The One-in-a-Million Fish Fry to fund community programs

By Karen Parr-Moody

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Community fish fries are something Southerners know and love. They are used for community building and family reunions – or, in the case of the UT Family Consumer Science Endowment, for fundraising. After all, who doesn’t enjoy deep-fried fish that will add to a good cause?

On Aug. 16, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., at the One-in-a-Million Fish Fry, dinner will be served – by delivery to patrons’ car windows – at the Smith-Trahern Mansion at 101 McClure Street. The cost is $10 per plate and it includes fish, hushpuppies, white beans, slaw, a drink and a homemade dessert.

“For $10, that’s not bad,” said Martha Pile, a UT Family and Consumer Sciences Extension agent. “Plus you’re helping a good cause.”

Patrons must simply drive up the circular driveway of the mansion and volunteers will deliver the plates of food; this is not a sit-down dinner.

All funds raised through this event will go to support the One-in-a-Million UT Extension Family Consumer Science Endowment for Montgomery County. The campaign was set up last year to help enhance the UT Family Consumer Science programs in Montgomery County in perpetuity.

Many remember the Family Consumer Science program as home economics. But today the classes that Pile teaches through the University of Tennessee Extension encompass many aspects of life, ranging from personal finances to childcare to first-time home buying.

Recently Pile has worked on programs regarding bullying and solar power. The solar program is currently in operation at Clarksville Academy, but Pile said, “We hope it will be compartmentalized to where we can take it to other children.”

Such work shows how UT Family Consumer Science programs respond to a changing society. During the Great Depresson, for example, it taught rural, low-income families how to make mattresses with the government’s surplus cotton.

The volunteer arm of this branch of the UT Extension is the Family and Community Education Organization. Margie Head, a volunteer for this group, organized the fish fry. She and Pile also work with other volunteers to host events at the mansion, such as the Trees of Christmas, the Sweetheart Cake Bake and the Winter Market.

To buy tickets ahead of time for the One-in-a-Million Fish Fry call Martha Pile at 931-648-5725, Debby Johnson at 931-365-2107, Margie Head at 931-647-3047 or Pamela Albaro at 931-378-4571.