Mercy Medical Center Whips Up Batter for World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast

SPRINGFIELD — This afternoon, the culinary department at Mercy Medical Center will be mixing the batter for the World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast, presented tomorrow, May 16, by Spirit of Springfield.

For a fifth year, the batter comes courtesy of Performance Food Service. The donation is enough to fill 100 five-gallon buckets and feed thousands of people on Saturday from 8 to 11 a.m. on Main Street. Mercy Medical Center’s 60-quart mixer will be hard at work for several hours.

Completing the menu for the World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast will be 70 gallons of syrup from Performance Food Service, nearly a thousand pounds of bacon from Carando Classic Italian, 40 pounds of coffee from Sheraton Springfield, 200 pounds of butter from Cabot Creamery, and hundreds of gallons of milk, juice, and cream from H.P. Hood. The breakfast will be served on, in, and with products donated by Baystate Health, Costco, and Mansfield Paper. Additional support is being provided by the Massachusetts Army National Guard, Gleason Johndrow Landscaping, Allied Waste, Elegant Affairs, Springfield Parking Authority, Springfield Business Improvement District (SBID), Michael’s Party Rentals, and the city of Springfield.

The feast of flapjacks, sponsored by MGM Springfield, will be served by a small army of volunteers and will be complimented by dancers, displays, clowns, costumed characters, and more. The atmosphere is friendly and family-oriented, and has been a Springfield tradition since 1986 when the city celebrated its 350th birthday. Over the past 28 years, it is estimated to have served more than 1 million helpings.

Breakfast tickets are $3 for adults, $1 for children, and free to area students with a complimentary ticket distributed through local school systems.

The World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast is just one of the many traditional events the Spirit of Springfield will present during its 25th season. Others include the MassMutual Star Spangled Springfield, the Tower Square Parade of the Big Balloons, and Bright Nights at Forest Park.

For more information about the World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast, visit www.spiritofspringfield.org or call the Spirit of Springfield at (413) 733-3800.