Jeff Houston was patiently waiting for the pancake batter on the grill to bubble up before flipping the cakes over.

Houston has been manning the griddle for the past 15 years for the annual spring pancake breakfast put on by the First United Methodist Men and Women’s organization.

Mixing up the batter in the kitchen off the parish hall at the Ironton church was Ironton native Chris Gleichauf who with his wife Patty, came up from their home in Georgetown, Kentucky, to work the breakfast as they do each year.

“This is a chance for people to get together and a chance to work together,” Gleichauf said on why the annual event is so popular.

Gary Belcher said its popularity is the reason it is so easy to go out into the community and get advertising support for the placemats used that morning.

“They support us each year,” he said. “Our advertisers are so nice.”

The proceeds from the breakfast go each year to Ironton school district students in need at Christmas time. Another annual event the church conducts is a spaghetti luncheon each fall. Proceeds from that go to the Harvest for the Hungry food pantry.