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Saturday marked the 25th anniversary of a filling tradition for the LaGrange Kiwanis Club: it’s annual Pancake Breakfast.

“The good Lord’s been good to us,” said Kiwanis Club President George Elkins.

The event, held at the First Baptist Church on the Square, brought in new guests, and also many who return every year for pancakes with all the fixings. However, while the pancakes were the centerpiece of the breakfast, the event also helps the Kiwanis Club provide a scholarship opportunity to senior students in the Troup County area.

This year the club expects to hand out a $4,000 scholarship to three high schoolers in Troup County. Their goal this year was to raise $10,000 from the pancake breakfast alone to fund the scholarships.

IHOP, Piggly Wiggly and Kimble’s Food By Design were the club’s sponsored partners for the event. IHOP donated the five-gallon buckets of batter to make the hundreds of pancakes, while Kimble’s donated the sausage sides.

“A lot of people don’t know the amount of effort it takes to bring this pancake breakfast,” Elkins said, adding that it had taken weeks to gather the ingredients.

Family members of Kiwanis Club members also step in to set up. In the kitchen, members of the Circle K Club at LaGrange College run the concession line. Behind them, volunteers, including Elkins, man the three, rotating griddles to ensure that all pancakes are perfectly cooked.

“It’s sort of like a military operation,” Elkins said. “You don’t want to let your fellow Kiwanian down, so you show up.”

High school students can visit their counselors for the applications for the Kiwanis Club’s scholarship. Recipients will be announced in May.