Another stellar year for the Zion Lutheran Pancake and Sausage day

[February 06, 2018] 

LINCOLN

Over the weekend, the season of fundraisers and events got off to a roaring start in Logan County at the annual Zion Lutheran Pancake and Sausage day.

Locally, the month of January typically doesn’t hold many opportunities to get out and socialize in large gatherings, so the Zion breakfast that starts at 7 a.m. and wraps up around 1 p.m., is the first big chance for folks to gather, and many take advantage of the opportunity.

Throughout the day, the gymnasium at the school was constantly seeing a turnover of guests there to enjoy the meal, check out the silent auction items, and maybe make a purchase from the bake sales.

The key to success at the Zion breakfast, according to at least one guest, is the sausage. The guest commented that every year, she makes a point of attending the breakfast, and the reason is the sausage, she noted it is the very vest she’s tasted anywhere.

That sausage is made from locally grown pork, processed at the Atlanta Locker, then brought to Lincoln, where a team of volunteers spend a day grinding and stuffing the meat into casings. All the sausage is then cooked from raw at the school and served to hungry guests as they pass through the line.

Zion has also fine-tuned the art of making and serving pancakes to the masses. With a whole crew working in the back with two large griddles, pancakes come to the front line fresh and hot.

This year the silent auction items were tremendous in number and outstanding in quality and creativity. Businesses and individuals throughout the area donate baskets of goodies for the auction. Some neat items included this year was an entire collection of baseball collectibles donated by Norm Mueller. There were also baked goods in the silent auction as well as party baskets and kids fun and games baskets with toys, games, and snacks.

The annual event utilizes dozens of volunteers, many of them students, and parents of students at Zion Lutheran.

The folks doing the cooking number about 10 at a shift, then there are those who work the serving line, and the students and parents who make the rounds on the floor. They offer refills of coffee, and second servings of sausage and pancakes. There are young people who go about the room collecting food trays and another group who swiftly wipes them clean and returns the trays to the serving line for the next round of customers. There are also those who keep butter, syrup, coffee creamer, sugar and sweeteners well stocked on the tables. Finally, there are those who clean it all up when the day is done.

Each year, it looks like the crowd attending is probably larger than the previous year, and this year was no exception. The breakfast brings out a lot of folks, and a lot of families, anxious to see friends and neighbors and to enjoy a perfect meal.

The proceeds go to support many activities for Zion Lutheran School within the school year.

[Nila Smith]