The Judd Kendall VFW Post 3873 announced it would cancel its remaining Friday night fish fries for the Lenten season.
Reason for cancellation
Judd Kendall VFW fish fry chairman Tom Parker said the events were getting “under 50%” of the peak presence typically at the fries.
“The number of folks coming out was significantly lower than what we had anticipated and hoped for,” said Parker. “COVID is still (one of the factors). We did not do the fish fry last year. A lot of folks got out of the habit of going out on Friday night.”
In a press release, the group thanked those who had attended the first two weeks of the fries, the workers, and Belgio’s Catering who had provided the meals. They are looking into donating meals originally planned for the fish fries, much like Belgio’s did during COVID.
“When COVID hit, Belgio’s went ahead and cooked all the food and prepared meals,” said Parker. “We partnered with one of the local food banks, so as folks came through and picked up their food that week, they also picked up some meals from Belgio’s.”
Future of the fries
Although the VFW canceled its 2023 fries, Parker is not ruling out bringing back the Friday night event during the next Lenten season.
“It makes sense for us to cancel it here,” said Parker. “But that does not mean we won’t revisit it next year.”
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