Fill up for a good cause this weekend at the Kalona Fire Station for their Pancake Day, an annual tradition since 1984. Department staff, spouses, family and retired volunteer firefighters will be on hand from 6a.m. To 1p.m. Saturday, April 2nd, serving a menu of pancakes, sausage and eggs for a freewill donation for dine-in or carry-out. This week, Kalona Fire Chief Jerry Zahradnek spoke with KCII news about those who work to make the event possible and how the proceeds will be used. “The firefighters will be doing most of the cooking and serving of the seconds. Make sure you don’t go away hungry. It’s a family affair to be honest with you. We have spouses and families that help and we invite retired and honorary firefighters back. There are some guys who have been doing the same job every year since 1984 when we started this thing. It’s all freewill donation we’ll have a boot inside for donations and we hope to fill it numerous times. All the proceeds will go toward a new pumper/tanker. We’re looking at getting a Class A Engine that holds 2,000 gallons of water. It will replace a 1988 tanker we have now that’s 1,500 gallons. Since it’s 1988 it’s pushing that 35 years and it’s time to be replaced. We’re probably going to finish up the specing (sp) portion of that in the next couple of months. Then it will just be taking the final bids and making a decision. We’re probably looking at about a 16 month build.”

Cost of the new truck is estimated to be between $400,000 and $450,000. The venue seats about 300 people and Zahradnek estimates the largest crowd served on a single day at the nearly 40 year old event is around 2,800 people.