Tuck in that napkin and get ready for a February tradition in Ironton. You can almost smell the syrup and sausage already.

The Ironton Rotary Club's annual Pancake Day will be from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday at the AEP building (formerly Ohio Power) on Third Street across from CVS.

Tickets are $3.50 and can be purchased from any Rotary Club member or at the door. Carryout orders are available.

"I don't think the Rotary Pancake Day is just about pancakes," said Ironton Rotary President Mike Wirzfeld. "It's just such a special tradition here."

For veterans of Pancake Day, it will be the same familiar pancakes, sausage and coffee that's made the event such an anticipated event. Long-time Rotarian and club Sergeant at Arms, Ray "Doc" Payne and his assistant Darwin Haynes will be flipping their Tri-State famous flapjacks.

For newcomers, the event is one of the biggest fund-raisers for the civic club first established in Ironton in 1920.

Rotary International, of which the local club is a member, was formed in 1905 and is celebrating its 100th anniversary this month.

Money raised at the Pancake Day and other club fund-raisers goes to help fund a number of local causes including the club's annual nursing scholarships and regular donations to several local non-profit organizations. In addition a portion of the funds go toward Rotary International's causes including its ongoing battle to eradicate polio worldwide.

Through the years, Pancake Day has developed into a rite of winter. Residents use the event as a mid-winter reunion of sorts catching up with old friends and family throughout the morning.

This year, the club has secured an additional griddle that will allow them to handle the crowds that temporarily swamped the event last year.

Wirzfeld chalked up last year's mid-morning bottleneck as merely growing pains and said the club's members are putting measures in place to improve the service.