Heather Latter
The Watten Fire Department’s annual fish fry, held Friday at Sunny Cove, was deemed an overwhelming success, with attendance nearly double that of last year.
“We were really happy with it,” enthused Brian Angus, who sits on the board and also is one of the 12 volunteer firefighters for the unincorporated area east of Fort Frances.
“Our largest before was about 185 or so,” he noted.
“So in some ways, we weren’t quite prepared,” Angus admitted, adding he hopes that doesn’t keep people away in future years.
“There were some bottlenecks and we realize that,” he remarked.
“For next year, we’re going to have more tables set up.”
Angus also acknowledged that parking at Sunny Cove also became an issue with all the vehicles coming and going.
He also apologized to anyone who was there when there were temporary food shortages.
“We’re going to be upping the amount of food we are bringing in,” Angus noted, saying while they had plenty of fish, they had to go get more beans and salad.
“There was a gap between when we ran out and before we could get more supplies in,” he explained.
“So there are certainly ways we can improve the event for next year,” Angus said.
“We can learn from this.”
Despite some of the shortcomings, those on hand seemed to enjoy the tasty food, entertainment by “Entirely Mac,” and the social atmosphere.
“It was a nice enough afternoon that people were able to enjoy the beautiful surroundings,” Angus reasoned.
“It was a good social event and people had a nice relaxing time.
“And we were really quite happy with the support we received,” he stressed.
Angus added there also were plenty of volunteers out to help prepare and serve the meal.
“So that was really appreciated,” he said.
Angus estimated the dinner brought in about $4,000 for the fire department.
“That’s just excellent,” he enthused. “We’re going to be able to keep the doors open another year.”
He said the money will go towards paying to heat the fire hall, taxes, and the other overheads they have.
Watten property owners who didn’t make it out for the fish fry still can make a donation to the fire department at Site 218-90, RR2, Fort Frances, Ont., P9A 3M3.
