Pancake Day: A Christmas Tradition (& Our Five Year Anniversary!)
Whether it's the arrival of fall with the Loblolly Festival, the ushering in of the summer heat with Day in the Park, our city has a way of celebrating ordinary things— extraordinarily. Christmas is no exception.
On the first Saturday in December, the sizzle of hot grills and the aroma of doughy batter transforming into round, golden pancakes fill the streets of downtown. Long lines of laughing neighbors and families with bundled-up children form along the edges of the YMCO and First Baptist Church to get their stack of all-you-can-eat hotcakes.
Erin shares, "If you've ever lived in Laurel, you know the magic of Pancake Day. The early morning hours on the first Saturday in December are spent in line on Oak Street at the door of the old YWCO for pancakes and sausage, along with every person I've ever known in my life. Everyone shares tables with old friends, cousins, aunts, and uncles who've been doing this since they were young, too. In a few short hours, Mississippi's longest Christmas parade rolls through downtown, and Laurel becomes something you only see in the movies."
Pancake Day festivities usually prelude the Downtown Laurel Christmas parade, the longest parade in Mississippi. This year, the Christmas parade will roll through downtown on the Friday night of December 1, 2021.
In her interview with Good Grit magazine, Erin says, "Everyone you've ever known in your whole life is inside, having all-you-can-eat pancakes, sausage, and coffee — gossiping, hugging, laughing, hollering. It's like getting to be a child all over again every year. It never feels old; it always feels like Christmas should feel. Like home, I guess."
Pancake Day is a scene from a classic Christmas movie, and it's no coincidence that Laurel Mercantile Co. opened its doors on this special day almost five years ago. What better way to usher in a birthday than with endless pancakes?
Join us this Pancake Day by purchasing your ticket from any Kiwanis Club of Laurel member for $6 or at the door for $7. Stay tuned to learn more about our #FiveYearAnniversary plans on December 2, 2021.
Erin designs each LMCo. candle to represent an important or nostalgic smell.Now you can get into the Pancake Day holiday spirit with the Pancake Day candle.
She says, "We've labored to find the perfect notes of real maple syrup with just a smidge of smokey fire that reminds me of winter days growing up at my grandparents' cabin with the men cooking sausage and bacon in cast iron over an old wood-burning stove."
