Dearing House Child Advocacy Center held their annual “Fish Fry for the Small Fry” event on Friday, June 16 at Standing Bear Park. The event began in the summer of 2014 and was hosted in the parking lot at 2nd and Cleveland before outgrowing the space and relocating to Standing Bear Park in 2016.

The event typically sees between 350 to 450 people but this year saw 500 people served, plus the additional 100 volunteers made this event have an estimated total of 600 people in attendance.

Fish Fry for the Small Fry is the annual fundraising event for Dearing House Child Advocacy Center and serves two purposes, the first being community awareness of Dearing House, and the second as financial support of their services to children and families.

12 teams, all having previously participated in the Fish Fry, competed in four different categories this year. Guests that purchased tasting kits were provided with tickets to use to vote for their favorite teams. The categories included: Best Fish, Best Meat, Best Side, and Best Dessert.

The Po-Hi Wildcat Fishing Team won in the Best Fish category, while Grand Mental Health won Best Meat, Best Side, and Best Dessert, a first time any one team have won in three categories in the event’s history.

In addition to the food provided by the teams, the event will feature cold watermelons from the District Attorney’s Office, children’s activities provided by Free Will Baptist Church, water and lemonade from Alliance-Health, face painting, snow cones, and live music by Denim Armadillo.

This year’s Fish Fry for the Small Fry coincided with celebrations Dearing House has had for their 20th anniversary since first opening their doors back in 2003.