Community eats together against loneliness – KHNS Radio

One of Skagway's churches hosted a dinner every Wednesday during peak season to help locals recharge and avoid isolation. The menu featured seafood.

Skagway celebrated its last community fish dinner of the season on September 18, featuring halibut, salmon, shrimp and crab. The green fellowship hall of Skagway First Presbyterian Church was filled with guests of all ages, most of whom were not members of the Presbyterian congregation.

Seasonal worker Garrett Wabel regularly attends the weekly event.

“I would definitely not describe myself as a religious person,” he says.

Wabel says his boss told him about the dinners when he arrived from Utah for his first tourist season. The young store clerk found that he often lacked time and money and did not enjoy cooking. The communal dinners were a simple solution to all of these problems.

“It's been a huge blessing for me,” he says. “I've saved quite a bit of money, especially at a time when I needed to save. Everything here is so much more expensive than I ever expected.”

Although Wabel has an active social life and makes time for extracurricular activities like karaoke, he enjoys the communal aspect of mealtimes.

“The people here are amazing,” he says. “That's another reason to come here. I can just sit at a table and talk to someone I've never met before in my life. It's really easy to start a conversation and hang out a little bit.”

Fins and Fellowship, the official name of the fish food, launched in early May. The church began holding community dinners to combat the loneliness that continued even after the pandemic.

Ryan Mandeville is pastor of the Presbyterian Church, which was founded 126 years ago in Skagway.

“We realized that as a community we were missing what some people call a third place – a place outside of work or family where you can meet people,” says Mandeville. “And we had an abundance of fish and we asked ourselves: What would happen if we invited the whole community to come and eat some of that fish with us?”

The idea caught on and other organizations wanted to get involved. Bombay Curry offered to provide rice, while the Skagway Traditional Council provided greens from its garden. All seafood is also donated, and Mandeville goes out fishing regularly. He estimates it takes up to 25 volunteers a week to prepare the dinners.

Mandeville is satisfied with the result.

“One of the core values ​​of our community is to be multigenerational,” he says. “I think sometime in June I had a meal one time where there were 15 seniors there. I think it was four families that had come after soccer practice. And we all ate together and talked with the other seniors. And there were about 40 seasonal workers there. And I thought, oh, we finally did it. We had the whole spectrum eat together and enjoy each other's company.”

Kathy Bolen is part of the more mature crowd that attends Fins and Fellowship. She is spending her first summer working in Skagway.

“Before I came here, I read on Facebook that this was going to happen,” Bolen says. “When I was still home, I decided to come here to meet people, network and just get a feel for the community. I've met a lot of great people here in Skagway this summer. I just want to thank everyone who organized this. It's been really great.”

There is nothing religious about the meals; there are no prayers before meals or Bible readings. Each week there is a different conversation starter at the tables, which Mandeville hopes will encourage participants to stay longer.

Fins and Fellowship is ending as the Elks' burger catering will soon begin. But the Presbyterian Church continues to provide food to the community. In September, Mandeville and his team will transport 15 lunches from the school cafeteria twice a week to feed the seniors. Volunteers will serve the food and handle cleanup. It's a temporary position until Southeast Senior Services can hire a site manager for the senior dining program.