Where to Find a Good Pancake Breakfast.

The FHH Lions Club has been fixing a pancake breakfast every Saturday and Wednesday from late Spring to early Fall from 7-10 am since 1981. The Lions have a hall in the center of town across from the Mall and next to the Library. The Lions are pretty typical of the majority of the permanent residents of FHH. They are, well, old.

FHH being almost exclusively a retirement community eight months out of the year, most are over 60 and on a fixed income. Most of them have plenty of time on their hands: during the day, not necessarily in their life.

In 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2005 Fairhaven Harbor was named by the Arkansas Chamber of Commerce and the Governor's Office as the Volunteer City of the Year. It was not politics but a real flush of volunteers. The FHH Volunteer Fire Department (yet to save a burning house) by its very name is all volunteer. There are an abundance of volunteer EMTs, nursing assistances, food pantry workers, people who pick up cans, clean up the parks, plant flowers, work at the FHH Camber of Commerce.

At fireworks on the lake, there are people to direct traffic, help standed boaters and, cook hot dogs and hamburgers. There is usually a rock band playing songs on the Forth of July that they played originally in the 60's. They just take off their hearing aids now.

Yes sir, FHH has an abundance of volunteers. In fact, there are so many, that there is usually a long waiting list to get into most volunteer programs in the city. Fortunatey or un-, they don't have to wait very long to get to the top of those lists. Good thing too.

The real estate market is pretty much the same way. Herman Dollar, of B&D Real Estate, makes a dark living off that fact. If you see a house you like, even if it is not currently for sale, just wait a little while and it will come up on the market. Maybe talk to the owner's kid. Get a jump.

The Lion's Club main thrust has been providing glasses, eye care, eye doctors and eye surgery for children whose familiies can not afford to provide desperately needed medical attention for vision issues. This obviously is close to their hearts as I have yet to meet a Lion that wasn't wearing glasses. (See next photo) I'm surprised they don't also provide for kid's hearing and memory problems, ......as warm-hearted and caring as they are.

To many of the summer vacationers that tromp around FFH, the best part of the trip is getting up first thing Saturday morning and going to get pancakes at the Lion's Club. For only $3.75 a piece you get coffee, OJ or milk, two sausage patties and all the pancakes you can eat! The service is not quite up to the speed of "slow," but the meal and the experience are more than worth the wait.

I just wish they'd go ahead and raise the price to four bucks a head. It would be worth the extra two bits to not go through the torture of watching the drama involved of a 86 year gentleman fingering through the little black coin tray in a metal cash box (to deter theft). It should replace water-boarding.

He's looking for a quarter in the nickel section while his 71 year old Spring Bride keeps slapping him on the shoulder telling him to, "Hurry up, Lenny!" He almost ignorns her (years of practice?), "A nickel used'ta buy you a couple of gallons of Eythol back when I... off my back sweety!... was a teenager. Can't buy crap with it nowdays."

You grab a styrofoam plate, plastic fork and a couple of napkins then line up at the grill behind a large, long open serving window.

There is always one guy in charge of cooking the hotcakes. It may be an honorary title passed on from Head Pancake Maker to the next or just an interesting coinsidence: every Pancake Maker is named Joe. On top of that, (Maybe I'm just an outsider) everyone greets him with a hardy, "What'd know, Joe!" It's not stated as a question but it is always answered, "Pancakes my man (or young lady)! How many will you have!" Maybe its an inside joke.

The Lions have got it down pat. The batter is in a two gallon plastic pitcher with a large wide spout. It is either faded golden rod or avacado, which coincidently matches the appliances back in the kitchen. The banter is between guys in bright yellow vests.

There are always plenty of help back there, in fact it is packed. Their Lions vests are covered in patches from the orginal Lion Club cities they're from. But the kitchen crew all get to wear long white highly starched cotton aprons and tall white, plump muffen-looking chef's hats. They are a happy, if somewhat slow-motion, group of characters.

The kids are always excited by the cooking of the cakes part. Joe always cooks up Micky Mouse pancakes for them. One middle-sized pour for the head. Two smaller pours for the ears. After the flip, chocolate chips for the eyes and nose. If an adult asked for a Micky Mouse pancake, someone in the kitchen will sing out, "Silly rabbit!" without even turning their head. Joe explains that its just for kids.

The meeting hall/dining room is full of large round fold-up tables surrounded by metal fold-up chairs. Each table has a stack of folded paper napkins, a bottle of Mrs. Butterworth maple syrup and a dozen fresh fold-up State of Arkansas highway maps. Everyone knows that the syrup is not really Mrs. Butterworth's. The bottles are refilled from a five gallon can. The Mrs. Butterworth bottles just look better than a plain-jane syrup bottle.

If your lucky, seriously, Mr. Bobby (somebody knows his last name) will provide breakfast entertainment from the stage. The stage/speaker platform is a 10x20 foot raised section of floor only a foot high, at the far end of the room. Mr. Bobby has a Casio PX2000 sensi-touch, 240 voice keyboard with a 166 pre-set rhythm section. There is not a song from the Lawrence Welk Show that Mr. Bobby can not play, or hasn't in the last 18 years at this gig.

He always, as his last play of the morning performance, cranks out a rousing rendition of "Man of La Mancha." More than any other musician heard in this century, Mr. Bobby is masterful in the use of the pause. The sudden and unexpected drop of melody with just the sound of the electronic Caribbean rhythm keeps the heads bobbing and an ear turned for the eventual return of his magic fingers to the music. Like Don Quixote, his determination and faith in himself, his self assuredness, will eventually bring closure to the song.

With a full belly and a lift of spirits, the summer tourists in their fraded shorts, bad print tropical shirts and straw hats, kids, tubes and dogs all head out to the lake in mass. The best memories will be of a friendly place and pretty good pancakes. Best of all though, is a mess that didn't need to be cleaned up except to dump it all in a 40 gallon gray plastic garbage can. Pancakes at the Loin's Club is always the best way to start a fun-plenteous summer day in FHH.