Each Friday during Lent, volunteers from the athletic association at St. John Neumann Parish in Homewood transform the former St. Joseph School gym into restaurant for the annual fish fry.

There are tablecloths on every table and baskets of condiments and butter and containers of freshly popped popcorn. Diners and take-out customers have their choice of Alaskan pollock or shrimp with curly fries and coleslaw or spaghetti with marinara sauce and a dessert and drink. Diners can also purchase beer and “split the pot” raffle tickets.

Volunteers serve about 400 meals each week and proceeds help subsidize the athletic programs.

While the fish fry has been an annual event for the athletic association for over 40 years, the association adjusted its mission when St. Joseph School closed in 2017.

Members of the athletic association wanted to continue to provide organized sports for children, so the association formed parish basketball and volleyball teams to compete with area Catholic schools.

“A lot of our kids go on to play at Marian [Catholic High School] or Homewood-Flossmoor,” said Phil Donahue, one of the association’s leaders, during the fish fry’s kickoff on Feb. 16.

That night, the association remembered Bob Major, a longtime athletic association volunteer and past president who died in January.

Major’s impact is felt every time volunteers use the industrial kitchen adjacent to the gym, Donahue said.

“When he was president, one thing that he did was take all the money from the fish fry and put it into the kitchen, which is a nice thing for the parish,” he said. “He was a great guy and a great volunteer.”

The kitchen helps foster community in the parish by allowing for events like pancake breakfasts. It is one of Major’s legacies that will serve the new parish going forward, as it incorporates members of St. Anne in Hazel Crest, St. Emeric in Country Club Hills and St. Joseph with St. Joseph as the only worship site, Donahue said. The new, united parish was created in 2022.

Fish fry volunteers include young athletes and their families, as well as returning volunteers who have been active for years.

Despite not having children in the athletic association’s program anymore, Joe Hamann has volunteered at the fish fry since 2004. On Feb. 16, he was in the kitchen washing the fish to prepare it for breading.

“I use it as my Lenten observance, but it is a good group of people and a good cause. It’s worthwhile,” Hamann said.

Fish fries can play an important role in parish life during Lent, he said, especially in a recently merged parish like St. John Neumann, where people are still getting to know one another.

“It’s community involvement both for the workers and the diners,” Hamann said. “You have people who have moved away and come back to the parish each year for the fish fry and have a little get-together. It also draws in more people from outside the parish — friends, neighbors, whatever.”

Nancy Werner began volunteering at the fish fry when her children were in the school in 2004 and stayed after her kids moved on. On Feb. 16, she was fulfilling orders in the kitchen and filling cups of soda.

“Once you get to know all the people, it’s fun. It’s no longer work,” she said. “It helps the kids. It helps the parents of the kids so they don’t have to pay all of the fees and all of that.”

The first night each year is a little nerve-wracking, but then people get into the swing of things, Werner said. This year, the water heater went out at 3 a.m. the day of the fish fry and had to replaced, adding to the stress. 

Like other students in the sports program, sixth grader Olivia Zandi volunteered with her mother, Kristina, the first night. Olivia has played volleyball for two years.

“It’s really fun, and I love to play volleyball so it’s nice,” she said.

St. John Neumann’s fish fry takes place every Friday during Lent from 4 to 8 p.m. in the gym at 17951 Dixie Hwy., Homewood. For a listing of more  fish fries, see the event listing.