Rotary Holds Pancake Supper Thursday at Elementary School

For the 69th year in a row, La Grange Rotarians will be flipping flapjacks Thursday, Feb. 6, at their annual Pancake Supper.

“We seem to have been doing this forever,” says longtime Rotarian John Wied. “And we’ve gotten pretty good at it.”

The club will feed perhaps 2,000 people from the La Grange Elementary School cafeteria Thursday – a lot of folks for a town with a population of less than 5,000.

All-you-want pancakes and sausage, along with coffee and milk, will be served inside the cafeteria and to-go plates from a drive-through lane, according to club president Hannah Janda.

Tickets are $10 each. They are available from all Rotarians and at the door. They’re also available from members of Cub Scout Pack 204 and Trail Life Troop 412.

“This is a wonderful time to get to see your friends,” says Don Jones, who has headed up the annual fundraiser for a number of years. “It’s usually the biggest group of people having a meal together in La Grange anytime during the year.”

Regina Keilers, who organizes the drive-through operation, says those who prefer to eat at home are welcome, too. Vehicles should enter the school parking lot off Travis Street, just like parents do to pick up their children after school.

“We snake the line through the parking lot in order to get cars off the roadway, so they don’t clog up traffic on Travis Street,” she explained.

Pancakes will be served in the cafeteria from 5-7 p.m. Patrons can park in the lot entered from Jackson Street. Serving in the drive-through line will be from 5-6:30.

The Rotary Club first held a pancake supper in 1957, when tickets were only a dollar, or 50 cents for kids. But apparently it was such a success that it’s been held ever since.

Wied, who is currently membership chair and was Rotary president back in 198586, says the draw is the fellowship as much as the food. From the very beginning, it’s been held in cooperation with the La Grange school district.

“It’s always been a great community event,” Wied said, “especially for politicians during an election year.”

Thanks to its fundraising events, the Rotary Club provides $2,000 scholarships each year to six graduates of La Grange High School, with more scholarships given some years. It also has provided vocational scholarships and educational grants, with an emphasis in recent years on Emergency Medical Technicians going to work for the Fayette County EMS.

The club also sponsors local students to Boys State and Girls State each year, sponsors the Interact Club at La Grange High School, and donates thousands of dollars to local, national and global causes. In all, the club gave out more than $51,000 last year.

“Our aim is to create a better community and a better world,” says Janda.

On Thursday, they’ll be doing it one pancake at a time.