Churches, eateries meet demands of fish frenzy

LIST: Fish frys around the Valley

By Justin Wier

jwier@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Whether you spend Fridays during lent at a local church or your favorite local restaurant, you’re bound to hear the sizzle as battered fish filets drop into deep fryers.

The traditional fish fry stems from the Catholic practice of abstaining from meat on Fridays during lent. Catholics have a large presence in the Valley. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 30 percent of Mahoning County residents identify as Catholic, more than any other religion, so it’s no surprise that residents have plenty of options for getting their fish fix during lent.

But it’s not just the Catholic churches and their parishioners who have a taste for fried fish on a Friday.

Non-denominational Valley Christian Schools in Boardman just recently started having a fish fry. Dolph Carroll, athletic director and basketball coach at Valley Christian, said the fish fry was begun last year to raise money for the school’s athletic programs. He said the first year was very successful.

You can’t dine in at Valley Christian, but it offers drive-up service so patrons can order and receive dinners without leaving their vehicle.

Each week a different athletic team volunteers to take orders at the curbside and run dinners out to people waiting in their cars.

“It’s a wonderful thing,” Carroll said. “It gives our kids the opportunity to serve.”

Just in the first week Valley Christian saw improvement this year with 126 dinners served – 50 more than last year.

Bogey’s Bar and Grill in Lowellville began offering fish dinners at its Riverside Banquet Center four years ago in an attempt to take some pressure off the restaurant.

“Fridays during lent are a madhouse at Bogey’s,” said Jeanette Baird, events coordinator at the Riverside Banquet Center.

Baird said Riverside serves about 150 dinners a week. It offers the same fish that Bogey’s has at the same price, she said, just without the hour-and-a-half wait to get a table.

Last year the center started offering customers the opportunity to dine-in in addition to ordering takeout.

Baird said they’re busiest around 5 p.m.

“We get jammed,” she said. “Just jammed.”

Up the road at Archangel Michael Greek Orthodox Church in Campbell, the ladies’ philanthropic society, Philoptichos, is attempting to raise money to help pay for renovations to the church.

The renovations, which are currently underway, will update the 60-year-old church by adding an elevator and expanding the narthex, among other things.

Fanny Likouris said the church had done fish fries in the past, but stopped for several years. This is the first year back.

“We decided to do it again to make a little bit of money for our church,” Likouris said.

Archangel Michael Greek Orthodox served more than 100 dinners on the first Friday of lent. In addition to the classic fried fish with fries and coleslaw, it offers a Greek-style baked fish in tomato sauce with rice pilaf and Greek green beans.

“Hopefully people come and support the church, and we can make it an annual event,” Likouris said.