Firefighters host annual Pancake Day

    The Washington Fire Department is holding its annual Pancake Day today at the fire station. The firefighters serve two meals ? lunch and supper. Lunch was served today from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and supper is served tonight from 5 to 7 p.m. Joe Redlinger, who is one of the department?s drivers, fulfills the role of Pancake Chairman for the second year in a row.

    Tom Tanner has been with the fire department for 60 years and can remember the very first Pancake Day in 1958. The current fire station was not built at that time. 

    ?When we started, we had a small kitchen and a frying pan,? said Tanner. ?The first year, we fed about 600.?

    Nowadays, the firefighters serve about 1,500 people at their pancake feed.

    ?The biggest year we had was when this Fire Hall was new, and that was in 1974,? said Redlinger.

    ?We served about 1,800 people that year,? said Tanner.

    Redlinger said they usually serve more people for supper than lunch, but that depends on the weather.

    ?If there?s a storm predicted for the evening, then the noon crowd will pick up,? he said. ?Last year, the weather was nice. People were lined up outside clear to the sidewalk.?

    A few years ago, the firefighters expanded their seating capacity in the building to accommodate the throngs of people hungry for pancakes.

    ?We can seat about 225 people,? said Redlinger. ?There have been times when we?ve been pretty close to full. We added the seventh row of tables two or three years ago, and that increased our capacity by 30 people.?

    In addition to pancakes, diners will be treated to coffee, milk, eggs, and whole-hog-sausage from the Washington County Pork Producers. Considering the number of people they serve, the firefighters have trouble fitting all their groceries in one car. They bought 375 dozen eggs (4,500), 132 gallons of milk and 1,600 pounds of sausage. To make the main course ? pancakes ? they use 240 boxes of pancake mix, and complement it with 276 bottles of syrup.

    Transforming the fire station into a cafeteria takes time. Redlinger said they started setting up Monday. On Tuesday, they prepared the patties ? all 6,500 of them. 

    After counting up the ticket stubs and subtracting their costs, the fire department netted $6,000 last year. Redlinger said the proceeds go toward purchasing equipment. In the past, the department has used the money for an air compressor and to pay for the installation of a generator at the fire hall. Redlinger said he hopes the money earned this year will go toward a new fire station.

For more, see our Jan. 12 print edition.