First Friday Of Lenten Season Kicks Off Fish Fries

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) - The fryers were on and the kitchen bustling for the first Friday of the Lent season. At Moon Township Volunteer Fire Department, this one event holds a lot of weight.

"We lost the vast majority of our fundraising events last year. Our sportsman bash, fish fry, car cruise -- we had to think outside the box because COVID wasn't going away anytime soon," said Moon Township VFD President Ron Faherty.

It was a time to get creative to make sure people came in the door this year.

"We changed our entire model and went to an app where people can order online or order curbside pickup, scan the QR code and we will deliver right to the car," Faherty said.

Technology is leading the way. It proved to work with a busy start. Just to throw in one more hoop, the department lost four cooks during the lunch hour to respond to a call.

After the clean up, it was back to the kitchen. While the team works together, many hope things will be back to normal next year.

"It becomes more of a social thing for people in the town to come together and gather and meet and share stories, so it's disappointing to not be able to have the sitdown traffic," Faherty said.

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KDKA stopped at a couple of different places on Friday where masks were enforced with plenty of hand sanitizer.

At St. Gabriels in Whitehall, they're turning their fish fry into a drive-thru.

In Baden, St. John the Baptist sold out of pierogies at 10:30 in the morning, just over an hour from when it opened.

You can check out other places doing fish fries this year at the 2021 KDKA Fish Fry Guide.