In spite of the 2020 Kiwanis Ogeechee Fair being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Statesboro Kiwanis Club has found a way to make the best of a bad situation.
There won’t be a fair, but at least there will be pancakes.
For one day, Saturday, Oct. 24, the popular Kiwanis Pancake House will be open as a drive-thru only, and the club will sell tickets for plates of the hot, steaming pancakes and country link sausages that draw record crowds each year.
Statesboro Kiwanis Cub members also will sell commemorative t-shirts to help alleviate the loss of its annual fundraisers, the fair and the Kiwanis Rodeo, which also was canceled this year. One shirt design is a play on words, calling the Fair “The Unfair” with the hashtag #covid19 and the other is a shirt with a black and white photo of the Kiwanis Pancake House.
“The Kiwanis Club of Statesboro has started selling t-shirts to commemorate the first cancellation of the Kiwanis Ogeechee Fair in almost 60 years,” said Kiwanis President Ashlee Hooks Corbin.
The fair and rodeo “has, in recent years, allowed the club to give back to the community over $100,000 per year.”
The t-shirts are $16 for youth sizes and $22 for adults.
Corbin worked closely with Metter Graphics to have the shirts designed, and set up a site on which to sell them – https://spiritstore.online/kiwanis_ogeechee_fair/shop/home.
The shirts will be available for order until Oct. 14 at midnight and will be shipped out soon after, she said.
“If you want to receive free shipping, you can pick up your shirts at Metter Graphics on Oct. 23 between 9-5,” Corbin said. “Another date for pickup will be scheduled at the Kiwanis Ogeechee Fairgrounds. “We haven’t nailed down plans for the second pickup date, but we are fairly certain that it will be on October 24. It would just make sense to have them there for pickup while people are picking up their drive-thru pancake dinners."
Pancakes and sausage
Every year, the Kiwanis Pancake House is packed with people eager to enjoy what has become a tradition for many: fresh country link sausages, fluffy pancakes and a choice between maple or homemade southern cane syrup. The cane syrup is made every year at an adjacent sugar cane mill and syrup boiling shed that is part of the agricultural fair’s educational exhibits.
With COVID-19’s limitations, Kiwanis members thought a drive-thru option would not only give the community something to enjoy, it would help the club continue helping the community.
“Members of the Fair Committee have been working … to put the event together,” Corbin said.
Plates consisting of three pancakes, two sausage links and a drink will be $8 each
“There will be a limited number of plates available during the 12-hour event, planned for Oct. 24 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the fairgrounds,” Corbin said.
Tickets will be sold online to reserve a spot during three time frames: breakfast (8–11:30 a.m.); lunch (11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.) and dinner (3:30-8 p.m.).
“The club plans to sell 5,000 tickets spread out over the course of the day,” she said. “Logistics regarding the pickup process are still being discussed, but ticket sales are expected to start next week. We hope that we will sell out fast. If we do, we might add additional plates, but in order to keep this cost-efficient for us, we needed to know how many plates we needed to order supplies for, and a pre-sale was the best way we knew how.”
Not a new idea
The coronavirus pandemic may have forced the Kiwanis Club’s hand, but the drive-thru idea has been around a while. Every year during the fair, people ask if they can just come get a pancake dinner without having to pay admission to the whole event.
“We’ve been discussing the idea of a drive-thru pancake house long before we actually made the decision to cancel the fair,” Corbin said. “We were just in denial that we would end up having to cancel the fair, so we didn’t start planning this in any official capacity until late August, early September.”
The pancakes have become one of the fair’s most popular attractions, especially with older residents who may not be interested in the midway.
“A lot of locals have expressed interest in a drive thru pancake house on social media, so we’re honored that people have come to love the fair and the pancakes so strongly, she said. “And we’re excited to be able to bring a little bit of fair tradition to the community, even if that doesn’t include the ferris wheel.”
Club members work year round to produce the Fair and rodeo, and in spite of the cancellations, have been working just as had to come up with solutions to the deficit of both fun and funds for the community.
“We are thrilled to be able to engage with the community for the drive-thru pancake house and t-shirt sales,” said fair co-chair Lisa Douglas Turner. “Folks are already buying tickets and are super excited about pancakes and sausage. I know I am! It’s one of many traditions that fairgoers get to experience each year and even with this season of change in our lives due to COVID-19, we’re happy that we are still able to continue this tradition.”
To keep up with the updates, ticket sales start date and more, visit the Kiwanis Club of Statesboro Facebook page.
Herald reporter Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489-9414.