LITTLE ROCK — It’s the silver anniversary for the annual all-you-caneat catfish and chicken dinner in North Little Rock that draws thousands out to dine while hundreds of volunteers dish out food and keep lines moving.
The 25th Brother Paul’s Fish and Fowl Dinner will be Friday from 5-8 p.m. at Verizon Arena. Proceeds from the annual feast benefit the soup kitchen at the Friendly Chapel Church of the Nazarene, 116 S. Pine St., just east of Interstate 30 in North Little Rock.
Another benefactor is the city, whose small-town atmosphere really comes to light at the yearly fall get-together, which church pastor Paul Holderfield Jr. regards as a true community event. The dinner drew a record 6,000 diners two years ago, about 4,500 last year.
“It’s bigger than Friendly Chapel,” said Holderfield, who took over the church and the annual dinner in 1998 after the death of his father, Paul Holderfield Sr., the event’s namesake. “I think it’s kind of a bonding night for North Little Rock.
“It does benefit us so we can help our neighbor, but it’s really a community night,” he said. “That’s what really keeps it going. It’s bigger than just Friendly Chapel.”
For example, the list of volunteers includes church members, friends, elected officials, city employees and local business owners, people from “every walk of life,” Holderfield said.
“We get them from every part of the community,” Holderfield said. “We’ll have everyone from kids to senior citizens, black, white, brown, pretty, ugly, quiet, loud, every walk of life. It’s a great night. It’s just incredible.”
Paul Holderfield Sr., a former city firefighter who founded the tiny church in 1972 and became best known as “Brother Paul,” began the catfish dinner in 1987 at the urging of friends to help his struggling little ministry.
At $10 per ticket, or $6 for children 6 through 12, the dinner — along with contributions and businesses that help sponsor the meal — will provide the church with the means to give out about 50,000 meals throughout next year to the homeless and other needy people, Holderfield said. Information about tickets can be obtained by calling the church at (501) 371-0912.
“None of it goes to the preacher,” Holderfield said of the proceeds. “It all goes to feeding our community.”
And with the hard economic times, those needs have grown, he added.
“We’re seeing people we’ve never seen before who just need a little handout,” he said. “At the end of a month, we’ll see about a 35 percent increase from, you know, the folks who can’t quite make expenses at the end of the month.”
The struggling economy hasn’t curtailed the crowds filling up at the dinner each fall, especially not at the price of the meal, Holderfield said. “For $10, all-you-can-eat catfish is just whoo-wee.” However, the hard times have affected the ability to pay for the event, he said.
The church has lost “a little” of its corporate sponsors, he said. Also the price of catfish has nearly doubled since last year, he said. With 3,500 pounds of catfish to be fried for this year’s dinner, plus 1,000 pounds of chicken, Holderfield said, the event is starting out about $8,000 in the hole.
“It’s just a little tougher sledding for some folks to help out,” Holderfield said. “It’s not that they’re stingy. You just can’t give what you ain’t got.”
The needs extend beyond providing free meals during the year: The church also has a thrift store where household items and clothes can be purchased for $1 or less, but the church lacks the space to store all of its donated items, especially when winter clothes are donated during the spring and early summer and won’t be distributed for months.
“That’s probably our biggest need right now,” he said. “A really nice place to store and keep it all.”
When the church was starting out, it was in a highcrime area. Now, Holderfield notes, Verizon Arena and Dickey-Stephens Park lie in one direction and the newly opened Clinton Presidential Park Bridge lies in another, with the Clinton Presidential Center right across the Arkansas River in Little Rock.
Holderfield said he is optimistic that the church is where it should be and will continue hosting the annual dinner each fall “as long as we’re able.”
“If the economy bounces back, there will be a different dynamic around where we are located,” he said. “The good Lord has a sense of humor. We came in here 40 years ago to be put in the worst crime area in the state. Now we’re right in the middle of where everything is happening.”
Arkansas, Pages 7 on 10/24/2011