Sault Kiwanis Club postpones some upcoming pancake breakfasts

The Kiwanis Club of Sault Ste. Marie has been forced to postpone nine of their upcoming pancake breakfasts at the Sugar Shack, SooToday has learned.

According to program coordinator Brad Frechette, the Conservation Authority-owned Sugar Shack on Fifth Line is facing a potable water issue that will require them to re-drill their well.

This will result in the shutdown of on-site washrooms, among other water-related concerns, until June 2024.

“It’s difficult to postpone, especially only a month out,” Frechette admitted. “Trying to find a new location proved to be much more difficult than we could have even thought.”

The Kiwanis Club made a big return to their annual springtime all-you-can-eat pancake breakfasts last year after the pandemic halted their gatherings for three years.

Between March and April of this year, the club planned to serve up its tasty homemade pancakes, locally made syrup, and savoury deep-fried sausages on nine occasions, including four consecutive weekends plus Good Friday.

Frechette estimates they normally average 400 attendees each day for a grand total of 3,500 to 4,000 people every spring.

He noted that’s good enough for $15,000 in fundraising, which goes towards a variety of child and youth programs in the Sault.

“This makes up our core funding,” he said. “It’s well over 15 per cent of our annual revenue.”

Instead, the Kiwanis Club will pivot to hosting six pancake breakfasts at the Sugar Shack in late September and early October.

A projected 33 per cent loss in revenue means the club will “have to reconsider some of our commitments this year or find new sources of revenue,” according to Frechette.

“The big thing we want to maintain is our partnership with THRIVE, which provides groceries to families who have children with developmental delays under the age of five,” he said. “We provide $750 a month to THRIVE to purchase groceries for those children. We will absolutely maintain that.”

While the club explored several options for a temporary venue this spring, Frechette said a last-minute move just wasn’t going to be realistic.

“It costs us quite a bit of money to rent a facility, and to find one that has the space, the tables, the cooking equipment, and is available for nine days in less than 30 days notice is a little tricky,” he said.

“In order to maintain the quality that people expect, and the environment people have become accustomed to, it was a decision that was the least risky for us to make," he added.“There’s a cost-benefit analysis as well. If there’s going to be a rental fee of $300-$500 per day, that really eats into the profit.”

The Kiwanis Club’s fall-time pancake breakfasts have not been officially rescheduled, but Frechette promises attendees can expect the same quality they’ve grown accustomed to sometime this fall.

“We’ll get to enjoy the fall colours and try to take advantage of some last-minute nice weather,” he said. “Our members really love the event, and we love to see everybody. Not being able to do as much for the community is definitely a difficult thing to deal with, but we’ll be back.”

The club estimates they’ve served more than 200,000 pancakes since they started hosting the breakfasts nearly 30 years ago.