'Tis the season, you know. Spring is when the smelt move from Lake Superior into their spawning streams, and it's a springtime tradition to use nets to catch the smelt, usually done at night because they are light sensitive. And that tradition is celebrated in our area again this year at the 58th Annual Herbster Smelt Fry. All the area service clubs get together to put on a great dinner at the historic Herbster "Gym."
Servings of smelt, with some whitefish added because smelt numbers are down again this year (too cold?), Captain Ken's baked beans, coleslaw, carrots/celery sticks, bread & and beverage are prepared for hundreds of hungry guests. Desserts are a separate fundraiser for the Scholarship Fund.
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| No, it's not Instagram. When we asked which was the smelt, they said, "The pieces with the tails." |
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| Says "Whitefish substituted if needed." Last year because of the weather, there were NO smelt, so they used whitefish for the whole dinner. This year whitefish only supplemented what smelt they had. |
Herbster is the town 7 miles east of Port Wing and the Smelt Fry takes place in the Herbster "Gym." Back during the Depression, this building was built as a WPA project so it provided jobs for lots of people, and it's been an important part of the community ever since.
It was built using log construction so it fit into this rustic area very well. It is now listed on State and National Registers of Historic Places.
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| Our dinner companions - they are all named John...well, one is Jon. |
It was our first time going to the Smelt Fry and I'm sure we'll be going back next year!
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