Annual Lincoln Zion Lutheran School fundraiser a take-out this year
Pre-orders required for carry out breakfast and meat

 

[January 20, 2022]   On February 5th, the community will have the opportunity to take advantage of a local tradition that has been ongoing since 1976. The Zion Lutheran Pancake and Sausage Breakfast and meat sale will take place in Lincoln at the school. But, there will be a new pivot in how the meal is delivered to the public. Those wishing to take advantage of the meal should purchase a ticket in advance no later than January 26th. On the day of the breakfast, the school will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and customers are asked to come inside to take advantage of the silent auction offerings, pick up their meal and carry it home to eat.

Meat orders must also be placed no later than January 26th. Those ordering meat will be able to pick it up inside the building in the traditional meat pick-up area set aside in the school building (The first hallway on the right after entering the front doors.).

It is not the ideal scenario and not the one the school would like to offer the community, but like so many other aspects of life right now, it is the best that can be done to maintain a 46 year tradition and respect the health and safety of the public.

ZLS Board Chair John Klemm recently sat down with LDN to speak about the 2022 event and the impact the breakfast has had on the community and the school in its long history.

Zion Lutheran School opened in 1975 and was a pre-school only hosted at the Zion Lutheran Church in Lincoln. For the next four years, the school grew continually, adding grade levels and students until it reached the point that it was outgrowing the church.

The current school property at 1600 Woodlawn Road was purchased in 1979 and a new school building was constructed. The building was completed and the first classes were held at the school in 1980.

Klemm said that the school started out as a church mission project but about 20 years ago, the church challenged the school to work toward raising some of its own funding.

As a faith-based parochial school, Klemm said ZLS does qualify for state funding through the Illinois State Board of Education and utilizes some funding. He said that with the state, some funding comes with a specific focus. The board and church and school administrators scrutinize each offering from the state. They determine whether or not the school will have to compromise in its fundamental faith based teaching in order to accept the funding. If so, then the school takes a pass, accepting only funding that does not interfere or alter the original mission of the church and school.

Therefore, the school is not fully funded by the state. In the beginning the gaps were filled by church support through special offerings, member contributions and special collections. When the church challenged the school to do some of its own fundraising, the breakfast became a big part of that funding.

Klemm said that about 10 percent of the schools overhead costs are covered through school fundraisers. Of that, about 50 percent of the money raised comes from the breakfast. The other 50 percent comes through smaller fundraisers held monthly at the school and include such activities as a trivia night event held at the American Legion in Lincoln and the ongoing sale of gift cards for businesses from around the region.

Klemm explained that the breakfast has been around for the past 46 years, but the challenge changed how the money was recorded.

The first breakfast was held in 1976, one year after the school opened at the church. It was held at the church and it was held on a Friday evening, but yes, it was still a breakfast of pancakes and sausage.

The next 1977 breakfast moved to the first Saturday in February and was held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The church/school continued in that day-long format for the next seven years. Then the hours were pulled back to from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. In later years the hours were dropped back to a 2 p.m. closing time and now for the last several years it has been a 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. event at the school.

Klemm said that throughout the history of the breakfast, it has been a highly successful event with value not only as a fundraiser but as an opportunity for the friends, neighbors, family and even strangers to interact and socialize in a relaxed setting, and of course enjoy an outstanding breakfast while they are doing so.

Over the years, many residents of Logan County have marked their calendars early in the year for the breakfast that is always held on the first Saturday in February. Klemm said that as a result, people who are looking to plan other events have come to show a great deal of respect for the date, and he’s heard on more than one occasion of other groups vetoing holding events on that date so as not to disrupt the annual school fundraiser.

He said the respect for the date is something that the Parent Teacher League’s Challenge Committee and the school board took into consideration when attempting to comply with the 2021 Covid restrictions. Klemm said that the knee-jerk reaction to the health emergency would have been to just cancel the event all together. But, the school knew it wanted to keep that special spot on the calendar, and cancelling even once could jeopardize it.

Therefore, in 2021, the school hosted the meat sale only. Advance orders were taken and the meat was delivered to customers in a drive-thru only event. Klemm said he was happily surprised by the response and the meat sale went much better than he expected.

The school had been hopeful that the breakfast would go back to its typical format in 2022. However, considering that the annual event brings in between 1,000 and 1,500 people for dine in breakfast within a six hour period, and considering the quick moving highly infectious Omicron variant now sweeping the country, to do so would have been irresponsible.

At the same time, Klemm said that it is important that the community realize the school is still open and thriving.

On February 5th, the doors will open at 7 a.m. Guests will enter into the schools front doors and proceed down the hall as they would any year. Inside the gymnasium, the traditional silent auction will be offered. Typically the auction items line three of the four walls of the gym. This year, items will be laid out in a slightly different footprint to make shopping easier as guests arrive to pick up their meals.

The line for meal pick up will move on to the west end of the gym as it has in the past. Instead of taking up a tray and having plates filled with sausage and pancakes, customers will present their tickets and pick up their individually packaged meals.

Klemm said that yes there would be a line of guests in the building, but the set up would offer those who faithfully practice social distancing the opportunity to do so as they make their way into the gym for their meals.

The students and teachers at the school will also have displays and information for visitors to view. He said guests enjoy the student artwork and classroom displays that have been offered in the school hallway in past years, and the committee wants to bring that to the 2022 experience. He said it is significant because he wants guests to see that the school is moving forward in these unusual times, and that education is still the priority of the school.

Klemm said with the pre-order format for the meal and the meat, the school will be able to assure that they have what they need on hand to serve all customers.

He noted that the temporary shut-down of the Lincoln IGA and supply chain issues brought about another shift in how the school prepares for the annual breakfast. He noted that the school has always worked to use local suppliers such as the IGA. He added that the IGA has always been very accommodating, and the school does look forward to next year when IGA will once again be a big part of their planning process.

In the meantime, he said the school needed to assure that it would have all the pancake mix and condiments needed for a successful breakfast. Thanks to the schools newest Administrative Assistant Jodi Merritt, ZLS connected with James Owens, Pioneer College Caterers - Lincoln Christian University Food Service Director, who is assisting the school in obtaining the necessary supplies for the breakfast. Klemm said the committee for the breakfast is very thankful for the partnership with Owens and LCU.

Pre-ordering the meat is also going to be helpful this year. Klemm said that the hogs that are processed at Atlanta Meat Market for the meat sale are all purchased from local producers. The church members at Zion are largely responsible for paying the cost of the meat through donations. He had a list and showed examples of how some will pledge to purchase an entire hog and some make a cash donation toward the purchase. He said either way, the end goal is to collect enough contributions that the cost of the meat does not go against the fundraiser. He added that this year the committee added a new component to the fundraising for the meat costs, a “hog sponsorship” where a donor could pledge $200 and sponsor the purchase of one hog.

Klemm said that local producers often sell the live hogs to the school based on fair market pricing, but then they will also end up donating back to the school either by donating an animal or cash.

The Atlanta Locker is also good to work with on the event. Klemm said that the locker does charge for the meat processing, but in the end will give the school a discount that makes a big difference in the total cost and is much appreciated by the school.
 

With pre-orders for the meat, Klemm said the planning committee will be able to better determine how many hogs it needs to buy in order to serve the customers. He said it is still somewhat of a guessing game because hogs don’t all weigh the same, and they don’t all dress out the same amount of meat. But the committee is hopeful that they will get it right and be able to serve all its customers.

This year, all the sausage for the breakfast will be prepared and cased at the locker plant in Atlanta. Klemm said each year there is a need for many volunteers at the breakfast and for the sausage stuffing day. The numbers ebb and flow and some years the committee needs more people than it has. Doing the stuffing at the locker will involve volunteers but locker staff will also be on hand to assist as well.

Klemm said that sausage stuffing day at the school has always been a special part of the fellowship of preparing for the annual breakfast and he is hopeful that in future years the stuffing will move back to the school, but for now it is not feasible.

For those who wish to pre-purchase a breakfast, order meat or both, additional information and a meat order form are in Lincoln Daily News. Click here to link to that advertisement.

[Nila Smith]