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Fish Fry Keeps Fire Company Afloat

JERMYN — Thousands lined up in Lackawanna County for a traditional Good Friday meal: the fish fry at the Artisan Fire Company in Jermyn. It always draws b...

JERMYN -- Thousands lined up in Lackawanna County for a traditional Good Friday meal: the fish fry at the Artisan Fire Company in Jermyn.

It always draws big crowds and firefighters there say the fundraiser is becoming more and more essential.

The Artisan Good Friday Fish Fry has become somewhat legendary in Lackawanna County. People wait in line to get some fish, and it's a good thing the people show up.

This is the fire company's biggest fundraiser and Artisan is in the same boat as a lot of volunteer fire companies in our area: struggling to make ends meet.

The fresh haddock, breaded and fried, is a Good Friday tradition. Lining up hours early is just as much a tradition.

Ron Khrzan of Archbald got the coveted first spot.

"I know a lot of people in line here and it's just a nice time, just to meet people and see everybody, and that's all," Khrzan said. He insists the fish is worth the wait.

The Artisan Fire Company will serve up 1,100 pounds of fish for the annual Good Friday Fish Fry fundraiser. This year, the volunteer firefighters secured five extra fryers to get the meals packaged faster.

Because once the doors open, there's no looking back. The fish fry is the fire company's biggest fundraiser.

"We just put a new ceiling in this place. This is stuff just like running your home, except we don't have any money," said Joe Hosie with Artisan Fire Company.

Artisan relies on the Good Friday Fish Fry to help pay to maintain the department's equipment. It's a task that's getting harder and harder to do.

"Our lead pumper is a 1988 and our backup pumper, now that went down a couple of years ago because of a bad head gasket, our backup pumper is a 1965. So, it shows you the battle we have here," Hosie explained.

It's a battle many volunteer fire departments in our area have and the firefighters at Artisan fear companies will start to close as costs go up.

Successes such as the fish fry give them hope.

"We're all members of the Greenfield Fire Company and we like to support all of our local fire companies and the fish fry is absolutely delicious every year," said Lisa Bonczkiewicz of Greenfield Township.

The fish fry takes weeks to prepare. Most of this week was spent cooking.

Volunteers expect to be selling fish dinners until 7:00 p.m. Friday.

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