Church hosts Lenten fish fries to help restaurant and workers after January fire
MIAMITOWN, Ohio (WKRC) - Kreimer’s Bier Haus has been a Miamitown tradition for nearly 40 years. It was opened by Mark Kreimer’s father with the help of his sons. But in January, a fire gutted part of the inside.
"I had just gotten home from working that night, and I walked through the door and my wife said, 'The restaurant is on fire,'" Kreimer said.
No one was hurt, but it would be months before they could open again. Kreimer wanted to support his employees, but he had no income coming in. Then, he got a call from a local minister from Whitewater Crossing Christian Church.
"And [he] said, 'You know what? Lent is coming up, why don't we have a fish fry? We have the facility. We're ready to do it. We can accommodate a lot of people,'" Kreimer said.
Whitewater Crossing has not held a fish fry in years, but this Lent, they decided to do one to help raise money for Kreimer and his employees.
Jess Adkins, an executive minister with the church, said they didn't know what to expect the first night.
"[Staff] put it on the Facebook page. We announced it to our people here and tried to get the word out. The first night, they did close to 600 dinners. So, they felt it was a great success," Adkins said.
Adkins says it's been a win for everyone. They get to introduce new people to the church and help at the same time.
Kreimer says it’s changed the way he thinks about the fire.
"It's a total blessing, seeing all the good that has come out of this...We're going to get this thing back and all the employees will be fine," he said.
Kreimer says the Bier Haus should be open by the end of May.