by Nel Lampe
The aroma of pancakes filled the air early June 20 as hundreds of people lined up at serving stations manned by Fort Carson Soldiers. Paper plates were filled with pancakes and scrambled eggs. Another Soldier ladled maple syrup over the hot pancakes. The diner chose coffee, milk or orange juice from a table and headed for an empty straw bale set up on Pikes Peak Avenue, between Nevada Avenue and Tejon Street, during the annual Pikes Peak or Bust Street Pancake Breakfast.
Local citizens, tourists, cowboys, cowgirls, Soldiers and Airmen rubbed shoulders with bankers and business owners. "Chute Nine" provided music for diners as they waited for the Range Riders to start their 57th traditional ride.
For more than 50 years, pancakes and eggs have been cooked up and served by Fort Carson Soldiers. The project took a lot of planning and coordination, according to Sgt. 1st Class Veronica Trueblood, dining facility manager at Warhorse Dining Hall. She is in 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
She met several times with the Sertoma Club to plan the menu and to arrange logistics. The Sertoma Club arranged for refrigerated trucks filled with necessary supplies to be at the breakfast site when the Soldiers arrived.
It takes a lot of pancakes and eggs to feed 7,000 hungry diners. According to Trueblood, that's 14,000 eggs and enough pancake mix for 14,000 pancakes - about 1,000 pounds of mix.
Trueblood said 39 cooks and 40 detail Soldiers left Fort Carson at 1:15 a.m. June 20, along with needed equipment to set up a cooking and serving area in the middle of Pikes Peak Avenue. The group took 30 Modern Burner Units, which were used to heat the grills.
The cooks set up the field kitchen, started the coffee, then began making pancakes. Breakfast was ready at 5:30 a.m. for the Range Riders to be served, then Soldiers began serving pancakes to anyone in line.
To keep up with the crowd, Trueblood said pancakes were also put in a warmer so servers didn't get behind when the lines were long.
The Street Breakfast had been prepared by the 43rd ASG dining hall the past few years, and 10 cooks from 43rd ASG lent their experience and expertise to the breakfast, along with four cooks from the 4th Engineer Battalion and 25 cooks from 2nd BCT. Thirty Solders from 2nd BCT and 10 Soldiers from 4th Engineers helped serve and performed other duties during the Street Breakfast.
"The Soldiers wanted to do this (Street Breakfast). It's a great learning experience for some of our new cooks and a refresher for Soldiers who haven't cooked for awhile," said Trueblood. "It's also good training for the dining facility.
"Soldiers were excited to do something for the community," she said.
About 8 a.m., 160 horses and riders from the Range Riders, led by members of the Fort Carson Mounted Color Guard made their way west on Pikes Peak Avenue. A few special guests, such as Maj. Gen. Robert W. Mixon, commanding general, Division West, First Army and Fort Carson, and Command Sgt. Major Terrance McWilliams, Division West, First Army and Fort Carson, rode off to the cheers of the crowd.
The breakfast, sponsored by Centennial Sertoma Club and the Range Riders, kicked off the rodeo season and the "Range Ride." Breakfast proceeds go to local and Fort Carson charities.