By Carolina Tillotson
The loud speaker screamed all morning with encouragement to eat the pancakes as the Awesome Pancake Crusaders scrambled to hand out plates of pre-made pancakes to passers-by.
The crusaders ended the first week of school with a bang by making nearly 1200 pancakes and passing them out on the corner of 800 N. 700 East.
Group leader Jarom Sid, 24, from Modesto, Calif., said the tradition started years ago and is done on that corner the first Friday of the new school year and then periodically throughout the semester when students need a boost. Sid calls the pancakes magical, saying they will help you get A?s.
?It would boost the students? morale, supply the needed energy for the hill and provide them with adequate brain food that would make their moms proud,? Sid said.
The pancake extravaganza started at 7:30 a.m. and lasted until 10:05 a.m. for the students running late to class. Nearly ten crusaders, distinguished by interesting hats, took turns making pancakes on the hot griddle, blaring welcoming words and running to students to give out the pancakes.
This is not a club, but a group of friends serving fellow students that soaked up the cost, an estimated $3.
?Hey! Do you want a pancake little lady? I deliver,? Sid said over the loud speaker.
?You don?t have to go hungry today? and ?It?s a long way up the hill? were other phrases said over the speaker by various crusaders.
The loud speaker and encouraging words helped business and attracted more students.
Alma Hunt, a junior from Wilcox, Ariz., said he woke up, heard the word ?pancake? yelled, and came for one.
?It?s a good tradition,? he said. ?They?re nice, light and fluffy, and I heard they?re low-fat, which is good.?
Hunt also likes the idea of a free breakfast.
?It?s awesome, ? he said. ?It fits right into my budget.?
Students who passed either embraced the group and welcomed the much-needed breakfast or looked on with skepticism. Various reasons for not taking the pancakes included confusion about what was going on, they just ate breakfast or they didn?t want any.
?I wanted to run to tell the truth,? said Megan Watkins, a broadcast journalism major from Monmouth, Ore. ?It seems nice. I wondered if something was wrong with the pancakes.?
Most students were pleasantly surprised or out-right thrilled to have breakfast served on the corner.
?I?m a fan,? said Jaime Alley a history major from Virginia who ate pancakes with her husband Josh. ?I?m going to cry it?s so good.?
Because it is done periodically, it would depend on the student acceptance, Sid said.
?This is something beautiful because it?s tradition. I don?t mean to brag, but I?m the pancake expert here,? Sid said. ?It depends on how much the students want it. If the people want pancakes, we will answer the people?s call.?
