Fish fries keep the lights on at Bethalto lodge
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Bethalto Masonic Lodge Fish Fry event organizer Don Huber breads fish fillets on Saturday. As the lodge membership has declined, the monthly fish fries — held the third Saturday each month, almost always as sell-outs — are helping to cover the longtime lodge’s costs.
lessBethalto Masonic Lodge Fish Fry event organizer Don Huber breads fish fillets on Saturday. As the lodge membership has declined, the monthly fish fries — held the third Saturday each month, almost always as
... more
Bethalto Masonic Lodge Fish Fry event organizer Don Huber breads fish fillets on Saturday. As the lodge membership has declined, the monthly fish fries — held the third Saturday each month, almost always as sell-outs — are helping to cover the longtime lodge’s costs.
lessBethalto Masonic Lodge Fish Fry event organizer Don Huber breads fish fillets on Saturday. As the lodge membership has declined, the monthly fish fries — held the third Saturday each month, almost always as
... moreBETHALTO — People come once a month to the Bethalto Masonic Lodge Fish Fry for a good reason.
“Their fish is so good,” said Rosemary Zarr of Bethalto.
“I live just a few blocks away and we come here every month to support them,” she said. “If it didn’t taste really good, we wouldn’t come. That makes a difference.”
The Masonic Lodge Fish Fry is held the third Saturday of every month. Customers stood patiently this past Saturday in the parking lot of the lodge on Prairie Street as their orders of white fish or Grafton-sourced fresh buffalo were breaded and fried while they waited.
“Everybody loves it. Probably 80 percent of the people here today are return customers,” said event organizer and 51-year lodge member Don Huber.
“We have great clientele,” he said. “We generally fry 120 pounds of fish in about three and a half hours, and we usually have to turn customers away because we sell out.”
Huber helped to start the fish fry in 2007 and spent his 85th birthday on Saturday breading and frying fish.
“It’s the only thing that keeps the lights on in the old lodge,” Huber. “We don’t have enough members any more. It takes six or seven people on a Saturday to set up and do the fish fry.”
Huber said the four area Masonic lodges — including two in Alton and one each in Bethalto and Wood River — work with one another to try keep their respective lodges going. The Bethalto Masonic Lodge was built in 1953; the local Masonic Temple is more than 100 years old, he said.
On Saturday, Huber and his fellow lodge members breaded, fried, drained and packed fish fillets — along with slices of bread, onion, tartar sauce and chips — for customers who waited for their names to be called to pick up the orders. Richard Henderson of Edwardsville was one of the few first-time customers.
“It’s crispy but moist. It’s at least as good as Long John Silver’s, so I’m happy,” Henderson said. “And fish is healthy, too.
“I like to get out and support local businesses and organizations,” he said. “It’s a good cause, and I always like to support these things.”
Returning customer Leemon Moore of Godfrey agreed that the Masonic Lodge and the associated Shriners “do good work.” But the main reason he comes to Bethalto once a month, he said, is “because they have good food.”
Alton resident Rita Zimmerman said the fish can’t be beat.
“I like fried fresh like they do it here,” she said. “They put in a lot of work on this.”
November 22, 2020 at 11:15PM
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Fry guys: Monthly fish fries keep lights on for Bethalto lodge - Alton Telegraph
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