The annual Rotary Pancake Breakfast was held at the high school on Sunday, November 6th. This is one of their biggest and most successful fundraisers of the year.

The breakfast was a very successful turnout, with many generations of Struthers residents showing out and showing their support. For $8.00, customers received pancakes, sausage and eggs. The breakfast has been going on since the Rotary started in 1955. Since the mid 80’s, the proceeds have gone towards funding scholarships for the students.

The Rotary is a community organization, whose main purpose is giving back to and helping others.

Christina Bohl is the President of the Rotary and has been for three years.

“The Rotary is a community organization, where many professionals get together and work on service projects. We’ve supported a lot of small and large causes, like feeding the hungry, giving scholarships, supporting the Interact Club and donating to causes like polio, supporting efforts in Ukraine and so much more. We love being connected to the school and the Interact Club and are very appreciative of what these kids do for us, and as well as what we can do for them,” says President Bohl.

The breakfast has always been a way to give back to the students, especially the Interact Club students. The Interact Club was started at the high school in 1999.

Tom Baringer is the Executive Secretary of the rotary, who also is pretty involved in Interact.

“The Interact Club started in 1999, and my first recruit for the club was actually our current Mayor, Cat Circone. The club is all about community service, and they’ve always helped us with everything that we’ve done. Not only do they help us, but they also do their own volunteering,” says Baringer.

It was a well organized and planned event, with many high school students volunteering in one way or another; whether it was for basketball, scouts or Interact Club.

Nick Johnson, a sophomore, was one of the boys volunteering with the Scouts.

“I’ve been to the breakfast many times before, but this time it’s for volunteer hours. It feels pretty good to volunteer, and it isn’t too hard. We’ve been replacing the mats, wiping down tables, refilling drinks, cleaning up after people, doing dishes and all of that fun stuff,” says Johnson.

The breakfast brings people together from all over. It’s a nice annual community event. Every year, the high school cafeteria is full of both new and returning faces.
One of those faces is Struthers resident, Colleen Mayeux, who attends the event every year.

“I’m here today to have some delicious pancakes, and my family, and I attend every year. It’s to the point where we call the breakfast ‘time change pancakes.’ We enjoyed ourselves, and I’m glad we attended,” says Mayeux.