Sat August 09, 2025

By Jeff Smithpeters

Community Events

Hope Lions Fish Fry serves delicious meals, helps lift community at Watermelon Festival Friday

Hope Lions Fish Fry serves delicious meals, helps lift community at Watermelon Festival Friday
Another Watermelon Festival Friday means another serving of fried catfish and Tyson chicken to the masses by the Hope Lions Club. It’s one of their biggest fundraisers of the year, raising funds to address needs in Hempstead County and beyond, for help feeding families in poverty and assistance with emergencies as well as treatment for eye conditions. 

The Lions began serving their usual, highly popular protein entrees with coleslaw, hushpuppies, fries and a beverage at 4:30 p.m. preparing them with fryers stationed behind the Fair Park Community Center and using that building’s kitchen to put the meals together.  The large common room set with long tables allowed diners to relax with fellow festival-goers and a drive-through location in the Fair Park Swimming Pool parking lot catered to those who wished to pick up their food and eat it elsewhere.

About 50 Lions members, aided by several young members of the Garrett Memorial Christian School’s Leo Club worked in the heat, the kitchen, the dining area and the drive-through to serve what will likely be several hundred meals.  Their essential work helps lift and heal the community and each member enjoys contributing.  We stopped by to say hello, pitch in a little between assignments and take a few pictures. 

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