The Bristol Fire Department’s third annual pancake breakfast was a hit this year, bringing in nearly 200 hungry people keen for a hot breakfast on Saturday morning.
While many across the Pontiac were without power, the Bristol fire hall in Norway Bay was spared from the outages, and so the feast went ahead.
“This year we fed just a little over 190 people, which is almost double from last year, so we’re very impressed,” said fire department captain Alex Mahon.
“If you don’t got any power, you may as well go somewhere that does have it, especially if they’re going to cook you breakfast, eh?”
This was the department’s first breakfast in its newly renovated hall, which was still under construction this time last year.
Mahon said he was grateful to the community for the support it continues to show the department, noting this event raised just over $1,800.
“It’s humbling. The community always impresses us every year, over and over again,” Mahon said.
“We’re always trying to improve ourselves. Our fundraiser last year was to finish paying off our Jaws [of Life], and this year was to continue adding and improving our equipment for the extrication portion of our fire department.”
Firefighter Ken Bernard, who was on duty selling breakfast tickets Saturday morning, said a special thank you is owed to the many generous people who donated to the department that day.
Mahon said the department has recruited a handful of younger firefighters this year, bringing the department’s total to 23 members.
“We need the young blood,” he laughed. “You’re always looking for people that are willing to help, to go out of their way to give a hand, to see what needs to be done next. So not everybody can do what we’re doing. It takes a bit of filtering to find [a new recruit].”
