For the uninitiated, the huge gatherings of vehicles around St. James Catholic Church in Montague Friday nights in February and March can seem strange. Locals, though, know what it means: It’s fish fry time.
Starting the Friday before the Catholic holy season of Lent and taking place the next six Fridays after, the annual St. James fish frys, presented by the Knights of Columbus, are famous occasions in the White Lake area. Hundreds of meals are sold to parishioners and community members alike. Meals are prepared in the days leading up to Fridays, including day-of breading of the main course, and sold from 4:30 to 7 p.m. for $16 per meal. Meals also include potatoes (baked or French fries), coleslaw, a dinner roll and dessert.
According to Tom and Carol Bart, who head up the all-volunteer team that puts together each fish fry, 987 meals were served at the March 15 fry, and from past experience they know the final fish fry of the season - this time taking place March 22 - is usually the biggest of the season. They expect over 1,000 meals served to add to the about 5,300 that have been served at the previous six 2024 fish frys.
The Barts have run the St. James fish fry for eight years, and their involvement in it dates back over a decade. Their leadership has been fruitful both in the money the fish fry raises for various community functions - all fish fry money goes back into the community to help services such as the White Lake Giving Tree and Muskegon Pregnancy Services - and to the church’s trophy case. WZZM-TV stages an annual Fish Fry Frenzy, in which online votes determine the best fish fry in West Michigan, and St. James’ fish fry has been crowned winner three times in the last five years, most recently in 2021 and 2023.
This year, the fish fry fell one round short of WZZM’s “Fishy Four,” being eliminated by the Muskegon Bowmen Archery Club of Dalton Twp. Of course, the awards are far from the main reason the Barts run the fish frys, but gunning for bragging rights does add to the fun of the event.
“They get about 300 people to their fish fry, and talking with them, jibber-jabbering around about ‘We’re the best,’ ‘No, we’re the best,’ it’s more fun, a sideshow than anything,” Bart smiled. “We come together as neighbors and try to help one another. That’s the main thing.”
It’s a mission shared by the 100 or so volunteers that help the Barts put together each week’s fish fry; they take great pride in it being an all-volunteer event.
Preparations begin, Bart said, Wednesday mornings, when a group of about 15 makes the dessert portions of the meal, and Thursday brings another dozen or so to make more desserts. Later in the day, a setup crew of about 20 sets up and prepares tables in the dining area. Friday is fish day, and 25 people come in to prepare it. Friday nights are so hectic Bart doesn’t even know exactly how many help, but he estimated 40 between the kitchen, dining and carry-out areas. He’s been especially pleased with the surge of youth volunteer turnout the last couple of years.
“It’s really a good group of people that aren’t afraid to come forth and volunteer,” Bart said. “(Sometimes) people are afraid to come in and get wrapped up in something they can never get out of, and it’s not like that...People want to be there.
“That’s the other part of it. Besides just us giving the money to people, people are getting together as neighbors and friends. That’s why we’re blessed to have a ministry like this at St. James.”
Bart credits St. James pastor Fr. Peter Omogo for the culture of volunteerism that is on display not just in the fish fry but at other St. James activities.
“That’s what Fr. Peter impresses on us, is to get out there and help one another and try to be good Christians,” Bart said. “That’s what we try to do.”
