Brewer - There were many Veteran's Day ceremonies and celebrations around the area Monday.

Things got underway early with a 7:00 am pancake breakfast at the Brewer Auditorium.

"This is a fun day, our club, the Bangor Area Breakfast Rotary Club, all of our members support this event," said Jay Muth the Chairman of the Pancake Breakfast Committee. "They're all here today whether they're cooking, serving, or cleaning up. Our club looks forward to this event."

They also look forward to serving a lot of food to Veterans and their families, including piles of pancakes.

"Thousands, and we're gonna serve gallons of coffee, and gallons of maple syrup," Muth figured. "We'll cook about a hundred pounds of sausage."

Veterans ate for free and got a DVD Copy of the documentary "The Way We Get By".

And according to Muth, area kids in grades K-through-3 in Bangor and Brewer schools will benefit from the money raised. "We're hoping to raise five thousand dollars from this event and all of that money will be used to buy warm clothing for the Keep Kids Warm program."

But the more immediate impact is to say thank you to those who've served like Medway's Merle McLaughlin who served in Vietnam. "When I came back from Vietnam, how we were treated is a lot better situation now. It's really nice we really appreciate it."

"This is a great way for us to just thank the Veterans for their service to our country by offering them, you know, one day a year we're offering them a free breakfast," said Muth. "It's the least we could do."

Portage Lake's Rudy Buitron who served two tours in Vietnam as part of his 21 year Army career said "I just want to thank everyone for their support they've given the troops and the attendance we've had here throughout the USA."

In the first four years of the pancake breakfast the Rotary has been able to donate nearly $20,000 to their Keep Kids Warm program.

Print this Story