Many longtime Rotary volunteers - too numerous to specifically mention - helped make the club's 57th Annual Pancake Day a flipping good time for all.newtownctrotary.org - or on the club's Facebook page.

But it was Dr Robert Grossman - "Doctor Bob" - who after 57 years under the chef's hat moved with experienced confidence through the Edmond Town Hall's Alexandria Room December 2, greeting friends while helping keep busy cooks and servers coordinated as hundreds and hundreds of hungry guests queued up for their stacks of flapjacks, sausage links, and breakfast beverages.

The popular event and staple of the annual Holiday Festival weekend was busier than ever, with many supporters coming in for their annual pancake fix.

The Nutcracker. In between, another crop of gifted performers from The Lathrop School of Dance Junior & Senior Dance Teams and its Dance Team Experience also lit up the Alexandria Room stage.

Many attendees also thrilled to the talent of young members of the Newtown Centre of Classical Ballet & Voice, who presented select numbers from 

As Santa Claus leaned down to take a few early orders from visiting children, Stan Kokoszka and his 89-year-old dad, Stan, Sr, dabbed butter on their pancake stacks and dug in.

"We have done this breakfast together for many years," the junior Mr Kokoszka said, adding "It's a real family tradition for my dad and me."

At another table, Mark Shaw looked like he was in the early stages of his own family tradition as he helped his daughters Gwenyth, 11, and Fiona, 7, douse their pancakes with maple syrup.

While the preceding evening's Ram Pasture tree lighting event serves as the official start of the holiday season in the Borough of Newtown, the Rotary's pancake breakfast has for years been fueling the multitudes who head up to Main Street for the many activities that commence the following morning.

Even newly seated First Selectman Dan Rosenthal was present lending a hand in the steamy kitchen as Rotarian Alan Clavette worked the griddle and Mary Griffin helped distribute the bounty.

The Rotary Club of Newtown is a service organization dedicated to bringing together local leaders to take action in bettering the world through humanitarian service. Members range from local business professionals to community leaders who believe that no single action is too small, and no great idea is too big.

The Newtown Chapter is part of an international family of more than 1.2 million members of 35,000 Rotary Clubs in 200-plus countries.

This allows local volunteers a unique opportunity to stretch their humanitarian reach to parts of the world far beyond Newtown, according to the club's website.

Learn more about Rotary and the Newtown Club's good works at