2012 International Pancake Day

            Tuesday February 21, 2012

Nicole Schowengerdt, age 28 won both Liberal and International title with a TIME: 1:03.41 seconds

official sponsor for the Pancake Day events

Hall of Fame open by appointments only [2-1-09]

Pancake Day Merchandise Retail Prices 2012

News and Information:

2012 Talent Show Finalists announced

Liberal, Kansas— Area and local talent competed in the preliminary round Sat., Jan. 21, and the finalists for the 2012 Pancake Day Talent Show are as follows (finalists in each category are listed in random order):

Tiny Tot Division (ages 4-8):
Faith Beesley, Emma Evans, Tiny Troupe, Ashlynn Brady, Abigail Dowell, and Korben Clawson.

Junior Division (ages 9-13):
Gatlin Clawson, Krystain Piercy, Montana Beesley, Mini Troupe, Jordan Urban, and Walker Clawson.

Senior Division (ages 14-18):
Collin McClendon, Rylan Davis, Dance Images Dance Troupe, Sydney Mathews, Lauren Sarchet, and Hold Still.

Adult Division (ages 19 and older):
Mikayla Morgan, Renee Beesley, Heather Grant, Dinh Boys, Russell Almes, and Erik Rodriguez and Ivan Mendoza.

The Pancake Day Talent Show is slated for 7:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 20 in the James Maskus Auditorium at Liberal High School and will spotlight these 24 acts as they compete for trophies and prize money in four divisions. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Advance tickets may be purchased at the Tourist Information Center, One Yellow Brick Road; First National Bank in Liberal; or from talent show contestants. For more information, call 620-624-6423.

Olney, England, mayor to attend this year’s Pancake Day events

Liberal, Kans.— Special guests at this year’s Pancake Day events in Liberal will be the mayor of Olney, England, and his wife, Mike and Susan Hughes. The couple will be on hand for all events beginning Sat., Feb. 18 through Pancake Day itself, Tues. Feb. 21.
Mike Hughes has served as Olney’s mayor since 2009 and is also vice president of Olney Runners, a local running club. He says he “is actively encouraging all of the Olney participants in this year’s Pancake Race to run to win and then some,” and he added, “ to always lose to Liberal, can get somewhat tiresome … but there’s always this year !”

What is Pancake Day?
Many people are familiar with Mardi gras celebrations on the day before Lent. But in Liberal, Kansas, the day before Lent means just one thing – it’s Pancake Day.

The friendly little competition between Liberal, Kansas, and Olney, England, with women running down the streets of each town flipping pancakes, has been going on more than 60 years now. It is still the only race of its kind on the planet.

On Shrove Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012 at 11:55 a.m., the race goes on again, with the overall score standing at 36 wins for Liberal and 25 for Olney. In 1980 the score didn't count, because a media truck blocked the finish line in Olney.

It all started in 1950 from a magazine picture of the Olney women racing each other to the church. Liberal Jaycee President R.J. Leete contacted the Rev. Ronald Collins, Vicar of St. Peter and St. Paul's church in Olney, challenging their women to race against women of Liberal.

In Olney, the Pancake Race tradition dates back more than 500 years to 1445. 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 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 verger (bell-ringer.) The kiss is still the traditional prize in both races.

Racers must still wear a head scarf and apron and the runner must flip her pancake at the starting signal, and again after crossing the finish line, to prove she still has her pancake.

Winning scores have traded back and forth between the two towns. Last year’s winner was newcomer Nicole Schowengerdt, 28, of Liberal, who finished in 63.41 seconds. The record time was set in 2009, when Liberal's Tasha Gallegos won with a time of 57.5 seconds, breaking the previous record held by Liberal's Lisa Spillman since 2001. Spillman, a three-time winner, finished the 415-yard S-shaped course in 58.1 seconds that year. For a complete schedule of events or more information, visit our web site at www.pancakeday.net, find International Pancake Day on Facebook, or call 620-624-6423.

Time to enter Pancake Day Parade
If your organization is looking for some cash and wants to participate in an internationally recognized event, the Pancake Day Parade is for you. The annual parade, slated this year for 3 p.m. Feb. 21, serves as the culmination of the four-day celebration of Pancake Day events. This year’s theme is “Reach Within to Embrace Humanity.”
There is no entry fee, and any group or individual is invited to enter a float in one of the following divisions: commercial, non-profit, schools, antique automobiles, and antique equipment. Cash prizes of $150 for first place, $100 for second place and $50 for third place will be awarded in each division. Entrants do not have to live in Liberal.
The parade, sponsored each year by the Liberal Rotary Club, is set to begin at 3 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 21.
For more information, contact Larry Wells, parade chairman, at lom1@sbcglobal.net <mailto:lom1@sbcglobal.net> .

Entry forms are also available on the Pancake Day website at www.pancakeday.net.

in concert FFH to appear in Liberal for Pancake Day

Liberal, Kans.—Get your tickets now to see FFH in concert Feb. 18 in Liberal, Kans. The group FFH is widely known for radio and the Top 5 on Christian Hit Radio. numerous hits such as "Fly Away" and "Watching Over Me," which hit the number one spot on Adult Contemporary

The band, which formed in 1991 with four members, released six albums over the next few years and played more than 200 dates a year, according to the band’s web site. The band took a break in 2006, and members Jeromy and Jennifer Deibler, who are married, spent six months in South Africa working in a small church. They were soon in for more changes. Jennifer found out she was expecting the couple’s second child and Jeromy was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

In 2009, the Deiblers began performing again as FFH, this time as a duo.

“With a fresh perspective and a new sense of calling, Jeromy set about the serious task of creating ‘Wide Open Spaces,’ the first new FFH album in three years,” according to the web site. “Fans will instantly connect with Jennifer and Jeromy’s signature harmonies and classic FFH pop sensibilities. “We’re always going to sound like FFH,” Jeromy declares, “but lyrically I think ‘Wide Open Spaces’ is different from anything we’ve ever done. These songs rose from the ashes of struggle. You can’t sever your ties with friends, family, record label and management company, move to Africa for six months, come home, have a baby, be diagnosed with MS, and still write the same kind of songs you wrote before.”

Fans can read more about FFH on the group’s web site: www.ffh.net.

The Liberal concert is one of many events planned for this year’s International Pancake Day celebration and is sponsored by the Pancake Day Board, First Southern Baptist Church and the Liberal Ministerial Alliance. The concert is slated for 7 p.m. Sat. Feb. 18 in the James Maskus Auditorium at Liberal High School in Liberal.  Tickets are $7 in advance and $10 at the door. Seating is general admission. Advance tickets are for sale at the Liberal Tourist Information Center or online at www.fsbcliberal.com. For more information, call 620-624-6423.

 To purchase FFH tickets for the Christian Concert on Saturday,
February 18, 2012 please click on the following link:

http://www.itickets.com/events/275905.html

 front logo of 2012 IPD shirts

  back logo of IPD 2012 shirts