The Sentimental Journey hosted its pancake breakfast on Sunday, May 3, inside the hangar at the William T. Piper Memorial Airport.

With a large team of volunteers, the non-profit sold more than 500 breakfast tickets, with organizers noting people were already lining up as early as 7:30 a.m. to get their meals.

“We sold more than 500 breakfast tickets, and probably 550 breakfasts when you include our volunteers,” organizers Mike Jones, Esther Gardner and Sentimental Journey President Alan Uhler said in a joint statement.

They believe this was the biggest all-you-can-eat breakfast Sentimental Journey has sponsored in roughly a decade, and definitely long before the COVID-19 pandemic briefly paused operations.

PHOTOS PROVIDED Photos above and below show scenes from the Sentimental Journey pancake breakfast, held inside the hangar at the William T. Piper Memorial Airport.

The organizers said they had about 30 to 35 Sentimental Journey volunteers, many of them pilots who assist with the annual Fly-In. They also had eight Civil Air Patrol volunteers who assisted in directing traffic and ensuring cars moved around safely.

“We had a number of community people who have been helping us for years, like the folks who baked all the biscuits. They just come out and volunteer because they want to give back to the community,” the organizers said. “We also had great support from the airport staff.”

It’s estimated about 30 to 40 airplanes made the trip to the airport to take part in the breakfast.

“All those pilots and passengers needed to be parked and unloaded and moved safely across the tarmac. It really was a team effort to put on a breakfast as complicated as this one,” they said.

Prepping for the breakfast presented quite the challenge, which volunteers met.

PHOTOS PROVIDED Photos above and below show scenes from the Sentimental Journey pancake breakfast, held inside the hangar at the William T. Piper Memorial Airport.

“Getting an industrial location like an airport hangar ready for a fun and hygienic breakfast was a chore. We spent all day Saturday cleaning out the hanger, literally moving airplanes out of the way,” organizers told The Express. “We spent hours washing and polishing the floor of the hangar… set up approximately 30 tables and more than 200 chairs (and) set up all of the cooking equipment, the griddles, the deep fryer, the coffee pots and all the accessories that equipment needs.”

Volunteers began making homemade biscuits on Saturday, cooking all through the night. They also pre-cooked 250 pounds of sausage and prepped 30 bags of pancake mix along with 30 dozen eggs, 10 gallons of scrambled eggs and a large amount of coffee and orange juice.

“Plus then there’s butter, maple syrup and fruit cocktail… it really was quite ambitious, and an amazing value for just $12 a person,” organizers said.

Two waves of breakfast lovers helped the event become a blow out success. According to the organizers, the second wave of individuals came about 11 a.m. following a lull.

“We were really busy from 8 a.m. right up to about 10:30 a.m., then traffic dwindled a bit,” they said.

PHOTOS PROVIDED Photos above and below show scenes from the Sentimental Journey pancake breakfast, held inside the hangar at the William T. Piper Memorial Airport.

Organizers believed that may have been the end of it. However, they forgot a large number of Clinton County residents who would be exiting church that morning.

“Sure enough, once those services ended a second crowd of people washed in, and it was packed again all the way until noon,” they said.

All in all, the organizers believed the event was a major success and expected to generate over $5,000 in revenue.

“And all of those profits will go back into funding events and activities at the Fly-in coming up this June,” the organizers said.

The Sentimental Journey Fly-In will begin Tuesday, June 9, and run through Sunday, June 14. Sentimental Journey board members and volunteers expect it to be the biggest and best event in decades.

PHOTOS PROVIDED Photos above and below show scenes from the Sentimental Journey pancake breakfast, held inside the hangar at the William T. Piper Memorial Airport.

“It’s going to be the biggest and best Fly-in probably in 20 years, with spot-landing contests, Youth Aviation Career Day, a drone show on Friday evening, an all-you-can-eat Pig Roast on Saturday night, model rockets, powered parachutes, a motorcycle rally, bounce houses, face painting and much, much more,” the organizers said.

To keep up with the Sentimental Journey Fly-In visit www.sjflyin.com.