Annual Rotary Pancake Breakfast An Ever Popular Event

By Susan Coney

After 45 years, the Newtown Rotary Club’s Annual Pancake Breakfast is as popular as ever. A blustery, crisply cold December day did not deter pancake lovers from attending what has become a Newtown tradition in welcoming the holiday season.

Rotary Club charter member Bob Grossman, who has been flipping hotcakes since the breakfast first began 45 years ago, was in good spirits last Saturday as he greeted hungry customers lining up on the opposite side of his piping hot griddle. Joking with fellow Rotarians Jim Gulalo and Bill Calderera, the trio not only produced delicious pancakes but also entertained those attending the breakfast with their humorous quips.

Rotary Club member Tony Salvatore commented, “Bob Grossman is amazing. He is a charter member of the club and has been working at this breakfast since it first began.”

Interact Club members from Reed Intermediate School and Newtown Middle School were on hand to clear and set tables, replenish butter and syrup, and to welcome and seat those attending the breakfast. Reed fifth grader Andrew Jensen, a member of the Interact Club, was busy at work that morning. Andrew said, “It’s great to help people. They really enjoy the service and the pancakes are great!”

Newtown resident Jim Cochran said that it was the second year he had attended the breakfast bringing his two sons, 10-year-old James and 8-year-old Shawn, with him. “It’s a nice day out with the boys,” Mr Cochran commented. His son James added, “The pancakes are very good and it’s all you can eat!”

Annie and Peter Haddad, along with their 6-month-old daughter Jennie, were first-timers to the pancake breakfast. Having lived in Sandy Hook for just two years the couple were unaware of the reputation the annual event carries for having great hotcakes. The Haddads learned about the breakfast at a recent holiday party from Peter’s cousin who is a Rotary Club member and decided to make the breakfast a new tradition.