Fish Fry is a biannual event at Bethany, and one of the largest fundraisers we have. The proceeds go to fund senior trip, or junior prom, depending on which class is running the Fry. This event takes a lot of preparation, and the students involved have been working hard. As Fish Fry gets closer, preparations have picked up. Signs are already up around the halls denoting where carry-out will be and pointing to exits. During this flurry of preparation, student life mostly goes on as normal, except for the twenty or so juniors and their faculty helpers who are coordinating everything. To give an inside view into the workings of Fish Fry and the feelings of those who lead it, I talked to a few people.
Bailey Hanton (‘18) is the head of kitchen operations, mostly ferrying supplies like pickles and tartar sauce to the gym. She’s coordinating bucket after bucket of condiments, and looking forward to a night of pushing carts of them to the supply table, where Jonah Hostetler (‘18) will receive and distribute them to tables. The kitchen is also where dishes are washed. Bailey has a job that is sometimes gross and often overlooked, but it’s important to running the Fry.
Elaina Youngberg (‘18) is a section head. During the Fry, she will direct servers and generally make sure small concerns with customers are taken care of. Her favorite part of Fish Fry is setting up “because it’s upbeat.” Setting up everything, as well as directing everyone, helps her to feel more confident about the Fry going well.
Izzy Moore (‘19) has been nominated to be a Fish-head, and during this Fry she will be shadowing Gabby Klopfenstein (18) and Gavin Rusell (18), the current Fish-heads. Izzy says she would definitely choose to be a fish head over being a server, because she thinks the responsibility of coordinating everything will be fun (if a little stressful).
Fish Heads and other coordinators were not able to be reached for comment, because they looked too stressed to be bothered for an interview as they rushed down the halls. The rush and bustle will all come to fruition tonight, and hopefully the event will go well. Good luck to everyone working the fry. The best advice I have is simply to keep an optimistic attitude, wear good walking shoes, and look forward to leftover pie at the end.