St. Davids fish fry returns Friday

The popular St. Davids Lions fish fry returns this Friday, but of course, with a difference.

The pandemic has eliminated the possibility of a sit-down dinner in the York Road Lions Club hall, but Lions members are doing everything they can think of to have dinners cooked and delivered safely and quickly.

Janet Guy, the Lions member who has taken charge of the every-other-week event, says the initial thought was to mirror the wildly popular Lions burger Friday drive-thru the club held during the summer. Once they sat down to plan the process, however, they realized the weather wasn’t going to be in their favour.

Instead, they will have a table with Lions members inside the door of the hall, where orders and money will be taken. People will be permitted to wait for their order inside, with distancing and masks, Guy says.

“We’ll try to get orders out as fast as we can,” she adds, expecting there may have to be some refining or adapting of their plan required as they go along. 

Lions member Peter Bissonnette will be making the batter from scratch, as he always has, with the haddock going into fryers outside, in the burger barn.

“He’s been doing the fish batter for years,” says Guy. “He’s always out in the barn, batter on his shoes. I can’t imagine doing this without him.”

Resuming the fish fry will help raise some funds for the community, and is also good for the Lions members who want to stay active during the pandemic, says Guy.

“This is getting their engines going again, doing something they enjoy.”

The Leos, who helped with the burger nights, “are a big part of the club, and they’ll be helping out as well. They’re a great group,” she says.

Guy took over the organization of the fish fry from long-time Lions member Pete Merritt, who says the fundraising dinners began about 15 years ago. He continues to work with Guy, giving her much-needed advice, she says.

At this point, they’re planning on keeping it simple, selling one piece with their popular fresh-cut fries, and coleslaw, for $9, and two pieces for $13. They are not offering the pan-fried fish or baked potato, at least not to begin with, says Guy.

The Friday fish fry is expected to continue to April.

The first one is this Friday, Nov. 6, from 4:30 to 7 p.m.