Kiwanis celebrate 80 years on the griddle

The San Marcos Kiwanis Club is getting ready to host their 80th Annual Pancake Day and Silent Auction in the coming weeks.

Established in 1923, the San Marcos Kiwanis Club has been a voluntary organization intent on rendering service to youth, community and nation. And the making and selling of pancakes has been a mainstay fundraiser for the club since 1939, when tickets were just 25 cents apiece.

Two members of the San Marcos Kiwanis Club, Andrew Gary and Gary Nelson, both past presidents and members since the 1970s, have been around long enough to have seen many changes in the annual Pancake Day and Silent Auction fundraisers.

Volunteer Dr. Vernon Lynch prepares to flip a griddle full of pancakes during the Kiwanis Club's 1980 Pancake Day fundraiser. Photo courtesy of Kiwanis Club

One of those major changes has been the change of venue for the auction over the years.

Since 2001, the auction has been held in conjunction with the Annual Pancake Day, but according to Gary, the silent auction was far from silent when it began, being hosted originally on the radio.

“The silent auction part of Pancake Day was its own separate deal until about 2001,” Gary said. “We had Pancake Day for years and years and years and then we started a radio auction here in 1979.”

“They broadcasted live over the radio and people would call in and make their bids and then at a certain time the bids would close,” Nelson said. “Then they would contact the headboard and then they would then have to come to pickup and pay for their merchandise.”

From 1979 to 1992 the The San Marcos Kiwanis Club – then the San Marcos Noon Kiwanis Club, before they combined forces with San Marcos Morning Kiwanis Club in the 2000s – hosted the auction on the radio, then in 1993 they moved it from radio to television, after striking a bargain with TCI Cable Company to broadcast the auction on cable television.

Volunteer James Collier spoons batter onto a hot griddle during last year's fundraiser.

The TV station eventually changed hands and the Kiwanis no longer had access to cable to broadcast their auction, so they decided in 2001, after 22 years of holding the fundraisers as separate events, to join forces between the annual Pancake Day fundraiser and the auction.

“We figured we had to do something else because we weren’t making enough money,” Nelson said. "It was a way to attract people there just coming to eat the pancakes and then they would walk around and make their bids on things.”

The Pancake Day and Silent Auction make up a majority of the funding for the San Marcos Kiwanis Club’s annual budget – a budget that supports youth initiatives at schools as well as student scholarships.

“It’s our main fundraiser and we use it to fund several school functions – we have the Terrific Kids, K-Kids, Builders Club and Key Club,” Nelson said. “The funds also go towards San Marcos High School student scholarships – last year’s fundraiser provided seven scholarships of $1,000 apiece.”

The Kiwanis also support the San Marcos Public Library’s Summer Reading Program, that helps keep kids learning and engaging during summer break.

Volunteer Dr. Ted Kach serves up sausage links at the 1980 Pancake Day. Photo courtesy of Kiwanis Club

Items to be auctioned at the silent auction are provided by local businesses, artisans and club members. Those intersted in donating items for the auction can contact Kiwanis President Kelli Whigham at kelli.whigham@mvbalaw.com for more information.

The San Marcos Kiwanis Club’s 80th Annual Pancake Day and Silent Auction will be held on Feb. 28, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. at the San Marcos Activity Center, 501 E. Hopkins St. Those that are interested in attending the Pancake Day and Silent Auction can purchase tickets at the door the day of or from any local Kiwanis Club member.