Every year on the day before Lent (Shrove Tuesday), the communities of Liberal, Kansas, and Olney, England, take part in a time-honored tradition: the Pancake Day Race!
Dating back 600 years in England, the pancake race began when “a woman engrossed in using up cooking fats (forbidden during Lent) was making pancakes. Hearing the church bells ring calling everyone to the shriving service, she grabbed her head scarf (required in church) and ran 415 yards to the church, skillet and pancake in hand and still apron-clad. In following years, neighbors got into the act and it became a race to see who could reach the church first and collect a "Kiss of Peace" from the bell-ringer (Pancake Day Story).”
In 1950, Liberal Jaycee President R.J. Leete saw a magazine photo of Olney’s pancake race and was inspired to race against them. The two communities have been racing annually ever since, and thanks to video calling capabilities, they are able to meet each year.
We were the sponsor of this year’s video call between the two racing locations. Elyse Torres, an operations support specialist in Liberal, represented Black Hills Energy at the event.
“We look forward to pancake day every year,” Torres said. “It’s a big event for Liberal!”
The International Pancake Day Race is still the only race of its kind on the planet. If you would like to watch this year’s video call between the two racing locations, visit International Web Chat | pancake-day-usa (pancakeday.net)
Positive Energy
-
A little moisture didn’t stop our team in York, Nebraska, from participating in the annual Yorkfest activities Sept. 10. “It rained on our parade, but we all had a good time anyway,” said York area Operations Supervisor Jeff. Several of our team members and their families showed up to take part in… -
Saluting Branches is a non-profit organization dedicated to recognizing and honoring veterans by having arborists donate free trees at national cemeteries across the United States. We had seven volunteers and were able to thin and shape eight flowering crabapple trees at Black Hills National… -
When United Way of Western Nebraska held a food drive recently, our employees were there to help. Jordan, Don and Brenan of our Sidney, Nebraska, office helped out by unloading food, setting up food packing stations, packing food items into bags and delivering food to families with food… -
Our mission is “Improving Life with Energy” – and part of that mission is sharing our personal energy to strengthen our communities. On a cold and blustery October day, members of the Webster City, Iowa, district volunteered their personal energy to help construct a soccer “mini-pitch” system at…