Zion Lutheran School tradition a family tradition for many

 

[February 03, 2020]  LINCOLN - For the past several years, the first Saturday in February has been set aside on the calendars of many of the local folk as the day to go out and eat a hearty breakfast, support a great local school, and spend quality time with family and friends.

Once again this year, the annual Zion Lutheran School Pancake and Sausage Breakfast in Lincoln was well attended by all those who marked their calendars and anxiously awaited the arrival of the first Saturday of February.

In the school gymnasium guests filled all the tables set up by volunteers. The sound of happy laughter between mouths full of homemade pancakes and sausage was a testament to just how pleasant a day this is for everyone who attends.

As guests enjoyed their meal, they also had the chance to see friends and even neighbors that they don’t see all that often. As the tables filled, so did the aisles between as someone getting ready to exit would see someone just sitting down and there would have to be a long friendly exchange.

Along the exterior walls of the gym was a huge number of items donated for the annual silent auction that is held in conjunction with the breakfast. The bids were high and still increasing on many items as the noon hour approached on Saturday. Bidding would close at 12:30 p.m. and many who were anxious to see if they were the lucky winner lingered at tables sipping coffee and visiting with friends.

Around the room the large number of volunteers it takes to put on an event such as this worked steadily. One was carrying pots of coffee to refill cups at the table. Plates of pancakes were also taken about as the all you could eat breakfast meant that the first three pancakes received in the serving line might just have been the appetizer. The same was true with the perfectly cooked sausages. 

Other volunteers were busy collecting trays as guests unloaded them at the table to eat, and other volunteers were busy wiping down those same trays and getting them placed back at the front of the serving line.

Like clockwork, when folks were finished eating, volunteers came and collected their dirty plates, and when guests got up to leave, the disposable placemats on the tables were taken up and replaced with new clean ones by yet another volunteer.

In the back room, volunteers helped cook the sausages and mix pancake batter, others were at the large griddles working hard to keep up with the pancake demand going on in the gym.

Zion students were helping in a number of ways, including refilling depleted syrup bottles, making sure there was cream and sugar at the table for the coffee drinkers, and helping wherever their adult counterparts suggested.

The money earned on Saturday will go to support a variety of programs and projects for students at the school. It takes a large number of volunteers and a lot of community support to host such a successful fundraiser. Kudos to all those who volunteered their time and talents, those who donated items for the auction, and to those who came out and enjoyed the reward of great food in exchange for their cash.

Without each person, whether a giver, a worker, or an eater, the fundraiser would not be the success that it is.

[Nila Smith]