The kitchen crew from the American Legion Pancake Feed relax in the dining room after serving hundreds of diners at the Thursday morning event, Mar. 27, 2025 CREDIT RICHARD SHANK
By Richard Shank
Some say there are no secrets in Hutchinson, but after visiting with a couple of dozen Salt City residents, I was unable to determine how many years the American Legion has hosted its annual Pancake/Sausage Breakfast, which coincides with the National Junior College Athletic Association Basketball Tournament.
This year’s event was held at the American Legion Lysle Rishel Post 68 on Thursday morning at 730 West Fourth Avenue. Cindy Keast, Executive Director of the Hutchinson Community College (HCC) Endowment Association, was on duty, wearing an apron while assisting with kitchen duties.
Keast said the funds raised at the breakfast are earmarked to provide scholarships for HCC students, with an emphasis on those whose parents or grandparents are members of the American Legion.
For many Hutchonians, the breakfast is an annual ritual.
The American Legion opened its doors at 6:30 a.m., and a crowd stood at the door, eager to enter and partake of a hearty breakfast meal. The menu was the same for all, including as many pancakes as possible, sausage, coffee, and orange juice. By 11 a.m., the crowd was dwindling, and the event was signed off for another year with the assurance that there would be an encore in 2026.
Larry Collins, an NJCAA tournament volunteer, talked about signing up to assist with the tournament 53 years ago, in 1972. The following morning, Larry noted he attended his first pancake/sausage breakfast and has been returning every year since then.
No one seems certain about the time frame when the event was first held, and Keast said some people think it may have seen its origin soon after the tournament. “I have heard stories of the pancake breakfast being held at the Bisonte Hotel or at what is now Pat’s Lock and Key, the original location of the Town Club,” Keast said.
The serving crew advised attendees that if anyone desired a second helping of anything on the menu, they should just wave a hand in the air, and somebody would take their order. It seemed that many eaters enjoyed visiting with old friends as much as the food they were eating. At a meager $7 per person, it was the best deal in town and a gigantic social event on this spring morning in Hutchinson.
As is the spirit of the NJCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, the pancake/sausage breakfast is operated by volunteers who are happy to rise early and assist in hosting another event.
“We’ll be back next year” were five words commonly spoken by diners as they exited the American Legion. One individual seemed slightly philosophical and said, “The pancakes and sausage get better with age.”
