After over 200,000 pancakes served, Kiwanis breakfasts return

For the first time in three years, volunteers with the Kiwanis Club of Sault Ste. Marie are excited to welcome back their springtime all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast at the Conservation Authority Sugar Shack.

Running on Saturdays and Sundays from Mar. 18 to Apr. 9, attendees will enjoy traditional homemade pancakes and deep-fried sausages, as well as tasty maple syrup from Fallen Leaves Maple Products.

All funds raised from each breakfast will go towards a variety of child and youth programs in the Sault.

Brad Frechette, the Kiwanis Club of SSM’s secretary and program coordinator, says the return of the event means good news for the initiatives and services that many local children and families have come to depend on.

“We rely on this as our main source of revenue, so it was definitely a challenge not having it,” he says. “The Sugar Shack is a nice location for families to gather together, and the flow rate of our customers is perfect for the size of the room.”

“We try to make the experience as positive as possible.”

The Kiwanis Club of SSM donates 100 per cent of their funds to a number of local programs and facilities, including the THRIVE Child Development Centre.

“A lot of families experience hardship when children, particularly under the age of five, are having developmental delays or issues,” he says. “Some of those therapies can be very expensive if they’re not covered.”

“The Kiwanis Club gives the workers at THRIVE an account at a grocery store, and they can buy core essential groceries for those families.”

Frechette says their organization also provides children apprehended by the Children’s Aid Society with bags of comfort items.

“A lot of kids who get apprehended from their homes unfortunately have to shove a bunch of stuff in garbage bags and maybe can only grab whatever they can find,” he says. “That’s obviously a very traumatic experience for everyone involved.”

The club also has ties with Sault College’s Child and Youth Worker program, where they run an event called WALK (We All Love Kids).

“The students make a business case pitch as part of their lesson plan, and then we provide them with funding for some of the kids events and they come and volunteer with us as well,” Frechette says.

The Kiwanis Club of SSM recently contributed $100,000 to the Rosedale Park Revitalization Project, which will be opening this spring.

“We’re really excited about that,” Frechette says. “It’s the first state-of-the-art park that’s been built in the city since Bellevue Park.”

“We also partner with the Kiwanis Club of Lakeshore as much as we can to pool our resources. We did Rosedale together.”

Serving up delicious pancake breakfasts for nearly 30 years, the Kiwanis Club of SSM is gearing up to celebrate their 100th anniversary in 2026.

“We go through upwards of 40 litres of maple syrup each breakfast,” Frechette says. “I bet we’ve served over 200,000 pancakes since we started the event in the mid-1990s.”

The public is invited to stop by the Sugar Shack at 1100 Fifth Line East for all-you-can-eat pancakes from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays (plus Good Friday) between Mar. 18 and Apr. 9. 

Prices are:

• Adults: $12
• Seniors (65+): $10
• Kids (6-12): $6
• Kids (0-5): Free
• Cash only

Anyone interested in joining the Kiwanis Club of SSM is asked to email [email protected] or call Brad Frechette at 705-542-5438.