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Special Delivery: Fish Fry Fridays

BERWICK — It’s a Lenten tradition in Pennsylvania: fish fry fundraisers on Fridays in Lent. But at Reliance Fire Company Number 1 in Berwick, they t...

BERWICK -- It's a Lenten tradition in Pennsylvania: fish fry fundraisers on Fridays in Lent. But at Reliance Fire Company Number 1 in Berwick, they take that fried goodness on the road.

Volunteers are busy during lunch time Fridays heading out with hundreds of dinners for businesses in much of Columbia County, and sometimes beyond.

"I've probably delivered $600, $700 worth of fish myself."

And that's just this Friday. We tagged along as Stephen Stout delivered to Eastern Lift Truck in Berwick and some thrilled workers there.

"Oh, it's great! I've lived in town 21 years now and it's always good and tell these guys about it, so I'm in charge now to get this stuff ordered," said Jamie Fry.

"There's between four and five deliverers and we're gone from 10 o'clock in the morning till 1, 1:30 in the afternoon and then people start showing up in the fire hall to eat," said volunteer Stephen Stout.

While the deliveries from the fire company are popular, plenty more people come to dine in. The fish is quite the draw.

"Excellent, probably come four or five times a year when they have it," said Mike Mowry of Berwick.

The fire company offers choices for its dinners. Mowry and this crew got a variety.

This year, Reliance is doing eight weeks of fish fries. That's 1,300 pounds of fish a week, and a lot of work cooking all that food for delivery, dine in, and take out.

"I love it, I'm retired, but I love it right now," said organizer John Tigue. "(It's a) full time job, since this is our fifth week right now."

All that volunteer work helps raise money that pretty much runs the fire company all year.

"We start getting bigger and bigger and it just took off."

The fish fries at Reliance Fire Company Number 1 run Fridays for lunch and dinner through Good Friday, March 25.

And it's not the only fish fry in Berwick. St. Mary's church has them every Friday, too.

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