If asked to name all of the holidays in February, residents of Liberal would be able to name off one more than most people: Pancake Day. Since 1950, Liberal has been competing against the English town of Olney in foot races with a twist – entrants must wear a headscarf and apron while carrying a skillet containing a pancake. The pancake must be flipped once at the beginning of the race and once at the end. This tradition is relatively new to Liberal when compared to the history that Olney, England, holds. As the story goes, in 1445, a woman was using up her cooking fats before Lent by making pancakes for breakfast. When the church bells began to ring, she dashed out of her front door with her skillet. In the following years, the woman’s neighbors adopted her impromptu pancake race and began to run, too. In 1950, Liberal Jaycee President R.J. Leete heard about the Olney tradition of running the races and decided that Liberal should do it, too. Ever since then, Liberal and Olney have competed nearly every year (the one exception is in 1980, when a media truck was blocking the finish line in Olney so the scores didn’t count) in the Pancake Day Races. However, the race isn’t the only event that occurs during the multi-day celebration. There are numerous events stretching from Saturday to Tuesday, Feb. 21. Between pancake eating contests and cooking competitions, Pancake Day weekend is filled with activities and competitive events. The holiday has even caught the eye of Food Network Magazine, which included Pancake Day its list of “dine and dash” events where participants are asked to run in food-themed races. A special guest at this year’s Pancake Day events will be Mike Hughes, mayor of Olney, England, and his wife, Susan. Seward’s campus will be closed all day Tuesday, Feb. 21 in observance of Pancake Day.