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Interesting historical tidbits of the history of the Rotary Father’s Day Pancake Breakfast

The first Skaneateles Rotary Club (SRC) pancake breakfast was held in 1968 under the presidency of Jim Messenger, who at that time was the manager of the Skaneateles Airport. The breakfast, held in the hangar, featured a fly-in. In addition to the local crowd, some 80 to 100 planes from around the East would come and go.

In 1977, the breakfast was moved to the larger Austin Park Pavilion. In these early years, the Rotary Club owned virtually none of the equipment needed to put on the breakfast. So, tables, chairs, grills, mixers and pot/pans were borrowed from almost every organization in the tow, e.g., churches, masons, the grange, the firehouse, etc.  There are apparently lots of tall tales that can be told about getting this equipment to and from the breakfast including the 300-pound cast-iron mixer from the Skaneateles Bakery that ended up on a Rotarian’s foot.

In those early days when penny pinching was more the norm for a fundraiser like the breakfast, the plastic “disposable” utensils used were recycled year to year after thorough dishwashing at the Cedar House Restaurant.  The “gorgeous” flower arrangements came from many a local garden including euonymus from the wall of the Methodist Church and the walls of the bank courtesy of By Lee. Back then, there was even a tall tale of liquid refreshment from the back room being included in the secret Rotary formula for our pancakes. In fact, they were for a time known as beer-batter pancakes.

Today, our Father’s Day event has become something extraordinary and a highlight of the spring in Skaneateles and the surrounding communities. We expect to serve between 3,600 and 4,000 hungry breakfast eaters each year. At our peak (mid-morning), we serve about 900 people per hour or about one person served every four seconds. So, wee typically serve more than 10,000 pancakes, 10,500 eggs, 600 pounds of sausage and about 225 gallons of orange juice. Our net proceeds have been between $9,000 and $10,500 as the weather can affect attendance and thus revenue. All of these funds go back into the community to support many service and youth projects.