Another Miracle With Fishes

To the Editor:

Miracle on Church Hill Road. While not very original, this certainly would be a fitting title to describe what took place at the first Friday night fish fry of the year at the St Rose Parish Hall.

Only in its second year these Lenten dinners are fast becoming the talk of the town. Building on last year’s success, chairmen Jim Tevnan and Tom Mascher planned for a big turnout. They arrived at the Hall by 8 am to begin the necessary preparations for a smooth kickoff to this year’s three dinners. They know the checklist by heart and moved through the items right on schedule. Then it happened.

Fryer 1 was up and running, but fryer 2 and fryer 3 were not igniting. Emergency calls went out immediately. The equipment vendor started out from Bridgeport with a new fryer. Leahy sent a technician out to see if there was a gas problem. Meanwhile, the 5 pm start time was fast approaching. With only one-third capacity this was shaping up to be quite a night.

The line started almost immediately and before long snaked around the hall and out the door. The new fryer still hadn’t arrived and now the Leahy technician was undertaking heroic measures to run new gas lines to the idle fryers in subfreezing temperatures. Each time a small batch of fish was put in the fryer Jim and Tom hoped for another multiplication of loaves and fishes miracle. Maybe we put in eight pieces of fish and out will come eighty they prayed.

While nothing as tangible as that happened, the Holy Spirit surely descended on that hall this cold night in March. For as this eyewitness can attest, every volunteer from age 7 to 70 joined together with a resolve and camaraderie to make the best of this impossible situation. No finger pointing. No short tempers. No sideways glances. Just a wonderful esprit de corps. And of those patient souls waiting in line? They were hungry. They were tired by the end of the week. They just wanted to eat and go home. They had every reason to be upset. What a fine example they were of how to cope when things don’t go as planned. No one yelled. No one demanded special treatment. They simply enjoyed each other’s company and waited for their meal. What an incredible display of class and good cheer. Eventually all the fryers were up and running and the line began to shrink. Jim and Tom will be ready for the next fish fry on March 10 and promise all the fryers will be operational.

But the real story, the real experience, the real happening, wasn’t the fish fry itself. It was the amazing community spirit that shone from every face in that hall. Come on down to one of the next fish fries and be part of the magic.

John Moulder

Hattertown Road, Newtown       March 8, 2006