This breakfast has been cooking for a long, long time.

Saturday morning, the Coal Grove Lions Club continued a tradition that began in 1960 - their annual Pancake Day at Dawson-Bryant High School.

The volunteers, with a little help from local Boy Scouts, served up enough flapjacks to satisfy Paul Bunyan, all to help support the Lions Club's many community service efforts.

The funds from this year's breakfast will help the Lions prepare a similar meal for less-fortunate children in the area around Christmas time, as well as providing monies to help the group's continuing crusade against vision problems and blindness.

Ray Dutey, Lawrence County Auditor, figures he's been to almost every Pancake Day, and said that it's an important fund-raising opportunity for the Lions.

"It's great for the community and the projects we help out with," Dutey said. "We were lined up earlier, from about 8:30 to 10:30 you get a really good flow of people."

As of 10:30 a.m., Lions Club President Les Boggs estimated that they had already served over 400 people.

The chefs du jour of the Pancake Day were Willard Deeds and Phil Carpenter, the masterminds behind the special pancake recipe.

In addition helping to serve up the pancakes, 10-year-old Webelo Scout Justin Brooks got to eat his own plate of Carpenter and Deeds' handiwork. As he excitedly details his activities, it's hard to tell which he enjoyed more.

"It's fun, you get to help clean up tables, fill up the syrup jugs, wash the dishes and eat," Brooks said. "The pancakes were really good. They were as big as dinner plates."

Boggs said that he looks forwards to the Pancake Day every year as a way to catch up with old friends and maybe even make some new ones.

"There's a lot of local friendly faces that we get to see," Boggs said. "It seems like the same people coming back year after year, they'll bring in their kids and grandchildren, it's a good place to see people grow up over the years."