Tag Archive for: #shrinefishfry

Shriners Fish Fry is May 8th

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The 60th annual Shriner’s Fish Fry is coming up on Wednesday, May 8, and plans are well underway to provide another great plate of fish with all the sides to raise money for the Shriner’s Children’s Hospital.

The Tri-County Shriners will be out in full force from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. to provide plates of steaming hot fish at 210 Industry Dr., between Mako and Servpro.

Plates are $10 each and although tickets are available for purchase ahead of time, no ticket is necessary – the Shriners will happily take your money in exchange for a plate of fish, slaw, potato salad and hush puppies, said Donald Seifert, a Tri-County Shriner who spoke with WIZS on Thursday’s TownTalk.

“The lines flow smoothly and there’s very little waiting,” said Seifert, as he explained the easy, drive-through process.

Delivery is available for 10 or more plates. Contact Seifert at 252.438.8355 or Ray Fields at 252.813.7665 to set up a delivery on Fish Fry Day.

They planned for 1,700 plates at last year’s event, and Seifert said the club’s goal each year is to raise $10,000 for Shriner’s Children’s Hospitals. There are 22 hospitals and five burn centers across the country, all of which provide care and treatment – free of charge – for children up to age 18. Shriners also provide transportation to patients and a family member to receive the care they need.

“It’s one of the reasons our Shriners’ Fish Fry has lasted so long,” Seifert said. “It’s for a good cause.”

Last year’s proceeds approached the $10,000 goal, he said. “Our biggest days, we’ve exceeded the goal,” but he predicted that, on average, each fish fry has netted $8,000.

A conservative figure for the fish fry’s 59 years is just shy of half a million dollars.

The volunteers who help behind the scenes and on fish fry day have a good time together, Seifert said, “but there’s so much work to be done on the day of the fish fry, everybody has to be productive to turn out that many plates. It takes a lot of help.”

He said the Shriners appreciate the support of the community each year and they look forward to another successful fundraiser.

“The community has always turned out, and we’re thankful for that,” he said.

 

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TownTalk: Shriners To Hold 58th Annual Fish Fry

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It’s not too soon to think about the upcoming Shriners Fish Fry, which will take place on Wednesday, May 18.

This is the 58th fish fry and local Shriner Donald C. Seifert spoke with John C. Rose on Thursday’s Town Talk about how the event has evolved over those almost six decades as it continues to raise money for local causes as well as for Shriner’s Children’s Hospitals.

The annual event has been held in numerous spots over the years, many of them at the old Henderson Armory. Patrons had a chance to eat in or take out, as well as visit with friends from across the community.

“It’s been reshaped a bit over the last several years,” Seifert said. The fish fry is held at what he called “the Slaughter building,” located between Mako Medical and Serv Pro on Industry Drive.

Local Shriner Sherby Slaughter provides the site for the fish fry, and Seifert said last year’s take-out option proved successful.

“We just don’t have the space inside to serve patrons,” he said, “and we miss that. We do have the drive-thru set up and it’s worked well.”

Lots of planning goes into the annual fundraiser, well in advance of the event date, which traditionally is the third Wednesday in May. The gates open at 11 a.m. and the goal is to sell about 2,000 plates by the time the fish fry is over about suppertime.

Thanks to some coordination with the nearby Salvation Army, Seifert said there should be no problems with having enough fish. “The Salvation Army has agreed to let us have some reserve product in their kitchen,” he said. “If we start to run low, we’ll have easy access and have plenty of fish.”

Like many organizations, the Shrine Club isn’t as large as it once was, and members rely on volunteers to help keep things rolling on fish fry day, whether it’s delivering plates of 10 or more to area businesses or cooking and packing the food into containers, volunteers play a key role, for which Seifert says his fellow Shriners are grateful.

“My hat’s off to our volunteers,” he said.

The fish fry is a highlight of the club’s year, and its proceeds help support local causes like First Responders and >> as well as the children’s hospitals that the Shriners are associated with.

“There are so many good causes around, especially local causes that we feel like we’d like to help,” Seifert said. “Of course, the hospitals get a nice donation…but we try to share as best we can.”

Tickets are $10, but you don’t have to have a ticket in advance – just follow the line of traffic out to Industry Drive, pull in, pick up a plate and get a great big “Thank You” from a Shriner.

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