LEWISTOWN — The first Lewistown Kiwanis Club Annual Pancake Festivals were held when downtown Lewistown was bustling with Christmas shoppers.

Storefronts were filled with displays, enticing would-be customers. This was a time long before the advent of shopping malls and online shopping.

“It certainly has a long and colorful history,” said Ed Lerch, long-time member and past president who helps to organize the annual event. “It’s still the second largest fundraiser that the Kiwanis Club does.

“I feel it offers great value as we are generous with the tickets,” Lerch added. “Kiwanis members hand them out. We’re just continuing a tradition that’s been going on for 60 years.”

The Kiwanis Club hosts the Pancake Festival on the first Saturday of December. Proceeds from the event support their community service account that benefits children.

This year’s event is slated for Saturday, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, located at 200 E. Third St., Lewistown. Tickets for the event cover all-you-can-eat pancakes, drinks, and a sausage from Wilson’s, however, there is a small charge for extra sausage.

The cost is $8 for adults and $3 for ages 12 or under. Tickets for the meal are available from any Kiwanian in advance or at the door.

Santa Claus will make an appearance at 10 a.m. and there will be a festive area set up where parents can take photos of their children with Santa until noon.

The Pancake Festival, which began as a Pillsbury marketing project to promote Aunt Jemima pancakes by helping service clubs do fundraiser pancake breakfasts, has come a long way over the years.

After the Pillsbury promotions ceased, Kiwanis continued with the fundraisers by substituting a guess about the identity of Pancho Pancake for Aunt Jemima. The first Pancho Pancake was played by Joe Paterno. After that Kiwanis continued to pick prominent members of the community to be Pancho, ending a few years ago in light of current social sensitivity concerns.

“We offer good old-fashioned pancakes and sausage,” Lerch said. “It’s all-you-can-eat on the pancakes.

“It’s an important fundraiser,” Lerch added. “It’s a great value, and it’s certainly a tradition.”

The Lewistown Kiwanis is also helping to promote the Christmas parade that will be put on by Deck the Downtown and begin at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

To encourage attendance at the event, the Second Annual “Guess the Christmas Goose” will be held at this Pancake Festival. The “Christmas Goose” is part of the flock that is stationed around Mifflin County. Here is a clue to help the breakfast attendees guess which of the local geese the clues point to: “This well-decorated goose has achieved the top grade to guard the homestead where local memories will not fade.”

Attendees can submit their answers and the winner will be drawn from the correct responses, and will receive a $100 Visa gift card.