Kiwanis Club of Emporia and the community will celebrate 60 years of pancake-flipping and feeding next Saturday, March 8, at the club’s annual Pancake Day.
When the tradition began in 1948 in the basement of the civic auditorium, it was a day-long event, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Members stamped the backs of ticket-holders’ hands so they could return throughout the day for all the pancakes they could eat at a one-time cost of 50 cents. Sausage was included with the first plate and could be purchased at added cost for those who went back for seconds or thirds, veteran club members agreed.
“And at the same time, normally, there would be a basketball tournament upstairs,” said Larry Timmons, who has been in Kiwanis since 1968. “I tell you, the fumes from our pancakes cooking downstairs went upstairs and we got lots of business from the people who were attending the basketball game.”
In the early days, pancake batter was measured and mixed one ingredient at a time, and members recalled that consistency varied from batch to batch throughout the day. One time it would be almost too thin pouring from a pitcher.
“And the next batch that you got, it was almost like they left the water out,” said Kiwanian Roy Johnson. “I remember when we did that. When we went to using ready-mixed, that all changed.”
Vern McKinzie recalled that in the 1960s, Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix and Syrup had been deeply involved with Pancake Day and even sent one of the entertainers it employed to portray the Aunt Jemima character.
“Aunt Jemima did come, and one of the things we used to get with that was we served Aunt Jemima pancakes,” McKinzie said. “In fact, we used the Aunt Jemima logo on our tickets many, many years ago. That was a part of their promotion.”
The character eventually was dropped by the company because of public pressure. Nevertheless, Aunt Jemima did come to Emporia to meet and greet the public and to entertain.
“She sang and she performed,” McKinzie remembered. “It was quite a doin’s down in the basement of the Civic Auditorium. It was ‘the’ event in town.”
Eventually, the police department expanded enough to move into the basement of the civic auditorium, and Pancake Day moved to the Anderson Building on the Lyon County Fairgrounds, the men said.
The club worked with the Lyon County Fair Association to use the building without a financial cost to the club. Instead, club members repay the fair association by working traffic and parking at major events during the Lyon County Free Fair.
The parking and venue have been an improvement for the 80-year-old club and for Pancake Day patrons, and Timmons believes the product has improved, too.
Timmons, who has become a fixture behind the grills, takes pride in turning out pancakes that are consistent, with lacy patterns of deep golden brown and a little smaller than the plates they’re flipped onto.
Timmons remembered a former pancake cook, the late Fred Fleming, who owned Fleming Lumber Company.
“Now Fred used to cook pancakes and he cooked them the size of the plate, and I never could figure out how you could put a big smear of butter on three pancakes and pour syrup on ’em when he made them so big,” Timmons said.
Pancake-eaters didn’t seem to mind.
Timmons said that batter no longer is poured from a pitcher onto the hot grill, but shot out in same-size plops from a dropper made specially for pancake-cooking.
“You have to really learn to watch them cook, when they bubble, and when to turn them and that kind of stuff,” Timmons said. “I always want to put out my pancakes exactly the way I’d like to have them — and that’s brown and done.”
Members and their families, plus Boy Scouts and young Kiwanis affiliates, will heat up the cooking grills early on Saturday in preparation for the 7 a.m. rush. A former member, the late Al Bowman, was legendary for coming in around 4 a.m. to start setting up and making coffee, members said.
When serving begins, members will be on their feet, hustling to serve their customers’ needs, from start to finish. It’s an enjoyable time, the men said, despite the effort required.
“The people that work together, we’re just a team,” Timmons said. “It’s fun. It isn’t tedious or anything. It’s just kinda fun.”
If you go
WHEN
7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 8
WHERE
Anderson Building, Lyon County Fairgrounds
WHAT YOU GET
All the pancakes you can eat plus one sausage and one milk, unlimited coffee
TICKETS
$4 in advance
At the door: $5 adults, $4 children age 4 through 8; 3 years and younger eat free.
IN ADVANCE
Purchase tickets at The Shopper, 718 Commercial St.; Daytons Hobbies and Crafts, 811 Commercial St.; or call chairperson Barbara Blaufuss at 366-2415
b3bill (anonymous) says...
Keep up the good work, Kiwanis Club!
March 1, 2008 at 6:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )