For years, one of the great events at Cheyenne Frontier Days has been the Pancake Breakfast. This wonderful free event originally started.in 1952 when General Chairman Jim Powers decided that something needed to be done in Cheyenne's downtown when the parades were not rolling. The HEELS were tasked with managing the event and the Laramie County 4-H Club provided the volunteer support. A house trailer was salvaged and converted into a griddle trailer featuring seven large gas-fired griddles, surplus from World War I. These griddles were eventually replaced but the trailer "Big Red" has continued its service ever since. From the beginning, square dancing, local and visiting military bands, Indian dancers entertained the crowds and the event became a "must see" event at Cheyenne. For its first ten years, the "Chuck Wagon Breakfast" was a comparatively small affair with fewer than two thousand people taking advantage of the community's generosity. In 1967, this began to change. In that year, CFD General Chairman Dick Pickett, decided to move the breakfast's location from in front of the Elk's Club on 17th Street to the parking lot of the Depot. In addition to "Big Red;' Pickett brought in the Kiwanis Club's own cooking grills that the organization used to perform mass feeding drills for Civil Defense. Members of the Kiwanis Club then supervised the 4-H volunteers to run the equipment. In the following year, Cheyenne Frontier Days asked the Cheyenne Kiwanis Club, the second largest in the world, to take over the Pancake Breakfast. When 4H elected not to continue with the event, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts joined in and have remained a part of the event ever since. In that year, 6000 people came to the event. This necessitated Dick Hutchinson to create a portable batter mixing machine that has been in use since that time. This was the first year where all the food was prepared on-site and not in the kitchens of the surrounding businesses. In 1971 Frontier Days became a ten day event and a third Pancake Breakfast was added to the itinerary. To handle the crowds, the event was held at 16th and Pioneer Streets in the city parking lot. In the year of our country's bicentennial, 26,000 people were served breakfast. The all time record was in 1996, Frontier Days' Centennial, when a total of 39,109 plates of pancakes, ham with syrup and butter were served in the six hours that the Pancake Breakfasts were held. Throughout it all, the Kiwanians kept up the breakneck pace - beginning each morning at 4:00 am to prepare the equipment. Not only have they been responsible for the food, but also the management of the friendly crowds and the picking up after the Guests. The legendary contribution that the Cheyenne Kiwanians provide for Frontier Days is nationally renowned and their expertise and equipment have been used at the Natrona County Fair and the Colorado Springs Labor Day Hot Air Balloon Festival. They have also been asked to serve breakfasts for numerous International Kiwanis and Lions Club conventions. In 2000, they were asked to take their equipment and help feed the crowd for the Today Show in New York City.