Just like the batter for the delicious pancakes, it is all of the individual ingredients that make the annual Ironton Rotary Club’s pancake breakfast so special.

Take one part fellowship, add a heaping helping of civic pride, toss in a dash of a good cause and then top it all with some tasty breakfast. What do you get? An annual event that is far more than just a chance to fill your belly.

The club’s annual breakfast is all set for Saturday from 7 a.m. to noon at the AEP building at 525 S. Third St., the same place it has been for years.

Where else can you get pancakes, sausage, coffee and meet lots of good people for just $5?

Truly, after having been a part of it for several years and having covered it for the newspaper several years before that, I can tell you that it is as much an event as it is a breakfast.

“The entire Rotary Club unites behind the annual Pancake breakfast which is the club’s major fund-raiser for the year,” said Carl Darling, Ironton Rotary president for the 2008-2009 year. “Everyone enjoys the camaraderie from working together to put on a successful breakfast.”

But Carl realizes that it isn’t just the Rotarians who have a good time.

“The breakfast is also a social event for many in the community and for club members as well with the renewal of long time acquaintances and lots of kidding around along with a great breakfast, of course,” he said. “The result is that everyone has fun and the club is able to raise funds for worthwhile projects both locally as well as internationally.”

Those projects include donations to area charities such as the City Mission, support of civic projects like the Ironton in Bloom organization, sponsoring scholarships at Ohio University Southern, providing dictionaries to every third grade class in Lawrence County and much more.

Upcoming projects include an international project to help with the construction of a library in Belize — so get your old books ready, we will need them soon — and a project that we hope will revitalize Ironton’s downtown fountain on Center Street.

My culinary skills are limited but it is clear that all these ingredients cook up a special meal that tastes so sweet.

Michael Caldwell is publisher of The Tribune. To reach him, call (740) 532-1445 ext. 24 or by e-mail at mike.caldwell@irontontribune.com.