No one really knows how long the Winchester Kiwanis Club has put on its annual pancake breakfast.

Whether its been decades or centuries, the service club is working on this year’s meal, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 2, in the fellowship hall at First United Methodist Church in downtown Winchester.

The menu remains similar for the all-hands-on-deck project, where hundreds of people can get their fill of pancakes, sausage, biscuits and gravy and the rest.

Event chairman Paul Rodgers recently spoke with the Winchester Sun about what goes into the event.

Winchester Sun: How long has the club done the pancake breakfast?

Paul Rodgers: I really don’t even know. There probably some people here who know more about it than I do. I’ve been here six years, but I bet its been 20 or 30.

WS: How many people will the club usually serve?

PR: As many as 400. I think we had 250 last year. We’re hoping for around 300.

WS: How are the funds from the breakfast used?

PR: The biggest thing we do it called Walk with a Child. That’s where we take kids to Walmart and buy them school clothes, shoes, pants, rain coats. Anything they would wear to school, we’ll buy it for them. The last several years, it’s been $80 per child. We spend $12,000 or $13,000. That translates to about 140 or 150 kids. We have placemats at the breakfast. To get your name on the placemat is an $80 donation. That’s about what we spend on one child.

WS: What does it take to pull off a breakfast for hundreds of people in one morning? When do you start planning?

PR: It takes about a month. The first thing we do is contact some of our big sponsors: Kroger, Save-A-Lot, Kentucky Poultry Federation, Rankin Paynter. They donate almost all the food. Then we sell place mat ads. We put up posters around town. People have already signed up to work Saturday morning.

WS: How much food will you use?

PR: We’ll go through about 30 pounds of pancake mix, about 20 gallons of milk, about 20 gallons of OJ, about five cases of sausage, a lot of biscuits.

WS: How many people from the club and others will show up to work?

PR: It’s one of the more fun events we have. It’s popular with all the club members. We’ll have former club members come and even people from out of town will come to hang out and have coffee. That’s the best part. It’s a community celebration, and for the club it’s just a fun time. We’ve done it long enough now people know what to do. I’ve found this with Kiwanis: many hands make light work. A lot of people pitch in. (Farley Stuart) is the sausage master. Alan Walters has the gravy. June Tompkins does the coffee. People have their station.

The breakfast will be from 7 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, at First United Methodist Church, 204 S. Main St. The menu includes pancakes, sausage and gravy, eggs, biscuits, orange juice, milk and coffee. Advance tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for children. Tickets at the door are $8 for adults and $6 for children. Advance tickets are available at Central Bank, Traditional Bank, Minuteman Press and any Kiwanis member.