East Kaua‘i Lions feed 1,200-plus at annual event by Dennis Fujimoto – The Garden Island Although the East Kaua‘i Lions have been serving pancakes for many years, for Kate Nakamura, Sunday was special. The 2-year-old was able to enjoy the
East Kaua‘i Lions feed 1,200-plus at annual event
by Dennis Fujimoto – The Garden Island
Although the East Kaua‘i Lions have been serving pancakes for many years, for Kate Nakamura, Sunday was special.
The 2-year-old was able to enjoy the breakfast offering on her own, relishing the scrambled eggs her mom said was her favorite.
More than a thousand diners streamed through the doors of the Wilcox Elementary School cafeteria from its opening at 6:30 a.m. until the lines stopped serving at 10 a.m.
“When I saw the firemen come in, I thought we had another fire,” Lion Stephen Fujii said, referring to last year’s event when the arriving Lions were greeted by one of the Wilcox School portable classrooms in flames.
This year, there was no mishap to mar the event and Fujii was glad the firemen were able to enjoy their breakfast without having to worry about putting out any fires.
With an hour to go before the doors closed, Fujii said the numbers were a little off compared to last year, when the club finished by serving 1,467 plates.
This year, Fujii said they were in excess of 1,200 plates already served, but the lines were slowing.
“Our big rush was between 7:30 and 8:30 when more than 250 plates were served within each hour,” Fujii said. “But we had to be here from 5 a.m., and I’m not used to waking up that early, unless it’s for golf.”
Fujii and other EK Lions will have their share of golf when they visit the North Shore Lions’ pancake breakfast which is coming up on March 30.
Lion Gary Pacheco, who along with Wayne Tanji spearhead the pancake effort at that event, noted they are ready for this year.
“We’re going to have the hula halau led by Naomi Yokotake again,” Pacheco said while finishing off his own breakfast. “Plus, Pancho Graham is going to be playing as well.”
The inter-club relationship extended out to the Westside as Naoko Ho of the West Kaua‘i Lions also was on hand finishing up her serving. She noted that they are looking forward to hosting the Ed Ho Swim Meet at the Waimea Pool which was dedicated and opened by Kaua‘i Mayor Bryan Baptiste Saturday morning.
“He was under pressure to open it early,” Ho said. “Otherwise, it would have been nice to have the surviving members of the actual pool construction come down and be part of the blessing ceremony. But now, the people have the pool to enjoy again.”
EK Lion Kelvin Moniz said this year’s event went a lot smoother because the “Take Out” section was moved out of the regular serving line to the cafeteria eating area.
“That helped move the line faster,” Moniz said.
One of the first-time diners questioned why people take out when there is live music and — despite a full-house in the cafeteria — ample seating to enjoy the servings of eggs, Portuguese sausage, pancakes, rice, fresh Maui Gold pineapple and miso soup.
Take-out orders have all the food items but the miso soup, and that alone is worth the effort of dining in.
Sandy, the wife of EK Lion Harvey Kinoshita, has been brewing the soup for four years.
“It started when Michael Nii was the chairman for the event,” Harvey said. “He thought it would be different. It was a success and we’ve had miso soup ever since.”
EK Lion Roy Nishida made a connection with a friend on Maui who ships over the fresh pineapple for the annual event. Moniz noted that the Lions were hard at work Friday afternoon prepping the pineapple for the Sunday breakfast.
“There’s not a sour one in the bunch,” Nishida said, making sure each diner had more than a sufficient amount to test his claim.
Nicole Gaetjens, president of the Leo Club at Kaua‘i High School, also had about 18 of the club’s members out to assist the Lions.
“We broke down the group into two shifts,” Gaetjens said. “The first shift started at 5:30 a.m., and the second group will handle it from 8 to 10:30 a.m.”
Gaetjens said the Leo Club is a service organization which operates under the guidance of the EK Lions Club.
“We help the Lions with its service projects as well as do community service projects of our own,” Gaetjens said. “Our advisor, Divina Plowman, is a curriculum coordinator at Kaua‘i High School and has the feel for what is needed in the community, so that’s how we get some of our projects.”
Gaetjens said the Leo Club also works with the Kaua‘i Food Bank on projects because one of the Lions is involved with that agency. Additionally, she said the group helped with the recent Zonta Club’s Eat Dessert First event as well as the Kaua‘i High School Open House.
Proceeds from the pancake breakfast go toward helping the East Kaua‘i Lions with its calendar of activities which include helping the elementary schools test the hearing and vision of its student population.
In addition to the numerous service projects the club performs in the community, it also spearheads the annual Vision is Beautiful contest which raises awareness about vision and eye care.
For more information about the North Shore Lions’ pancake breakfast, people can contact that organization. For more information on the East Kaua‘i Lions Club, visit its Web site at www.eastkauai.lionwap.org.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
