Rainbow City Lions Club held its 34th Annual Pancake Day on Saturday, April 6, 2024 with a great turnout.
The Lions Club wishes to give a huge shout-out to Mayor Joe Taylor and the Rainbow City Council. local Boy Scout Troop No. 92, the Southside High School Leo Club, Lions Club members, family members and the many dedicated volunteers.
Hundreds of people enjoyed a breakfast of pancakes, sausage, biscuits and gravy while supporting a local cause. Proceeds from the event are used to sponsor a local Boy Scout troop; girls softball teams; local students to attend the Lions Youth Leadership Camp and Camp Seale Harris Diabetic Camp (a summer camp for diabetic children); the Alabama Lions Sight Foundation, where eye care and treatment is provided to the indigent; and the Joel Helms Lion Eye Clinic of Gadsden. The Rainbow City Lions Club sponsors a Leo Club at Southside High School.
The purpose of the event is not only to feed and serve the community but to contribute aid to many charitable and humanitarian service projects such as encouraging childhood literacy, providing gear for local youth sports and sponsoring a scholarship to a deserving Southside High School student.
“These programs really help,” said Lion Genia Fry, a Southside High teacher and sponsor of the school’s LEO Club. “I’ve had a student who needed glasses, but their parents didn’t have vision insurance, so the vision sponsorship helped them get their eye exam and pay for their glasses.”
The generous support of the community has helped foster positive results in Rainbow City and Southside.
“This event is a part of the fabric of Rainbow City,” said Taylor, who found himself in his third year of fli-pping pancakes. “It’s a part of what keeps this city together. Community involvement is what’s going to make our city thrive. We truly couldn’t put this event on without the LEOs, Lions Club and Troop 92. Given the massive and growing community turnout, it is possible that the Lions and Troop 92 may have served their weight in pancakes this year, all with positive attitudes and an eagerness to serve their community.”
“This event gives the boys an opportunity to experience responsibility and build their character,” said Scoutmaster of Troop 92 and three-decade Pancake Day veteran Jeremy Lorren. “It’s building them up to being better citizens and to be helpful.”
Helpful they were, serving breakfast and bussing tables for six hours.
Rainbow City community events like Pancake Day have continued to help aid and sustain the community while also symbolizing the city’s growth given the annually increasing attendance.
“Seeing the event growing shows that the community is growing,” said District 4 Etowah County Commissioner Tim Ramsey. “Right now, everything in Rainbow City is flowing abundantly and [Pancake Day] is a reflection of that. It’s sure to continue to grow along with Rainbow City in the coming years.”
The three-decade-old community event has become a symbol of local tradition and the meaning of community service.
“This event is what Rainbow City is about,” said Rainbow City Chief of Police Camp Yancey. “When you have a turnout like this, it just shows how much the community cares about the city.”
“The more we get involved, the better we can do for our communities,” said Southside Mayor Dana Snyder.
Submitted by Mitchell Davis.