For longtime friends Alton Pennington and Randy Porter, decades spent on the water have become something much bigger: a community tradition dedicated to supporting veterans right here at home. Put Alton Pennington and Randy Porter in a room together, and nearly 50 years of friendship is easy to see. There is teasing. One story leads to another. Details are debated, memories are corrected, and neither seems particularly willing to let the other get away with too much. They give each other a hard time in the way only old friends can. Underneath the teasing is something equally obvious: a fierce friendship and genuine affection for one another that has endured through careers, families, and more days on the water than either could probably count. The two first knew each other through their work at the University of Arkansas and have spent decades fishing together. These days, they still fish at least a couple of times a week much of the year, usually four or five hours at a time. "We keep plugging," Alton said. Somewhere along the way, all that fishing also became a way to serve. They are filling freezers for veterans.
One Condition
The Fish Fry began with a simple request. Alton's friend Joe Hayes, a member of the Fayetteville-Springdale Elks Lodge #1987, asked if Alton would put on a fish fry. Alton agreed on one condition: it would support veterans. The following year, he asked Randy if he wanted to help. Randy said yes. There wasn't much more to it than that. Two longtime friends who already spent countless hours fishing together decided to put those hours toward something that mattered to both of them. Neither Alton nor Randy served in the military, but both have strong ties to military service within their families. For men who already had long histories of supporting their community, the Fish Fry became a deeply personal way to honor those who had served. Randy's yes also meant considerably more than showing up on the day of the event. The two share every expense involved in catching the fish. Fuel, bait, supplies, and the other costs that accumulate over months on the water come out of their own pockets, split between them. Neither is reimbursed by the Lodge. They don't keep track of their time, either. At roughly two fishing days a week, they estimate they're on the water at least 100 days a year. Afterward, the work continues. Alton and Randy clean the day's catch together, and Alton's wife, Joyce, helps wash and package the fillets. As their own freezers begin to fill, hundreds of those fillets make their way to the Lodge freezer. Then Alton and Randy go back out and do it again. Asked about the cost involved, Alton doesn't have much interest in calculating it. "I don't look at the cost because of what it's going for," he said. It's a simple answer, but one that explains a great deal about the Fish Fry and the two men behind it.
A Community Grows Around Them
What began with Alton and Randy has grown well beyond the two of them. Other fishermen have joined the effort. Friends including Lance Hughey and John Conklin have contributed fish, while Hughey, Conklin, Greg Robertson, and Brad Wiegmann have donated guided fishing trips to help raise money through the auction. Businesses have stepped forward with sponsorships, food, products, and services. Individuals have donated items for the live and silent auctions. Lodge members bring desserts. Volunteers cook, serve, and fill in wherever they're needed. By the time the 2026 Fish Fry arrived, more than 1,500 fish fillets were ready, and Simmons Foods contributed 100 pounds of chicken. US Foods helped provide food for the event, and roughly 3,000 plates were served. More than 50 veterans were among those served that day. Auction contributions arrived not only from Northwest Arkansas but also from supporters across the state. Guests bid on fishing and hunting experiences, trips, merchandise, professional services, and other donated packages, turning the live and silent auctions into a significant part of the fundraiser. Still, there was no required price for a plate. That's important to Alton. "If you can't afford it, come on and join us," he said. "Get a box. Get a plate." He remembers someone coming through who couldn't afford to contribute. That was fine. Someone else handed him $300. Together, those contributions have turned a relatively simple idea into something Alton and Randy never anticipated. When the final numbers came in following the 2026 event, the two friends were overwhelmed. The Fish Fry had generated approximately $42,000 in cash to support local veterans, while donated goods and services represented roughly another $12,000 in community support, bringing the total community contribution to approximately $54,000. The numbers are impressive. What happens to the money matters even more.
Right Here at Home
For Alton and Randy, one of the most important things about the Fish Fry is also one of the simplest: the money stays local. Funds raised through the event support veterans in Northwest Arkansas, where the Fayetteville-Springdale Elks Lodge #1987 works throughout the year with VA contacts to respond to verified needs. When a request reaches the Lodge, members say assistance can sometimes be provided within a matter of days. Those needs are often immediate and practical: rent, utilities, food, clothing, personal hygiene items, and temporary lodging. The Lodge's records from 2025 document thousands of dollars in direct assistance to area veterans across those categories. One veteran needed somewhere to stay during an exceptionally cold weekend. He would become eligible for other assistance on Monday, but that didn't solve the problem of where he would sleep until then. The Lodge paid for a hotel room. It's the kind of need that can look small on a spreadsheet but feels very different when there is a person attached to it. A utility payment keeps the lights on. Help with rent keeps someone housed. A few nights in a hotel can mean a safe, warm place to sleep when there isn't another option. And that is where hundreds of hours spent fishing, a room full of auction items, and thousands of plates of fish over the years ultimately lead back home to veterans living in Northwest Arkansas.
More Than Financial Support
The Lodge's relationship with area veterans extends beyond financial assistance. Marge Geist has spent 23 years working with veterans in Northwest Arkansas, helping coordinate fishing derbies, gatherings, and other opportunities to bring people together. She began the work alongside her husband and continued after her husband passed away. Some of the veterans involved today have been participating in Lodge activities for years. They look forward to the fishing derbies. They come to the Fish Fry. More have become involved through local veteran facilities. For Marge, the relationship is difficult to describe as simply volunteer work. "The veterans, they're family," she said. That sense of connection was evident at the 2026 Fish Fry. More than 50 veterans attended, surrounded by volunteers, Lodge members, sponsors, donors, and neighbors who had each found their own way to contribute. No single person made the event successful. That's part of what has surprised Alton and Randy most. Their contribution may have started on a boat, but somewhere along the way, the community began to take ownership of the mission alongside them.
A Friendship With Purpose
In 2026, the Fayetteville-Springdale Elks Lodge recognized both Alton and Randy for their dedication to supporting veterans. The recognition was meaningful, but neither man spends much time talking about it. Their focus tends to drift back to the work, to fishing, to the next event, and increasingly, to what happens when they aren't the ones doing it anymore. There is plenty of joking about getting older—a knee replacement here, a hip replacement there, and the realization that four or five hours on the water is plenty these days. Their friendship hasn't changed much. Neither has their commitment. What has changed is their awareness that the Fish Fry has become something worth intentionally passing on. They want younger fishermen to get involved. They want another generation of Lodge members and community supporters to understand what the event makes possible. And someday, when Alton and Randy aren't the ones filling the freezers, they want someone else to pick up where they left off. For them, that would be success: not having their names permanently attached to the Fish Fry, not an award on the wall, but someone else picking up the torch and continuing the work.
Something to Leave Behind
For now, Alton and Randy are still the ones climbing into the boat. There will be more mornings on the water, more fish to catch, and almost certainly more good-natured arguments between two men who have been friends long enough to know exactly how to give each other a hard time. Then they'll head home and clean the day's catch together. Joyce will help package it. Another bag of fillets will go into the freezer. Little by little, they'll be preparing for another Fish Fry. And around them, the community will begin preparing, too. Sponsors will step forward. Businesses and individuals will donate auction items. Fishermen will contribute trips and fish. Lodge members will volunteer. People who have never met Alton or Randy may walk through the doors, eat a plate of fish, and leave a donation. It all traces back to an unexpectedly simple beginning. Joe asked Alton if he'd put on a fish fry. Alton said yes, but only if it supported veterans. Alton asked Randy to help. Randy said yes, too. Years later, those simple decisions have helped generate tens of thousands of dollars for veterans living right here in Northwest Arkansas. Alton and Randy know they won't be able to do it forever. They don't expect to. What they hope is that, when the time comes, somebody else will look at what they've built and decide it's worth continuing. For now, they are simply grateful for every day they can spend on the water together. "This is something for us to leave behind," Alton said. For two old friends who never set out to create a legacy, that may be exactly what they've done.
Fishing became a way to serve veterans here at home.
A Fish Fry With a Purpose
What began with two longtime friends and a boat has grown into an annual tradition supporting veterans across Northwest Arkansas. A tradition that brings people together for a meaningful cause.
Alton Pennington and Randy Porter spend much of the year fishing together, covering their own expenses and filling freezers with hundreds of fillets. Those fish become part of the annual Fish Fry hosted through the Fayetteville-Springdale Elks Lodge #1987.
2027 FISH FRY | SAVE THE DATE
April 17, 2027
Fayetteville-Springdale Elks Lodge #1987
The Annual Fish Fry returns April 17, with proceeds supporting veterans in Northwest Arkansas.
Sponsorship opportunities are now available. Businesses and individuals may also contribute goods, services, and items for the Fish Fry's live and silent auctions.
Interested in getting involved?
Contact Erin Boiger at eboiger@magnolianwa.com
Donations supporting the Lodge's work with local veterans are accepted throughout the year.