LIHU‘E — Rudy Villon of the Kalepa Hillsiders had never experienced the East Kaua‘i Lions Pancake Breakfast until Sunday, said Lion Stephen Fujii. Villon and Fujii play on different teams for the Kaua‘i Senior Softball League and spent the morning
LIHU‘E — Rudy Villon of the Kalepa Hillsiders had never experienced the East Kaua‘i Lions Pancake Breakfast until Sunday, said Lion Stephen Fujii.
Villon and Fujii play on different teams for the Kaua‘i Senior Softball League and spent the morning comparing notes from Saturday’s round.
“Last year, you had Peter Rayno and Ernie Domingo of the Kalepa Hillsiders in the paper,” Villon said. “This year, it’s our turn.”
Fujii anchored the reception area where breakfast diners could come in and purchase tickets leading to the breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs, Portuguese sausage, an assortment of fresh fruit including pineapple flown in specially for the meal from Maui, miso soup and coffee.
“Pancakes always call for hot coffee and this is the best,” said Marty Amaro of Kaua‘i Coffee, between filling the percolator.
Katie Beer of Kalaheo brought her relatives from out of town to enjoy the meal while getting to meet members of the community including Sharron Weber of Tire Warehouse who joined the group.
“We came for the cakes,” said Kate Beer, Katie Beer’s sister-in-law from St. Paul, Minn. “It’s very well organized, and there is miso soup. We never get that at home.”
The miso soup, started some breakfasts ago, is courtesy of Lion Harvey Kinoshita and his wife Sandy who were housed in a screen tent outside the cafeteria.
“We’ve already gone through six pots,” Sandy said while Harvey readied another pot for brewing. “The secret is ‘the mother pot.’ You can’t go wrong. The miso is the last touch because you don’t want to burn it.”
Kate Beer’s sentiments were echoed by other out-of-town visitors who popped in after hearing about the event.
“You just missed Harvey Maeda,” Sandy said. “He was just here after having his breakfast.”
A steady stream of diners flowed through the doors of the Elsie Wilcox Elementary School cafeteria from the 6:30 a.m. start time. Guests, both for sit-in breakfasts or to-go orders, were able to enjoy the live entertainment which flowed nonstop through most of the morning.
That kept Lions Ron Garlie and Sam Morningstar busy on two grills, flipping and scooping up mountains of pancakes while Paul Endo kept his eye on the egg steamers.
“No motorcycle riding today,” Garlie said between batches.
Steinfort said 100 percent of the pancake breakfast benefits the community through the various Lions service projects. These include scholarships and safety equipment at the schools, contributions to the Kaua‘i Independent Food Bank where EK Lions will be volunteering on the April 9 Food Collection Day, the Toys for Tots program, Kaua‘i Diabetes Today, sponsorship of the “Sight is Beautiful” poster contest, partnerships with the National Federation of the Blind (President Ulu Breen being one of the breakfast diners), and sponsorship of the International Youth Camp Kaua‘i.
Steinfort said the breakfast is the primary fundraiser for the East Kaua‘i Lions Club, although the club does sponsor a golf tournament in April.
Lion Janice Bond was worried because she was still holding on to Kaua‘i Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.’s ticket.
“We don’t know what his schedule is like,” said Beth Tokioka, the county’s director of communications, who was enjoying some time with Annette Baptiste, widow of the late Mayor Bryan Baptiste. “But I’m sure he would’ve wanted to have been here. He must be busy since he just got back from the Philippines.”
With less than 30 minutes remaining before the 10 a.m. cutoff, Fujii said he estimated the EK Lions and the Kaua‘i High School Leo Club would have served about 1,600 meals, a little more than last year.
“Rudy is real excited about this,” Fujii said. “This was his first breakfast and he already offered to help us sell tickets for next year’s event.”
