It’s a chance to get up close and personal with candidates running in the November election.

The trustees of Quinn Chapel AME Church in Ironton will sponsor a “Meet the Candidates” Fish Fry Saturday, Oct. 6, from noon to 3 p.m. at the church.

“We will be inviting the candidates for local and state offices to attend and meet the members of our community,” Trustee Harold Gordon said. “There will be no speeches, although candidates may distribute campaign materials.”

Gordon said the church hosted the first “Meet the Candidates” Fish Fry last year prior to the local elections. He said the event was well attended and a majority of the candidates made appearances.

“We have not received any confirmations for this year as the letters have just been sent to invite the candidates, but we are hoping that more interest will be generated by the focus on the presidential election,” Gordon said. “As a religious organization, obviously we cannot endorse any candidates for public office, but we do feel it is important to provide a forum in which candidates can meet and greet local constituents and possibly answer some of their concerns. We will not oppose the distribution of campaign materials during the event and will encourage all candidates in attendance to complete a simple questionnaire formulated by some of our church members. We feel that most people in our community would not otherwise be afforded such an opportunity to actually meet those who aspire to be our political leaders.”

Gordon said the church hopes to have someone available during the event to provide voter registration materials and possibly even assist with the registration process.