Restaurant helps salvage Webster VFD fish fry

The Steel Plate in Monessen stepped in to preserve the traditional event, which had been short on volunteers.

The Webster Volunteer Fire Department’s annual fish fry was temporarily in danger, but the long-time tradition will continue thanks to a Mon Valley business.

In the beginning of February, Webster VFD announced that it would not continue its annual fish fry due to a lack of volunteers. That changed last weekend with a Facebook announcement that the fish fry for 2025 will continue with the help of the Steel Plate restaurant in Monessen.

The Webster VFD has been operating for more than 50 years. Russell Johnson, owner of Steel Plate, said he had to help preserve such a longtime tradition.

“I saw that their original post was saying that they could no longer support it,” Johnson said. “Our fire departments are run by volunteers, and at this day and age, volunteerism is getting harder because we have to work and it’s harder to dedicate free time to different organizations. Then reading into it, finding out that this was a 50-year-plus tradition for their community really got me thinking, ‘Could we help in any way to keep the fish fry going?’” Fish fry fundraisers are a popular way for Mon Valley organizations, churches and volunteer fire departments to raise money during the Lenten season.

This year’s Webster fish fry will begin on Ash Wednesday, which falls on March 5, and will continue every Friday during Lent from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Webster VFD Chief Bill Maglet said they are excited to work with Johnson and they will consider collaborating with the Steel Plate for years to come.

“We were ecstatic that he reached out to us, and after giving us the proposal that he was able to provide to us, it sounded like a no lose situation,” Maglet said. “So yeah, we definitely look forward to working with him, and hopefully, if it works out, we can even do something more in the future.”

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“We were ecstatic that he reached out to us, and after giving us the proposal that he was able to provide to us, it sounded like a no-lose situation.”

BILL MAGLET

WEBSTER VFD CHIEF Maglet said it has been hard for them to gain volunteers and new members to help with the fish fry. He added that they received some volunteers for this year’s fish fry, but determined that it wasn’t enough to continue.

Maglet added that he and the volunteer fire department will accept any support they can get from their local community.

“We appreciate any support anybody can give us,” he said. “I mean, we basically survive on grants and donations. So any time that we do some type of fundraiser like this, it does nothing more than help us and alleviate some of the trouble we have.”

Johnson said the Steel Plate will add its own twist to the event.

“It’s a very niche time of year for our local community,” Johnson said. “It definitely feels like it’s a Pittsburgh- area tradition very heavily for the Lenten fish fries. So we agreed on trying to maintain the things with their fish fry that made their fish fry successful for 50 years, and incorporating a little bit of what we do at the Steel Plate.”

Webster VFD posted the official fish fry menu on its “Rostraver Township VFD Webster” Facebook page.

The menu will feature beer-battered cod and breaded cod sandwiches, shrimp and catfish nugget dinners and other items such as halushki and pierogies. Sides like macaroni and cheese, fries and a lobster bisque will also be available.

A beer-battered cod sandwich will be $11 and a breaded cod sandwich is $10, but both can be made into dinners that will include fries and cole slaw for an additional $4. The shrimp dinner will be $15, and the catfish nugget dinner is $16.

Beverages will be available, as well as a topping bar with homemade tartar sauce, homemade cocktail sauce, pickles, onions and more. There will be some weekly specials as well.

“We’ll be running a weekly special after the first two days,” he said. “So we’re going to bring in, like a fish taco, a shrimp taco, different style of seafood fries, like a shrimp fry, a shrimp po boy.”

Johnson emphasized that the official menu won’t include the specials and asked that those interested should keep an eye on the Webster VFD Facebook page.

Johnson added that a percentage of funds from the fish fry will be shared between the Steel Plate and Webster VFD.

“It’s just going to be a percentage of it, because my business, there’s going to be credit card fees and all of the standard stuff, but there would be a portion of the proceeds that do go back to the fire department,” Johnson said.

The Steel Plate location in Monessen will remain open during the fish fry days. Johnson encourages people to support the Webster VFD and said it’s important to help local first responders.

“Those organizations are the ones that help us in the middle of the night,” he said. “So whether it’s a house fire, a hurt family member, a missing family member, these guys tirelessly put in their efforts to make sure our community is safe, and that is something that I personally can’t do, but in my professional life I know to cook food, so it’s been a weird way of giving back to them.”

Maglet said Webster VFD appreciates any help, adding that all volunteer fire departments in the Mon Valley should receive love and a helping hand for what they do.

“The fire departments that are in this area all volunteer, these people do this 24/7, 365, out of the kindness of our heart, we don’t get paid to do this,” Maglet said. “What used to be a field that was overrun with people willing to help, it’s changed a lot over the years because of the amount of training that you have to take, because of requirements through the state, federal and even local level, and you can’t find people to do it, so anybody that’s willing to help in any way whatsoever, our doors are open.”

The fish fry will be held at Webster Social Hall, located at 952 Route 906 S. in Webster To order over the phone, call 724-379-7838.