Seventy six consecutive years of running with an apron and a skillet on Shrove Tuesday. Many small towns have their own traditions, while Liberal, Kansas’ small town tradition turned into a big tradition over the years. A day celebrated with pancake themed activities, Liberal is known for Pancake Day. 

Pancake Day has a long history even before Liberal joined in on the action. Legend has it that in 1445, a housewife in Olney, England, heard the church bells ring. Not wanting to leave her pancakes to burn she quickly ran to church still carrying her skillet and wearing her apron. This famous story inspired R.J Leete of Liberal to challenge Reverend Ronald Collins, Vicar of Olney, to make it an international event. Thus began the tradition of international Pancake Day between Olney England and Liberal Kansas. 

Being a part of a tradition that has been happening for 76 years takes a certain community to pull off. Many people come from all over the country to be involved with Pancake Day. People like volunteers, runners, participants, film crews and news stations. The story of International Pancake Day brings in a crowd of people that want to be a part of something great. The international race is a staple of Pancake Day and Liberal bringing in viewers from around the world.

Furthermore, Pancake Day is an event that has been a long running tradition in Liberal that continues to spread joy into the hearts of generations of people. 

“Young to the young-at-heart, Pancake Day is something that everybody can participate in from the eating and flipping contest to the afternoon tea, to the Grand Marshal reception of the Baker Art Center, and then of course, the breakfast,” said Joe Denoyer, KSCB radio announcer and the official “MC [announcer] of Pancake Day. “Everybody loves pancakes, everybody loves a parade, the races are something to come see, these little kids running their hearts out and then, of course, cheering on the international racers, hopefully not only to victory here in liberal, but across the pond as well.” 

Pancake Day: One of the busiest breakfasts of the year

The Pancake Day breakfast is a major event on Pancake Day. Marvin Billings, the pancake breakfast chairman, has one of the busiest schedules on Pancake Day. 

“I get there at 4:30 [in the morning], get the gas turned on for the grills, at 6 we usually have people already coming in, from 7 to 8,” Billings said. “It’s a deluge of people coming through there.”

As the Pancake Day chairman, Marvin has various responsibilities leading up to Pancake Day and during Pancake Day.

“For the last ten years of my working career my vacation time was pancake breakfast,” Billings said. 

Even with Billings being the Pancake Day breakfast chair member, it’s not all on his shoulder, at least this year it’s not. Amy Thompson, the pancake chair apprentice, is following in Billings footsteps and learning everything he knows about the role.

“They’re after me to document everything I do, and I’m going, ‘Holy mackerel, it’s going to be a while,’” Billings said. 

Thompson followed this up by saying: “If we didn’t have Marvin, we wouldn’t have a breakfast. He’s like, ‘We have to have somebody else that knows this.’”

Pancake Day races, young to the young at heart

Joe Denoyer, KSCB radio announcer and the official “MC of Pancake Day,” starts his day at the Pancake Day breakfast broadcasting the event with Brock Kapplemen, KSCB sports commentator. After broadcasting the first hour live at the pancake breakfast, Denoyer heads to KSCB to interview a few dignitaries on his show “Broadcast Square.” 

Around 10a.m. the pancake breakfast ends, which means the youth races are about to start.

The Pancake Day races are on a tight time schedule. The International Pancake Day Race has to happen at exactly 11:55am. This means all the races before have to flow at a timely pace. “I feel the MC role for Pancake Day is very important,” said Denoyer “I have to keep the races flowing, the audience informed and engaged.” It’s the MC’s responsibility to make sure all of this happens. Despite all of the pressure and responsibilities on his shoulders Denoyer is up for the challenge. Denoyer says “It’s an honor to be the MC.”

The chip timers help with all the races, allowing the officials to know the exact time the winner steps over the line. This keeps the pace of all the races steady. 

Before the women’s race the MC has to announce the kid races, the youth races, the mascot race, the mother daughter race and the mens pacer race. The most important part of the role is to keep the audience engaged, and to keep the audience there to support the women’s international race. 

“People should get involved, step outside of your comfort zone, enter the last-chance race, the men’s pacer race,” said Denoyer. “You don’t have to get first.” 

The Pancake Board encourages people of all ages to participate in the races. It’s not always about winning but having fun. 

“I’ve run it three different times, it’s been a lot of fun,” said Denoyer “but now I get to MC. I guess it keeps me out of running, but I’ll have more fun MCing it.”

But not everyone in the community gets to enjoy the races. The pancake board is spread out through the whole town preparing for – or cleaning up after – their assigned event. Which leads to some board members missing out on other Pancake Day activities. 

“Since I’ve been doing the pancake breakfast, I have never seen the race,” Billings said.  

Unlike Billings, Denoyer can watch and enjoy the races personally every year, whether that’s through MC-ing the races, sitting in the media truck or watching from home. 

“I remember growing up in Chicago watching WGN News and seeing Pancake Day in the trailer at the end of the news,” said Denoyer “I moved here in 1982, it was one of the very first events that I attended and I just caught the bug.”

Over the last 73 races held, Liberal has a total of 42 wins and Olney has a total of 31 wins for the women’s International race.

A fun day full of community

Pancake Day takes a lot of planning and work that happens all year round. This event could not happen without the people who plan it, the people who volunteer their time for Pancake Day. There are numerous people dedicated to working on this enormous project. Not only is the pancake board to thank for this event but the businesses that donate products. Seward County Activity Center for hosting the pancake feed. So much time and effort goes into this project.

“It takes a whole community to make this event happen from the Kansas Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, the pancake house, IHOP, Rhins Freestyle Academy, the Rec Center, everybody. It just takes a whole community to make this happen over the course of four days so that everybody can enjoy.” said Denoyer. 

Pancake Day is not Pancake Day without the community’s support. This event has been able to return every year due to the vast amount of people willing to dedicate their time to it. 

Thompson says “It’s a community event and so it’s really important that the community is involved.” 

Pancake Day isn’t for just watching a parade, watching the racers, flipping pancakes or even eating pancakes. Community is what Pancake Day stands for, bringing together local groups of people from Liberal Kansas to Olney England. Pancake Day is a symbol. It represents alliances and it allows the people of Liberal to introduce themselves, meet new people and bring together the existing community. 

“Get involved, whether as a participant or as a volunteer, but do take the time to come and enjoy Pancake Day, take a step into the Pancake Day Hall of Fame, and definitely visit https://pancakeday.net,” said Denoyer.