken Bow, Merna, Sargent, and Oconto.
Holland explained that the fish fry is an all-day process, from loading up and getting to the fish fry location, to making the sides and preparing to cook the fish. And, it takes a lot of fish to feed the county every Friday for six weeks.
“We probably go through 920 pounds of fish throughout the six fish fries, probably about 420 small boxes of shrimp,” said Holland.
Knights of Columbus Fish Fries are scheduled throughout the Lenten season at the following locations:
- February 20 – Merna Community Building
- February 27 – St. Joseph Parish Center, Broken Bow
- March 6 – Callaway Community Center
- March 13 – Anselmo Fire Hall
- March 20 – Sargent Community Center
- March 27 – Ansley Community Center
All Fish Fries will be from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM. The cost is $12.00 for adults ages 12 and up, $6.00 for ages 6 to 12, children 5 and under are free.
Listen to our full Public Affairs conversation with Paul Holland about the Knights of Columbus Fish Fries happening throughout Custer County here:
