Southern Allegheny Valley Emergency Services and Blawnox Volunteer Fire Company continued their respective traditions of hosting a fish fry on Good Friday.
The food-themed fundraiser has been a staple for both fire companies for years.
SAVES — the merged fire department serving Aspinwall and Sharpsburg — moved fish fry operations last year to Camp Guyasuta after having been at the Sharpsburg station for years.
SAVES President Dennis Lane said they are grateful to the Sharpsburg camp for letting it use the space and its full kitchen, solving a lot of logistical challenges.
“We’re grateful for the continued support from our community, especially as the cost of equipment and apparatus continues to rise,” Lane said.
“It’s one of our two major fundraisers each year and brings just about everyone together — firefighters and social members alike. More than anything, it’s a fun event where we get to catch up with people from the community and even see folks who make the trip from a distance to be here.”
Several volunteers such as fry master Tony Karpinski were at their familiar stations April 3.
Lane said everything went smoothly, but there are no plans to expand into more Fridays next year despite the camp’s capabilities.
Lane said SAVES wants to be a good neighbor to the many churches and other organizations that stop their fish frys on Good Friday.
“We are here for the community,” he said.
There was no fundraising goal set for this year.
Both volunteer fire companies said they anticipated serving about 700 pounds of fried fish, 300 fried shrimp dinners as well as many cups of cole slaw, macaroni and cheese, pierogies, fries and other sides.
Blawnox firefighters pulled their trucks out of the Freeport Road fire station in order to set up serving and seating areas.
They also added a few new fryers this year to the cooking area outside the rear of the building to help keep up with demand.
Capt. Rick Lee said it is a great logistical effort to set things up and get organized for the fish fry, which is the main reason they limit it to Good Friday.
Blawnox recently welcomed several young recruits and had junior firefighters as young as 14 helping out in their first fundraiser.
“It’s great having the new faces,” Lee said. “They’ve performed above expectations and are keeping up with everything. The turnout from the community is great. A lot of local businesses have been ordering. That’s what we were hoping for.”
Lee was impressed with everyone’s teamwork and hoped to raise about $4,500.
Blawnox added a bake sale this year with cookies, brownies and cakes made by some of its members.
