POULSBO — The 93rd annual spaghetti dinner might sound right in places like Palermo or Verona, but in Little Norway it’s been more than nine decades of lutefisk.

When a group of ladies at First Lutheran Church decided it would be fitting to have a community celebration in 1912, little did they know 93 years later their congregation would be hard at work every third Saturday in October.

Saturday morning found Bob Hawkinson, Kurt Serwold and Norma Hanson in their usual places continuing the tradition of serving up the tasty lye-soaked codfish to hundreds of patrons.

Hawkinson, a local attorney, stood at the beginning of the chain as he helped cut the fish fillets into smaller pieces, which were then salted and wrapped in cheese cloth.

“I used to process fish up in Alaska, so I’m pretty quick at this,” Hawkinson said as he waited for the next order of fish.

Once he and his crew handed the wrapped bundle to the next in line, cook Kurt Serwold, it was placed in a large rectangular cooker where it would boil until reaching the proper state to be moved into the kitchen.

“We’ve got about 1,400 to 1,600 pounds to cook this year and it’s softer than it has been in the past,” said Serwold, asking for the time before checking on the next load of lutefisk.

The softer the fish, the less time it takes to cook, he said, adding that this year’s lutefisk took an average of about five minutes compared to the 10 minutes of years past.

Even though most people just see the translucent delicacy on their plates at the dinner, they don’t realize the amount of preparation required to get it right, Serwold said.

“It’s really a complicated process, because it’s cut, salted and wrapped in cheese cloth before it’s cooked,” he said.

After 16 years of serving as the official lutefisk cook, Serwold said it’s something he looks forward to doing every year, especially on days like Saturday.

“The weather’s been great and at least it’s not raining,” he said as he took off his sweatshirt in the noon-day sun. “I think this is as warm it’s been since I’ve been doing this.”

The sun may have been hot, but the fresh lutefisk was even hotter as Serwold brought another potful into the kitchen, where Norma Hanson was waiting to dish it out to all the hungry diners.

“I don’t know how I got started doing this but I’ve been doing this for quite some time,” Hanson said, dishing up heaping piles of lutefisk into a serving bowl.

Estimating her involvement at no less than 40 years, Hanson said she’s preparing to hand the lutefisk dishing responsibilities to the next generation.

“My back’s hurting, so my body’s telling me it might be time for me to let someone else do this,” she said.