The annual Pancake Festival hosted each year by the Kiwanis Club is a date of remembrance running six decades strong as an overwhelming number of pancakes are made in the name of charity.

The Kiwanis Club Chairman John Rhodes quickly commented while on the grill saying, “We want to serve as many people as we can to make the day a great experience for everyone.”

With an estimated number of 10,000 pancakes made we can easily see the hard work that is put in by each volunteer to make the day a success.

The event itself is geared toward charity, with all proceeds from the day being distributed to different charities including, the Wichita Falls Food Bank, Kiwanis Park, and other organizations throughout the community. Most notably the club gives money back to the university by sponsoring multiple scholarships.

This marks the 63rd year that the Kiwanis club has hosted the Pancake Festival holding down a long standing tradition to provide a day of togetherness and fun surrounding breakfast. However, pancakes are made throughout the day and not just for breakfast. As more and more people line up to get their own taste of the great pancake making skills of the volunteers the crowd grows and persists for hours. This leads to an all day event that the volunteers are more than ready to tackle.

One aspect of the festival is clear, all the volunteers want to make the day a success and keep the pancakes coming.

“I volunteered to help in the festival because my family comes here each year and this time I wanted to be apart of the action,” said high school volunteer Laila Almanza.

While many of the grilling jobs are left to the professional pancake makers who have been apart of the festival for years, other small jobs such as filling condiments and stocking supplies are necessary in order to make the day run smoothly.

While the scene can portray a feeling of chaos as volunteers rush around to complete necessary tasks and guests try to find seats among a sea of people the festival is well managed. Even with countless hungry individuals lining up from open to close the festival grinds out as much food as it possibly can to fully support the giving hearts around the community.   

In the brief moments of calm the faces of smiling guests eating their golden flapjacks could be seen at every table. Looking at the continued success of the festival it’s not hard to see the growth that transpires from events like this that aim toward bringing people together with traditions that have spanned generations. With 63 years of pancake making it seems that the Kiwanis club has created the perfect environment for all members of the community to take part in an event that isn’t just about eating food but rather supporting each other.