05/04/2026
"๐ผ ๐๐๐จ๐๐๐ง๐ข๐๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ข๐๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ข๐๐ฃ ๐ค๐ ๐
๐๐จ๐ช๐จ ๐พ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ฉ."
โจ Before we gather for this year's Fish Fry on Saturday, we want to take a moment to share the story behind the name. This event is held in honor of Sam Good โ someone who meant so much to our church family and community. His life, faith, and generosity continue to inspire us, and we are grateful to carry on his legacy in this way. Below is a special letter from his wife, Judy, sharing more about his life and what this event means. โค๏ธ๐ฃ
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The Sam Good Memorial Fish Fry is put on in memory of my husband, Sam Good. He loved Jesus and would tell anyone who would listen about his love for Jesus, and he loved fishing.
He told me one morning early in our marriage that he had a dream that night about feeding thousands of people. In 1994, he stated he wanted to do a fish fry; he would provide all the fish, and all those attending would have to bring salads and desserts. So that year, we had 493 fish. Sam and I breaded the fish by ourselves; that didnโt work out too well. After that, every year, we asked our Sunday School class or anyone who wanted to help bread to help us on Saturday evening before the fish fry on Sunday. The most fish we fried was in 2002, when we had 3,024 fish. I think that was the year that he was afraid he wouldnโt have enough fish. His brother, our son Joe, and Sam went to some private ponds in Michigan, fished for 3-4 hours, and caught 1,300 fish.
We made up a paper that Sam handed out to everyone he met. He liked auctions, he delivered windows to factories, pitched horseshoes, and even when shopping, he handed out the invitations.
On the day of the fish fry, before we would start to eat, Sam would say, โhe was a fisherman for fish and a fisherman for men and women of Jesus Christ.โ
When everyone had eaten all they could at the fish fry, we had containers people could take home with all the fish they wanted. We usually still had fish left, and we took that to the Faith Mission in Elkhart. My son-in-law Markโs uncle started the mission.
Sam got sick in 2008. As the fish fry got closer, he still fished and refused to cancel the fish fry. About 2 weeks before the fish fry, I had eye surgery, and his comment was that everything would work out. Our son Joe ordered shirts for all of us to wear on the day of the fish fry, which was our 15th year for the event.
Sam passed away on the Thursday before the fish fry, so our children stepped up and got the fish fry done.
The total number of fish we fried over 15 years was 27,547, and we served an average of over 200 people each year. The fish fry was always held on the last Sunday in September.
I feel honored that the current fish fry is held in my husbandโs name. May anyone who reads this have a love for Jesus, tell others about Him, and live your life with Him in your heart.
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