I agree on the solemn part. When we are reminded that “Dust thou art, and into dust thou shall return.” is not really the basis for a celebration.
You’re right — I see where you are coming from. A Fish Fry on Ash Wednesday does not sound appropriate.
I’ve got oatmeal on the schedule for Ash Wednesday. If we want to “celebrate” Lent later, we’ll go to a KofC fish fry on a Friday night.
It’s hard to get my family serious about fasting/abstinence, since we have only two family members (my husband and our oldest boy) who are “officially” covered by the rules. I try to hold the rest of the family to abstaining from meat, anyway, but the way the little boys are growing, “small meals” just doesn’t work ;-).