Kiwanis Club hosts annual Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast

Rain and the concern of the coronavirus didn’t keep the customers away from the 82nd Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast Saturday at the Poplar Bluff Junior High School cafeteria,

While workers said diners might just be trickling in early, as the morning progressed the crowd was picking up. Some came to get carry-out meals for their families.

Once patrons opened their vehicle doors, the scent of pancakes cooking on the hot grill led them into the cafeteria, where they were welcomed by local Kiwanis Club members and members of the Doniphan Key Club.

Visitors line up for their annual Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast Saturday at the Poplar Bluff Junior High School cafeteria. DAR/Barbara Ann Horton

With food in hand, they congregated with friends, neighbors and families to eat and visit. The pancake breakfast is a tradition for many like JoNell Seifert of Poplar Buff, who was accompanied by Debbie Lathum of Doniphan. Seifert and Lathum are retired teachers.

Seifert recalls her father, the late Thadis Seifert, was proud of his perfect attendance in Kiwanis as long as he was healthy enough to be involved.

Pancake chairman Jim Sanchez said, “We were very happy with the turnout on Saturday. It was a concern of ours because of the weather and the virus situation going on.”

Margaret Carter pours pancake mix onto the hot grill. DAR/Barbara Ann Horton

Stressing club members “took extra precautions to insure everyone felt comfortable in a very clean environment,” said Sanchez, adding, “The residents of Poplar Bluff showed great support for the Kiwanis Club once again and we appreciate it very much.

“We would like to thank our main sponsors for their generous donations to help our event. Prairie Farms donated all the milk and orange juice and Christian Bankhead from Ozark Meats donated the delicious sausage. We had many other sponsors who also helped in making our pancake breakfast a success.

“I would also like to thank our Kiwanis members for donating their time and effort to our cause. Dalton Pennington, who is in charge of our Doniphan chapter of the Key Club, and his team did an amazing job in helping out as well. It was a great team effort and we look forward to next years pancake breakfast.”

The Pearson family, Julissa, Cheron, Candice and Baby G., enjoy breakfast at the annual Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast. DAR/Barbara Ann Horton

Steve Whitworth has been a member of the Kiwanis Club more than 12 years.

He said, “I’m proud of the fact we provide at Kiwanis Bacon Park, an all inclusive playground where children of all abilities, can play together,” Whitworth said. “We’ve given financial assistance to many individuals and other organizations. I’m impressed with the giving spirit of our club members and the fact that ours is a model club. We give our proportional share to eliminate neo-natal tetanus world wide through Kiwanis International and UNICEF, through the Eliminate Project.”

The local club’s current project revolves around installation of inclusive play equipment at Bacon Park, including a special surfacing so children of all ages and abilities may learn to play, grow and, one day, work together.

Kiwanis supports local police and fire departments by raising funds to buy blankets and stuffed animals to give to children who have recently experienced a traumatic event, Sanchez said.