By Lisa Ormond | FāVS News Reporter
Catholic community fish fries on Fridays is a common ritual during the season of Lent.
In North Idaho, this tradition of joining believers together for a tasty meatless feast is alive and thriving, and is wholeheartedly embraced by area parishioners with open arms and hungry stomachs.
“I have gone to all the fish fries that our Knights have put on,” said longtime Rathdrum St. Stanislaus church member Mary Hessler. “I love hanging out with my friends, and the food is great!”
Beloved activity
The Rathdrum Knights of Columbus Council 15304, an 80-member Catholic men’s fraternal service organization, sponsored the annual “FRYDAY” all-you-can-eat fish feasts.
“For $15, it’s a real meal deal and a nice opportunity to see people in the parish,” said Stanley Kaminski, the group’s treasurer.
According to the council’s lead and Grand Knight Steve Skreenock, he and his Knight brothers have been cooking up fish fries for their rural church parishes in Rathdrum and Spirit Lake for over 20 years.
“We had four fish fries this year, and the community just loved them,” said Skreenock. “We use the proceeds to help support two priest seminarians, provide a free Mother’s Day breakfast annually and to fund other worthy causes in the area during the year.”
Satisfied customers
Skreenock said about 80 people attended each Friday gathering and the council earned $1,200 for charity. Dinner was an all-you-can-eat meal of the infamous cod, French fries, mac-n-cheese, coleslaw, tartar sauce and ice-cream.
The Reilly family of Post Falls came to the March 20 feast in Rathdrum and gave the meal high praises.
“It was fantastic!” said Dave Reilly, who brought his three young children and wife to the event. “The fish was crispy, the fries were crunchy and the coleslaw was sweet.”
Behind the scenes
Skreenock estimated over 100-man hours spread over five-week days goes into serving up a feast between the pre-event shopping, food preparation, day-of cooking, set-up and clean-up.
Kaminski and his wife Jeanni, St. Stanislaus parish members for 46 years, do the shopping for most meal basics and gave a rundown of the main ingredients.
“Well, we use about 200 pounds of cod, 150 pounds of French fries and about 75 pounds of cabbage to cover the four fries,” said Stanley Kaminski. The dedicated couple volunteer every year to lend a hand. In fact, Jeanni Kaminski shared that the coleslaw recipe was her grandmother’s.
“Everybody just raves about it so we just keep serving it up,” she said.
Connecting “no meat” to spiritual growth
Fish fries are often offered in tandem with the Friday Stations of the Cross devotional observed by Catholics weekly during the Lenten season with Easter marking the most important feast of the liturgical year.
For believers, the abstinence from meat joined with the meditation of the 14 events that commemorates Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is an opportunity to grow in spiritual discipline.
“It’s a great chance to pray and then grab a warm plate of food with the crew and fellow faithful,” said Coeur d’Alene St. Pius X Knight of Columbus member Chris Ward.
Ward’s group of Knights 11623 served up two fish fries this year with about 250 parishioners showing up to share in each meal.
Tasty meals of service
As a fraternity of 197 men, St. Pius X Deputy Grand Knight Phil Hostak said his council has offered the Friday dinner for about five years now. Hostak mentioned their fish fry meal is well-known in the area for its “world-famous tartar sauce from scratch.”
But according to Hostak, that’s only part of the story.
“The funds we raise at the fish fries allow us to donate to community causes like Open Arms Real Choices Clinic and Communio CDA, but to also offer impromptu support that arise like recently a Post Falls Veterans group needed monies for a transportation bus,” Hostak said.
Words of appreciation
Skreenock said the fish fries are “a labor of love” his group embraces and enjoys every year to strengthen bonds of faith over food.
“We have such great participation and the fraternity among the Knights is amazing,” he said. “It also gives us a way to raise monies for charity during this season that focuses on almsgiving.”
Ward offered similar sentiments.
“A big thanks to all the Knights and volunteers who make these happen,” said Ward. “It takes a lot of planning and hard work so we are grateful when it comes together.”
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