Event Summary
The 2025 REMC Fish Fry was … memorable, for both good and bad reasons. If you weren’t there, here is a quick recap:
- More than 800 cars and 1,300 people arrived at our facility last Friday, more than double the turnout we usually have for big events at our office. We parked cars on every inch of our property!
- Our Jamboree gift (set of seat cushions) was incredibly popular, but due to high demand and an amazing turnout, we ran out of gifts before 2:00 pm. Every year these gifts are available “while supplies last” but this is the first year we ran out of them before the end of the event. Thank you for the tremendous support.
- Live music by local southern Indiana duo Kel + Ro Music was a huge hit and many members asked to bring them back in the future. Check them out online if you weren’t there to hear them yourself!
- Extreme temperatures didn’t keep many members home. Even with a heat index of 105 and the event happening in an open warehouse, members still wanted to gather for good food and to catch up with friends and family. With shaded seating and plenty of bottled water, we kept everyone as cool as possible, but it was still very hot.
- Food service was unacceptable. There’s no other way to say it. We promised you a great deal on a fish sandwich with sides and dessert, and it took far too long for you to enjoy it. Many members waited more than two hours for their food, and there is no excuse for that. Rest assured, we will not let that happen again.
- Despite the challenges, positive attitudes were the story of the day. From stressed out employees to exhausted (and hungry!) members, it was a recipe for angry outbursts and rude behavior. But instead, the vast majority of those who attended showed incredible patience and grace. We know this event fell below expectations, and we promise to give you a better experience next time around, but our members and employees rose above every standard to make the best of a hard day. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
More than $5,000 Raised for Lend a Hand
The unsung hero of this year’s Fish Fry is the money that was raised for our Lend a Hand program. Member donations totaled just over $2,600, and since the REMC Board of Directors has approved for those donations to be matched, our members helped to raise $5,260! This money will be used to help local REMC members who may have fallen behind on their electric bill. Since the program started in 2020, more than $40,000 has been given to families in need, and we are glad to see this program continue to keep the lights on. To learn more and make your own donation, visit our Lend a Hand page.
Responding to Concerns
While much of the feedback from the event was positive (great music, enjoyed visiting with friends, etc.), many were frustrated by their experience, and rightfully so. The comments we’ve heard boil down to three main questions:
1 Why did it take so long to get my meal? Waiting two hours for food is absurd!
First of all, you are completely right. The time it took to get your food was unacceptable. That is not the experience we had planned. Simply put, we planned for up to six hundred meals to be served in three hours and hired a food vendor to serve that many meals in that amount of time. Unfortunately, it took much longer to prepare and package each meal than anyone thought. Once we realized that the wait for food was going to be extreme, we started telling members about the wait before they ever got out of their cars, and again on the golf carts into the event, and again at the cashier table. We just didn’t want anyone to be surprised. The bottom line is the food service you received was unacceptable, and we take full responsibility for it. Rest assured, it will never happen again.
2 Why did you run out of seat cushions? Don’t you know how many members you have?
That’s a fair question. We order a gift for our Jamboree each year, and we invite more than 25,000 members to our event every year. Our in-person attendance has averaged 500 members over the last three years. So, when we ordered seat cushions, we ordered enough for 700 members, just to be safe. As you know the Jamboree was canceled due to flooding, so we held the Fish Fry as a replacement. In the lead-up to Friday’s event, we truly thought we would have fewer people than the Jamboree, not more, especially since we were holding the event on a weekday instead of the weekend and were expecting temperatures above 100 degrees. We were wrong.As to why we didn’t order more after the big turnout, we always want to balance showing appreciation to our members through fun events like this, with being financially responsible. We budget a certain amount for events like this, and usually we have a little left over. This time, the response was overwhelming so we have to stick with the “while supplies last” rule.
3 How can I trust that REMC knows what they’re doing? If I can’t trust you to plan a fish fry, how can I trust you with my power and preparing for disasters?
Another fair question. Clark County REMC has been providing reliable, affordable electric service for more than 85 years. We are not perfect, but we are very good at what we do. And when we make mistakes, we own them and improve. The experience you had at this event was far below our expectations, so we will learn from this and improve the next time around.
Prize Winners
Every member who drove through our registration line last Friday was entered into the drawing. Each of these gifts were set aside to be given away at the Jamboree in April, so we’re glad to finally get them into your hands!
Feeback and Future Events
Giving our members the highest level of satisfaction drives everything we do, and one way we improve is by hearing from you. Please take a minute to complete this short survey about this year’s Fish Fry and REMC’s plans for future events.