Kiwanis Club serves up community spirit at annual Pancake Day

The annual Coshocton Kiwanis Club Pancake Day was held Nov. 6 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Coshocton Elks Lodge.

The local chapter was founded in 1921, and Pancake Day has been around since the 1960s.

"This is my second year, so I am new to this," President Mindy Householder said. "We have members who have done this for many years. Sandy Jones has been involved for 30 years, Jerry Stenner since the club started and Beccy Porteus has been here multiple years as well, and we are getting some new faces too. We're just trying to keep the tradition going.

"It is all volunteer, and we do all of this for the children of Coshocton. We try to donate to any child foundation that needs it in the county or any child in general, and that's our mission. We try to figure how many people we will serve, roughly 1,200 people in one day, and that's a lot of pancakes. We are here about six in the morning preparing everything to be ready by 7 a.m."

Sheila McConnell, Aimee Weber and Jen Robinson said their boss Kevin Lee, the president of Buckeye Fabric, buys tickets for the employees every year.

"We all enjoy it, and we have come for years. We usually come in the evening, so it's nice to come in the morning for breakfast. It's always good," Robinson said.

William Johnson from Coshocton County Fatherhood Initiative said he comes to the pancake breakfast every year as well.

"I believe in their vision and the program they are promoting," he said. "Children are our future. That's what they help take care of, and as part of our Fatherhood group, we strive to make sure that dads have activities with their children. So this is one way for us to help pay it forward."

Kiwanis Club member Betsy Gosnell said, "The entire club is involved. Everybody does a little bit. We send out letters for sponsors. It takes people to get the letters together. Club members and the club president work together to do ordering, and we keep notes from year to year so we have an idea of how many people will come. We all sign up for shifts. Some folks come in on Wednesday night and do setup, and some folks come in Thursday night to do cleanup and then the Key Club kids are just amazing."

The young people in red T-shirts at the event were Key Club members from Coshocton High School.

Adviser Kristy Stiteler said, "We supply workers from Coshocton High School for Pancake Day, and they do a wonderful job. They know what to do because they have done it year after year. Key Club is a youth organization tied to Kiwanis."