The three Fish Day musketeers

Tom Didier’s two children are well into their 20s, and they are among the many who make the pilgrimage to Port Washington each July.

For it is Fish Days, formerly known as Fish Day, and multiple traditions make this festival special to the city.

“They make sure to bug me about Tony’s shirt,” Didier, a 1990 Port High grad, said of his offspring.

“He said my shirt,” Tony Matera emphatically emphasized as his eyeballs set on his buddy Brian Barber seated on the other side of the picnic table.

The friendly rivalry among the T-shirt designs — Barber does multiple patterns sold to the public while Matera does a shirt with one logo only available for purchase by those invited — is one of the elements that set this event apart.

The local trio of Matera, Didier and Barber embody the spirit of Fish Days as much as nearly anyone. They are from Port and still live and work in the city.

While they’re not among the many volunteers responsible for putting on the event — they heap praise on those folks — the three have attended every Fish Day they can remember and have helped make the iconic extravaganza a more memorable time.

Matera, who graduated from Port High in 1995, hosts a gathering on the Sunday before Fish Days.

“We toast the week,” Barber, a 1999 Port High grad, said.

Fishgiving (Thursday)

Despite the annual event regularly known as Fish Day — billed as the world’s largest one-day outdoor fish fry — the fun starts earlier.

“We would make it a three-day festival of our own,” Barber said.

During the days of carnival rides, whoever saw the carnies coming to town would alert their friends via text.

“The carnies are coming” would be sent via modern technology in the vein of Paul Revere. It was the signal for everyone to meet at Schooner’s Pub for a beer. Former bar owner Chico Poull would oblige.

“Chico would open even if he wasn’t open yet,” Matera said.

Fishmas Eve (Friday)

A gathering of friends in 1995 grew to Matera hosting an annual outdoor party complete with a band and multiple bounce houses.

“I’m friends with the neighbors,” he said.

The drop-in event can draw from 50 to 200 people. 

Friday is also the unofficial high school class reunion.

“Everybody used to be at Newport Shores,” Didier said.

Once that closed, “they’re around downtown in general.”

Didier is in his third year of running a table at Veterans Park offering free lanyards with logos from area high schools.

“People run into classmates they haven’t seen since last year or the last 20 years,” he said.

“The fun part is you don’t know what random friend you’re going to run into,” Barber said.

Discussions are held at area establishments that often become fish stories.

“Another great thing about Fishmas Eve is how everyone says they’re going to do the run in the morning,” Didier said.

Only about half the people who say they’re getting up early to trot the two or five miles in the annual Portal Inc. Fish Day run follow through, he said.

A New Year’s Eve-like countdown is held at a local bar, celebrating the official Fish Day at midnight.

“The older I get, the harder this tradition is,” Barber said.

For Matera, Thursday is family night these days. He and his 6-year-old son and two teenage stepdaughters chill with fish and chips, “the calm before the storm,” he said. 

Fish Day (Saturday)

Barber enjoys breakfast at Daily Baking Co. downtown while cheering on the runners.

“The parade is just really good family time,” he said.

When he was 10, Barber completed the five-mile run while trying to keep up with the top runners. He only intended to run two miles.

“My parents were looking for me. They were starting to get really worried,” he said.

Matera loved watching the runners go by his house before the route was altered due to safety concerns after the Waukesha Christmas Parade tragedy a few years ago.

Didier gets a kick out of watching people put out lawn chairs surrounded by yellow tape well in advance of the annual parade. He used to be on the float for Re/Max United’s real estate office, but now he watches the parade from the downtown office as he prepares to host a party.

Didier and his wife arrive early — they sleep on office couches upstairs the night before since parking is at such a premium on Fish Day — and prepare to host an annual parade party. Adults enjoy screwdrivers and bloody marys while water and juice boxes are available for children. He regularly goes through four handles of Tito’s Handmade Vodka. 

In the 1970s, Didier’s family held an afternoon party at the family farm. Potato sack races and a pie-eating contest helped make up the Fish Day Olympics.

After the parade, everyone’s schedule tends to loosen.

“Our plan on Fish Day is to have no plan,” Barber said.

“He’s wrong,” Matera said. “He’s selling shirts.”

Indeed, the T-shirts are big parts of Fish Day for Barber and Matera, and although they are not connected to the official Fish Days organizers, the apparel has become part of the local legend.

Barber, Mike Brewster and Janson Straub have developed multiple designs for shirts via a spreadsheet and print a number for each year since 2004. Some classic designs return, including the  “Gotta have more cowbell” spoof from the famous Christopher Walken “Saturday Night Live” skit when Blue Oyster Cult performed at Fish Day, one of many famous bands to grace one of the many stages.

One of last year’s designs had flamingos in honor of the special visitors to South Beach in September 2023. 

Matera prints a limited number of shirts, based on a pop culture logo, only available to those invited to buy.

The T-shirt club has rules in order to maintain membership.

“One way to get kicked out is to sell your shirt to someone. I’ve been offered $100 for my T-shirt,” Didier said.

Sometimes, customers get confused by who sells which design and ask for Matera’s shirt at Barber’s booth.

Matera jokes that Barber used to give his friend credit. Now he says, “I know, isn’t that a great shirt? We sold out already.”

Fish Day or Fish Days

Barber’s shirts read “Fish Days” while Matera makes the case that Fish Day is only on Saturday.

The more than 60-year old event had traditionally been held on one day, but after the committee suggested putting it on hiatus a few years ago, Mayor Ted Neitzke rallied the community to save it.

The event came back as a three-day affair with other alterations.

Matera, Didier and Barber are happy the tradition continues.

“A few years ago the local community stepped up. That’s been amazing to see,” Barber said. “It’s all locals that make this happen. It’s a huge undertaking.”

Festival finishes with fabulous fireworks

The hectic day of meeting old friends at various places ends with a pyrotechnics show.

“You never know where you’re going to watch the fireworks,” Barber said.

“I’ve been to 10 different places in the last 10 years,” Didier said.

“I’ve been to 10 different places in the last five years,” Matera said.

They remember Survivor singing “Eye of the Tiger” during one fireworks show and Night Ranger belting out “Sister Christian” during another.

The day after

On Sunday morning, Barber has a tradition of eating biscuits and gravy for breakfast over sharing tales of the fest.

Matera cleans his house while enjoying the British Open, which is always over Fish Day weekend.

Didier fills two huge trucks with 50-gallon garbage bags from the office party.

Come Monday, it’s back to work — Brian as owner of Lake Financial Group, Matera as a commercial insurance adviser for Ansay and Associates and Didier as co-owner of Port’s Re/Max United office.

A time to show off Port

As the festival has changed, so has its significance.

“I think it’s taken on a different meaning as it’s gotten older,” Matera said. “As life pulls you in different directions, people you used to see 365 days a year now at least you see them one day.”

“It’s one day to show off Port to everybody,” Didier said.

“It’s a great way to show off Port, and it’s meaningful for the different nonprofit organizations,” Barber said.