William Smith
Community Editor
There wasn’t nearly as much room to park at this year’s Kiwanis Pancake Day breakfast this year, due to ongoing construction. But that didn’t seem to hamper attendance one bit, thanks to the perfect weather and city shuttle bus that continually brought in more customers.
The line of hungry patrons stretched outside the Port door into the Memorial Auditorium parking lot Saturday morning, moving quickly inside as an assembly line of volunteer Kiwanis cooks poured pancake mix onto flattop grills.
Two hours into the four-hour meal, nearly every table inside and outside the port building was filled by locals and out-of-town visitors. Some were sticking around to watch the Snake Alley Criterium, which returned to Burlington for the first time since 2019.
Others simply wanted to grab a good breakfast for a good cause.
“The pancakes are even better this year than they ever have been,” said Burlington resident Jacquilyn Lane.
Lane figures she’s been a regular at the pancake breakfast for the past 22 years, and she never attends it alone. She brought an entourage of roughly 15 people this year – mostly family.
“My grandpa started bringing us, then my parents. Now we’re older, and we bring our own family,” she said.
Mike Palmer, Middletown, was hand-feeding pancakes to his toddler son Dawson Palmer inside the Port building. Jake seemed to be enjoying the food as much as his father, ready for the next bite within a few seconds.
“The pancakes are amazing every year,” Mike Palmer said.
Since 1989, the annual Kiwanis Pancake Day fundraiser has fed untold thousands of locals and visitors over Memorial Day weekend. More than 100 Kiwanis volunteers were cooking food, busing tables, and setting up equipment.
“We normally feed about 3,000 people. And of course, it’s all you can eat pancakes, sausage, coffee, and orange juice,” said event chairman George Rinker.
Rinker doesn’t know how many pancakes are served, but he does keep track of what it takes to make them – roughly 650 pounds of pancake mix and 1,000 pounds of sausage.
“It’s our largest fundraiser, and the funds that we raise are all used to support community families,” Rinker said. “We are not sending money hundreds of miles away. Everything we get is spent locally, to improve children’s lives in our community.”