Pancake breakfast a hot ticket
It’s become as much a tradition as any of the other events around the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I men’s basketball tournament—the pancake breakfast at Lysle Rishel Post 68 in Hutchinson, Kan.
The post runs the annual tournament that crowns the top team in the top division in the NJCAA. And each year, the post opens its doors to the public bright and early Thursday morning for a breakfast of pancakes and sausage.
Committee chairman Jack Redman has been involved in the breakfast for about 20 years. He’s at the post early to get the breakfast preparation going—firing up the griddle, dropping pancake batter for the approximately 3,000 pancakes he and the other volunteers will cook each year.
“It’s developed into a big thing,” Redman said. “Everybody’s expecting us to make enough money to fund five scholarships.”
Indeed, the proceeds from the breakfast—suggested donations are $5 for adults and $3 for kids under 8—go to five $750 annual scholarships. Two are for Kansas high school graduates who attend Hutchinson Community College, two more are in memory of former tournament chairman Guy Holt and tournament director Al Wagler, and the fifth is in honor of George Killian, the former president and executive director of the NJCAA.
While serving begins at 6:30 a.m., folks line up before that even to get in. At this year’s breakfast, the people came in waves, with lines across the room at some points. Throughout the morning, there were a couple hundred people seated at tables in the post, enjoying their breakfast and each other’s company.
“I really enjoy this,” Redman said. “I’ve got a lot of good people that come in and help get this job done. Without them, we couldn’t do it. Making the pancakes, it’s not an easy job. It’s hot on the stoves and your hands get kind of sore using that dropper.
“Of course we have servers … people out there do the coffee and the orange juice,” Redman added, noting that he didn’t want anyone going away saying they didn’t get enough to eat.
No chance of that.