"Hey, I want one of those" I thought (and my stomach rumbled) as I passed a sign in Naperville promoting a pancake breakfast last week. Days later,  I received an invite from Kiwanis Club member Debbie Breihan on Facebook to attend one.  And just like I believed I sprinkled the stars across the sky with a wave of my arm, I willed a Pancake Breakfast! Okay, not really.  The Pancake Breakfast was real, not my ability to will it.

We arrived at Lisle Junior High around 8:30am and the smell of pancakes cooking on a griddle nearly knocked me over with hunger pangs. Kiwanis Club members were ladling pancake batter and cooking up breakfast sausage in the kitchen.

Lisle High School students and Key Club members Jeff Chan and Ben Buchelt, and Lisle Teens With Character member Jake Haseltine, were working the kitchen line. Chan, a freshmen at Lisle Senior High obliged my son's request for “five pieces of sausage with my pancakes, please!”

As I struggled to capture a few kitchen moments on film, Drew and Troy Martin politely let my boys go ahead of them in the pancake line. (Somehow being with the “photographer” afforded them a weaseling through of the line.) I can’t really blame them, it all smelled delicious. After you got your plate, you turned the corner to a table of toppings that included blueberries, strawberries, whipped cream and sprinkles. There were also assorted juices and milk. The meal was free with a completed colored page distributed at area elementary schools earlier in the week; it was a deal.

There were great raffle prizes as well. For $5 you got to drop six tickets into the prize bucket of your choice to win. District 202 school board member and community volunteer Kari Altpeter ran the table. Prizes included a one-year family membership to the Morton Arboretum, passes to Sea Lion Aquatic Park, golf outing with golf cart rental and gift certificates to Country House Restaurants, to name a few.  Junior high students were also on hand to lend their artistic abilities in free face painting.

Kiwanis Club members Fred Haber, Jim Paryl and Bob Stewart manned the coffee table (an important stop for this contributor and mom with a busy Saturday ahead).  As I turned around to locate my dining guests, I had to stop. The place was packed with the Lisle community and in every direction I turned, I saw a familiar face. Attendees raise more than $2,000 for Kiwanis programs in just a few hours.

After inhaling his pancakes (and all five pieces of sausage), my son joined his friends for “open gym” with basketball and bean bag games, while I got to sit and visit with other parents.

The Kiwanis Club of Lisle is seeking news members to join their community service organization. Kiwanis supports community programs such as Sharing Connection, FISH food pantry, PADS, provide meals to needy families around the holidays, scholarships to high school students and so much more. Visit  for more information on other programs the Lisle Kiwanis supports and on how to get involved in this great service organization in our community. http://www.kiwaniscluboflisle.org/