Texas Lions Club says it has set new world record

2/22/09  A Lubbock Texas Lions club says it set a new Guinness World Record on Saturday when its club members served 66,549 pancakes to approximately 17,000 citizens.

The eight hour event, which began early Saturday morning, was held at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center.

The club expects to be granted the record title for its successful effort that it says topped the previous record of 34,818 set by the Kiwanis Club in Fargo, ND.

If the record is granted to the Lions Club, it will be the second time the club has been honored with the "flapjacks title".  

Lions Turkey Fundraiser A Thanksgiving Tradition

11/27/08  For the past 10 years the Giddings Breakfast Lions Club has worked to make holiday cooking easier for hundreds of Lee County households.

The Lions club has cooked hundreds of turkeys over the years, serving up over 200 this year alone. The club started the fundraiser in 1998 and despite the hectic holiday schedule, 30 - 40 club members volunteer for the project each year.

The effort begins at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday and lasts until 7:00 p.m. that night. They begin again at about 2:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, eventually completing the project at about 11:30 a.m. in time to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with their family and friends.

Approximately 15 hours of work, over 200 finished turkeys and lots of club camaraderie.

The event has grown over the years to the point that the club has invested in two, custom made frying vats that allow workers to cook 26 turkeys at a time. In the early days the men used large aluminum and stainless steel pots with small propane burners. The previous effort was slow and difficult, not to mention dangerous with the constant changing and disposing of the hot cooking oil.  

The new customized fryers are fashioned from high grade steel and hold 110 gallons frying oil. The birds are seasoned and dunked into the cookers for approximately 45-50 minutes. They are cooked to 170 - 175 degrees. The new cooker is designed so that the Lions can cook continuously - without changing the oil throughout the two day endeavor.  

Once the cooking process is complete another group wraps and stores the meat until it is picked up by the buyer. The Lions have accumulated a list of customers over the years, many who have purchased a Lions turkey every year for 10 years.

The Knights of Columbus building on the south side of Giddings serves to facilitate the fundraiser which continues to grow and fund Lions projects in the community.