Bob Cross mixes pancake batter following his secret recipe.
SNUGGED IN THE BACK of the Faribault Eagles Club kitchen, around the corner from griddles and a serving line, Bob Cross mixed pancake batter Sunday morning.
Signs advertise the event and thank sponsors.
I expected him to shoo me away, to hesitate at sharing the secret recipe for pancakes prepared at the Faribault Lions Club 49th annual all-you-can-eat Super Bowl Pancake and Sausage Breakfast.
The secret ingredient: cake donut mix.
But Bob welcomed my questions, allowed me to take photos. And although I didn’t get the precise recipe, I have a pretty good idea now what goes into these tasty pancakes. Eggs. Oil. Water or milk (sorry, I can’t recall which). And, the secret ingredient—cake donut mix, as in a pre-mixed combination of flour, sugar, salt, whey and more used in making cake donuts. The cake donut mix adds a touch of sweetness to the pancakes, Bob says.
Ten years ago this volunteer took over pancake batter prep duties from his father-in-law, Bill Harkins. Bill’s recipe has been tweaked and perfected, and legend has it that only Bob now knows the exact recipe.
An overview of a section of the spacious dining area.
He’s obviously got it right based on number of diners. When I checked with ticket sellers at 12:15 p.m., an hour before closing, 750 people had already gone through the line in 4.75 hours.
The featured foods, pancakes and sausage.
That’s a lot of pancakes. And we’re talking near dinner plate-sized pancakes.
The volunteer on the left makes pancakes for the first time at the breakfast.
But this breakfast is about more than the food. It’s about continuing a 49-year Faribault Lions Club tradition. It’s about seasoned pancake breakfast volunteers frying pancakes alongside newbies. It’s about high school students serving beverages and clearing tables. As cliché as it sounds, the Lions and crew work like a well-oiled machine.
Serving up pancakes and sausage.
This breakfast is about working together and dining together.
One of the beneficiaries: the Basic Blessings Backpack Program.
It’s about giving back to the community with proceeds helping those in need.
Lions Club member Otto serves sausages.
It’s about service to others, following the Lions Club motto, “We Serve.”
Friends dine together.
As I wandered about taking photos, I saw a lot of people I knew, but also many I didn’t. I felt a sense of community in my city of some 23,000, a connection that comes from living in the same geographical area and from participating in a time-honored tradition.
A snippet of the long list of volunteers.
Forty-nine years. That’s a long time for one organization to continue with a breakfast.
One couple brought their own pure maple syrup to pour onto the Lions Club pancakes.
This is the first year I’ve attended. I don’t especially like pancakes. But I ate three Sunday morning, proof that the Lion’s Club pancakes are deserving of their long-standing praise.
A visually-impaired volunteer reads a book in Braille while working at the breakfast. The Faribault Lions have funded many projects for the visually-impaired and were collecting used eyeglasses at the breakfast.
Tradition. Secret recipe. A community coming together. Lions serving.
The ticket sellers’ cheat sheet.
On Super Bowl Sunday, the Lions Club Pancake and Sausage Breakfast scores as a big win in Faribault. For forty-nine years.
© Copyright 2015 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Now I’m officially hungry!!!! Your photos definitely conveyed the “goodness” being served up (on the plates and with the smiles of those in attendance….workers/guests). Good Monday morning to you!!!!!!
I expect you have something delicious planned for breakfast.
Yes, lots of goodness served yesterday at the pancake breakfast.
Breakfast: Old fashion oatmeal w/ brown sugar, Mexican vanilla and pecans(on top). (smile)
Oh, do I love Mexican vanilla. My daughter’s mother-in-law gifted me with my first bottle a few years ago. Love that stuff. But my bottle is long empty.
Old-fashioned oatmeal with half a banana is my usual breakfast.
These things are the glue that holds a community together. I’m suddenly having a craving for pancakes, Audrey!! And good morning to you.
You are right.
And good morning to you also, Barb.
That is quite a long-standing tradition; a yummy one at that.
Yes, 49 years are remarkable.
Lions Clubs are fabulous examples of service all over the country, aren’t they? I suspect I should say world. My sister was able to go to Austria as an exchange student in high school due to the Lions Club and their generosity. It was a trip of a lifetime for her and we got to host her Austrian sister, Uli, for a month as well at our home. Organization like this are so important in a community because they do things just like you wrote about—giving back to others while gathering communities together. I would have eaten a couple of these delightful pancakes myself. 🙂
You summarize it well, my friend. So glad your family had the opportunity to experience another country via your sister’s trip and your exchange student.
Lions Pancake Breakfasts are the best and the best thing about them comes after the crowds have left. That’s when the bank president trades jokes with the school bus driver as they push brooms around the hall.
This assessment nails it. As always, I appreciate your creative comment.
That’s awesome!!
Secret ingredients! Beginners learning the ropes!
So many years, so many hands & generous spirits
Check, check, check, check…
MMM yum!!! I wonder if they do something special for the 50th. That’s amazing.
I expect next year there will be some sort of special celebration marking 50 years.
I love all of those smiles… what a warm feeling reading this post!
Definitely a sense of community at this breakfast that does leave one feeling really good.
750 orders? That’s an incredible amount of pancakes! What a great idea and what a fantastic benefit it is to the community. If you ever find out the recipe…do please share! xx
The recipe I printed in this post is about as specific as I’ll get. Sorry, Charlie.
Your post makes me miss those pancake breakfasts even more – my dad is a former Lions member 🙂
And I bet your dad helped at many a pancake breakfast.
My dad either made the pancakes or the sausage. You know MN and homemade sausage – YUM 🙂
Oh, yes, Minnesotans love their sausage, although I’m not especially fond of sausage.
What better way of pulling the community together than to have a Lion’s Club sponsored pancake dinner! Yummy…nothing tastes better than pure maple syrup over a stack of mouthwatering pancakes! I applaud all the Lions Clubs over America for the work they do in all our communities. BTW…our local Church of Christ does pancake dinners and I think they could do better with Bob’s recipe! Ha
I’m clapping too for all of those Lions Club members. As for the pancake recipe, it has to be a good one for me to say I like pancakes. I also do not like the smell of them.
Audrey; I personally have been chairman and started this breakfast for the past 48 years. This year I stepped down as chairman, but I worked for 2 1/2 hours and sold the most tickets I ever sold, over $625.00.
This is a great project and I hope it continues forever. No. 50 next year – I hope to help out again. Good pictures and a great article! Ray L. Sanders, a 50 year member of the Lions……
Ray, I was hoping to see you at the breakfast so I could photograph you. But we weren’t there at the same time. Thanks to you for 48 years of chairing the breakfast. That’s incredible and you deserve a loud and resounding THANK YOU!
I agree that this is a tradition that should/must continue. Well done, Ray. Well done, Faribault Lions.