By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
Piles of pancakes populated a packed Bucyrus High School cafeteria Saturday morning as the Rotary Club held their annual Pancake Day.
In its 44th year, the Bucyrus Rotary Pancake Day had people lined up for the flapjacks at 7 a.m. through 1 p.m. It wasn’t just pancakes, however, as sausage links and patties were also served. As the meals were served Rotarians and area students helped out in numerous ways making sure people got their fill of food.
Rotarian and Pancake Day Co-Chairperson Tami Tima spoke about the day.
“Every year you sit back after it is over and you think about some way to make it better. This year it has run smoother because my inside pancake flipper people have found a way that we aren’t going to have people waiting on pancakes or sausage this year.”
Tima noted a few of the programs that the Pancake Day has helped in the past.
“All of the money goes back into the community, we did the Field of Dreams, we started the money, and we give them money every seven years to fix it up,” Tima said. “You will see the Rotary name on there, we have done stuff for the Y, the Library when they went in with a new section, we did some stuff with Lowe-Volk Park, we have helped the Red Cross… There are just too many places to name; we have a whole book of organizations that we help out.”
Tima thanked the many donors who made the Pancake Day possible.
“Everything is donated. The sausage comes from Hords and then Links processes it for us and we get it fresh here,” Tima said. “I am thinking they slaughter it Wednesday, Links processes it on Thursday and we pick it up on Friday. Avita donates the milk, orange juice, butter, and syrup, General Mills provides the pancake mix, and Cooper’s provides specialty syrups. We really couldn’t do this day without the donors.”
Out and about serving up hot coffee was Rotarian and Bucyrus Mayor Jeff Reser. Reser spoke about Pancake Day.
“It is a good time to kind of get a pulse from the city and the voters, not just the Bucyrus voters, but we have an extended city, we have people who live within a mile or two, or three or five miles, that have opinions about the city because they care about the city,” Reser said. “So I listen to them too, even though they are not voters (in Bucyrus) because they spend money in the city and they are a big part of us, too. It never fails that I get a lot of good suggestions from people, and I got some today, too. I am really happy doing this.”
Bucyrus Superintendent Kevin Kimmel noted it has been a pleasure hosting the event.
“The Bucyrus City Schools are very appreciative of all the things that the Rotary Club does, not just for our school, but the community as well,” Kimmel said. “So this is one way we can help support the Rotary Club by hosting this very special event for our community. It is a pleasure to host and we are glad that there was a great turn out today for this event.”