Plum Creek Masons plan first fundraising pancake breakfast

If the enticing aroma was any indicator, plenty of hungry folks are in for a treat when Plum Creek Lodge 799 Masonic Hall hosts its first-ever fundraising pancake breakfast.

“This is actually our trial run today, to figure out any kinds of problems that we might have or anything that we need to tweak,” event organizer Wayne Ehlinger said on March 6, as he and fellow Masons filled the hall with the smell of sizzling bacon, pork sausage and, of course, hotcakes.

The breakfast is scheduled from 8 a.m. to noon April 22 at the lodge, 9521 Saltsburg Road, Plum. The cost is $10 for all you can eat, plus juice or coffee, and even better for families, children are welcome to partake for $5.

Although the event marks the group’s inaugural pancake breakfast, members have plenty of experience with food sales, serving french fries cut from fresh Russet potatoes at events including Plum Community Days and the Export Ethnic Food and Music Festival.

Proceeds from such efforts go toward fulfilling a goal of the world’s oldest, largest and most widely known fraternal organization: “The Masonic Way is to give without remembering and to receive without forgetting.” Lodge 799 supports the likes of Plum Community Library, a program to provide care packages for overseas troops, and local Boy and Girl Scouts.

“We’ve had this building used as a dropoff for their cookie sale,” Mason Robert Babb said about the latter. “We pulled an 18-wheeler in here and unload, and had different troops come and get their cookies.”

To help instill an early sense of philanthropy, he said, the lodge also supports the three long-standing Masonic youth groups:

• International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, which celebrated its 100th anniversary last year and focuses on leadership training through community service.

• DeMolay International, founded in 1919 for young men ages 12 to 21, featuring opportunities for dedicated mentorships and hands-on life-skill programs.

• Job’s Daughters International, begun in for ages 10 to 20, with a mission “to create confident young women, respect tradition and shape the future.”

Regarding the pancake breakfast, the Lodge 799 has space for a maximum of 175 people. And if the weather cooperates, guests can take their meals outside to a picnic shelter, which may come in particularly handy for families with young children.

The lodge is available for rental, with full access to its spacious, well-equipped kitchen.

As is the case with a variety of service organizations, the Masons seek new members to help continue the tradition of giving back, and to socialize with like-minded individuals.

“It’s one of the best groups of guys that I know, to be honest,” Jason Bocianoski said. He is serving as this year’s worshipful master, overseeing Lodge 799’s activities.

Whatever those may be, many of the Masons are ready and willing to participate.

“We’re all brothers, and we treat each other like a brother,” member Ed Morris said. “As brothers, we volunteer wherever we can.”