Once a year, normal life comes to a standstill in Port Washington as we celebrate "Fish Day." Billed as the "World's Largest One Day Fish Fry," this festival attracts over 50,000 people to our community of 10,000. You can imagine what that does to our little city by the shore. We celebrate Fish Day in honor of the city's commercial fishing heritage. Port Washington started out as a fishing village in 1835, which is before Wisconsin even became a state.

One of the highlights of Fish Day is the Street Parade. Many civic and community groups enter floats, and Friedens Church also participates. Our focus is a little different, however. We view the parade as an evangelical outreach opportunity. Our members spread the Gospel message to the crowd, and distribute information about Friedens and its ministries.

Every year, Fish Day has a topical theme. In 2000, it was "Splash Into the New MinnowLenium," a twist on the familiar Millenium theme. Our parade entry was entitled "Let the Minnow Children Come Unto Me." It featured Associate Pastor Matt McKellar as Jesus, and the children of Friedens as the "Minnows." Each child held the end of a long streamer tied to the Good Shepherd's staff. Some of the kids also carried signs with messages like these:

• "No Need to Flounder"
• "Don't Carp About It"
• "Get Off Your Perch"
• "Splash Into the Living Water"
• "Let's Meet at My School"

Evidently our entry was a smash hit with the judges, as we won the first place trophy for originality and message. Stop in at Friedens and find out how you can win in the long run, too!