GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Fish Fry season is back in West Michigan, and for the first time since COVID-19, Holy Trinity Catholic Church is celebrating their Lent fish fry's in person.
"The fish is delicious, we have great baked potatoes and the macaroni and cheese is homemade," said Father Chris Rouech of Holy Trinity.
Abbi Alt, who manages the churches fish fry says on average, they see around 300 to 400 people every Friday during Lent.
"It's our first year that we're doing dine in so that's exciting, so they can eat, they can fellowship with some people that haven't seen in a while, and they can enjoy some homemade food," said Alt.
The dinner is an important element for their yearly fundraising.
"It really goes for everything here at the school, we're raising money for athletics and the school," said Alt.
Over at St. Alphonsus Parish in Grand Rapids, they see around 700 to 1,000 people during their fish fry's.
Sandy Kemp, Business Manager for St. Alphonsus, says their fish fry is also one of their biggest fundraisers.
"I think that a lot of it is the comradery," said Kemp. "I don't think that people mind standing in the long lines, we do have a long line, but it is partly running into people that you haven't seen sometimes."
Kemps says one change they've noticed this year is the rising costs of food, something they've had to adjust to, at least a little bit.
"We only raised our prices $1 for the adult meal," said Kemp. "Everything else we kept separate are kept the same I should say because we have a lower price for seniors and lower price for for children. But we just raised it $1 for the adults just because of that they've increased prices."
That slight raise, however, not a problem for avid fish lovers like Holly Knapp and Gail Muller.
"It's so good," said the two. "We like it here because of the walleye, but we go to the other ones too. But it's good to get together, it's kind of fun."
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