Rotary Club of Sarnia's Mackinac Race Pancake Breakfast. Photo courtesy of Carolyn Luciani. Rotary Club of Sarnia's Mackinac Race Pancake Breakfast. Photo courtesy of Carolyn Luciani.
Sarnia

No 'batter' way to watch Mackinac Boat Race

The smell of pancakes and maple syrup will fill the air along the waterfront Saturday.

It's the Rotary Club of Sarnia's 44th annual Mackinac Pancake Breakfast, which coincides with the Bayview Mackinac Boat Race.

The breakfast will be held 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday, July 12 under the Blue Water Bridge in Point Edward.

Rotary Spokesperson and Pancake Breakfast Chair Carolyn Luciani said the event will be held, rain or shine.

"We're are hoping to serve around 2,000 breakfasts, which is over 5,00 pancakes," said Luciani. "It's three pancakes for adults, two pancakes for children."

Cost is $10 for adults, $5 for children. Advance tickets are available online at rotarysarnia.com

"You can also buy tickets in person and you can get them at Degroot's, Pathways, the Inn of the Good Shepherd, and Manley's Basics," said Luciani. "Anybody who has advance tickets gets to go in the advance ticket line, which moves faster than the buy tickets at the gate line, so it's in your best interest to get tickets ahead of time."

Rotary Club of Sarnia's Mackinac Race Pancake Breakfast. Photo courtesy of Carolyn Luciani. Rotary Club of Sarnia's Mackinac Race Pancake Breakfast. Photo courtesy of Carolyn Luciani.

Luciani said money raised from the breakfast will support local charities, like Pathways.

"We normally raise anywhere from about $12,000 to $18,000," she said. "Pathways is celebrating their 50th year in business this year and it was our rotary club who founded Pathways.  So, we just gave them $160,000 to pay off our portion of the $600,000 we had given for the pool and we donated a parcel of land so now they have room to expand because they're running out of room where they are."

Around 190 boats are expected to take part in the 101st running of the Bayview Mackinac Boat Race Saturday, with the first boats crossing the starting line at 11:30 a.m., just north of the Blue Water Bridge.

Those going to Waterfront Park for a stack of pancakes are encouraged to bring along their own water bottle, plates and cutlery if possible.

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