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ASHLEY — Christine Bink works just around the corner from St. Leo’s/Holy Rosary Church on Manhattan Street, so it was easy to stop by last Friday for haluski — that savory mix of sauteed cabbage and noodles.
“It’s the same kind they have at the bazaar,” she said. “It’s yummy.”
Retiree Paul Wilkes had a much longer trip, but he said the Lenten foods prepared by the church’s Holy Name Society are worth driving 8 miles or so from Jackson Township. “The mushroom soup is very good.”
As for Alice Botsko of Ashley, she knew what she wanted without even looking at the menu.
“I came for one of Darryl’s tuna hoagies,” she sang out, approaching volunteer Darryl Tomko at the busy counter in the church hall a few minutes after noon.
Tuna hoagies? Cabbage and noodles? Mushroom soup?
On Fridays through March 27, the Holy Name Society cooks offer all those items, plus Manhattan clam chowder, pierogies and order-in-advance potato pancake batter. This Friday, March 6, the “weekly special” will be vegetarian lasagna.
And you won’t find a single hamburger or chicken wing in the kitchen.
In keeping with the traditional practice of abstaining from meat on the Fridays of Lent, St. Leo’s/Holy Rosary is one of many churches and civic organizations serving home-style meatless meals in March.
You might consider that to be “giving up” something, but the folks in the church hall said they are gaining a lot — especially in terms of fellowship.
“You get to catch up with all the guys,” said Tom Heiser of Hanover Township.
“You get to spend time with your brothers,” said Ray Clarke, who was ladling out soup alongside his brothers Jim Clarke and Joe Clark.
By the way, why doesn’t Joe Clark have an “e” on the end of his name the way his brothers do?
“I think one of the nuns in grade school got rid of it,” he explained.
President of the Holy Name Society Mike Yasenchak said he’s been cooking for Lenten fund-raisers for 20 years, starting at the former Holy Rosary Church, which merged with St. Leo’s in 2007 to form a new parish.
St. Leo’s didn’t have its own Holy Name Society back then, but now men with roots in both churches are part of the group.
“Father (Thomas) O’Malley made sure we all felt very warm toward each other,” Yasenchak said, referring to a former pastor. “Everybody felt at home here from day one.”
Hoping to raise money for sidewalk repairs and other church projects, the men get ready for Fridays by cutting up vegetables in the church hall on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
“We bring in cabbage by the case,” Frank Aukstakalnis said.
Some items are made at home, like the “killer cheesecake” contributed by Aukstakalnis’ wife, the pineapple squares Heiser brought last week, and the big batch of creamy mushroom soup that is Yasenchak’s specialty.
“It would tie up a sink too long,” Yasenchak said, “to clean the 10 pounds of mushrooms here.”
Friday is devoted to serving, from noon to 5 p.m., and customers can eat in or take out.
“We lived in New Jersey for years, and we never found church dinners like this there,” Louise Brant of Ashley said as she coaxed her 23-month-old great-granddaughter, Brennia, to eat a pierogie.
Brennia, for her part, grabbed a plastic fork and dug into the mac-and-cheese Brant had ordered for herself.
Another customer who came for an early-afternoon lunch, Joann Kresge of Wilkes-Barre, said she might return a few hours later to buy supper as well. “I’m thinking about it,” she said.
“These guys are so hard-working,” Alice Botsko observed as she waited for her order. “They work here all day, they clean up and then a lot of them come to the Stations of the Cross at 6 o’clock.”