Victor Sammurtok School in Chesterfield Inlet hosted its 23rd annual Valentine's Pancake Breakfast on Feb. 21, with more than 100 people enjoying a tasty breakfast at the school.
Teacher Glen Brocklebank said about 120 people in town attended this year's breakfast.
He said the turnout wasn't as high as some years, but it was still pretty good.
“The community was well-represented by the people who attended,” said Brocklebank. “We had some health centre employees there, some hamlet employees and some housing employees attend.
“We had parents coming in to have breakfast with their kids and be in the school. Overall, it was open, welcoming and inviting.”
The breakfast diners got to enjoy included unlimited sausage and unlimited bacon, with local RCMP officers lending a hand by cooking all the sausage and bacon the day before the event.
Brocklebank said the two officers followed that up by coming in with some staff volunteers the following morning at 7 a.m. and started making pancakes.
He said breakfast was open from 8:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m.
“Our school is dairy free and we have to be very careful with what things are brought into the school and how things are prepared.
“We have to be totally dairy-free because we have someone with severe allergies, so we're extremely cautious with what's brought into the school.
“The two RCMP members did an incredible job on both the day before and the day of the breakfast, and then their family members came in and enjoyed breakfast with them.
“They were there the whole time and we had several other staff members helping out with the cooking, as well.”
Brocklebank said he still gets the same enjoyment from the breakfast after all these years.
He said he could feel the love at the gathering and had a huge smile on his face during the event.
“I like seeing people come together and I like seeing people enjoying themselves. And, of course, there's not a lot of things better than enjoying a meal that somebody else made and you didn't have to prepare.
“I certainly felt that the secret ingredient in all the food we were serving was love.
“The breakfast was a bit delayed this year. We haven't been able to do it on Valentine's Day for several years because of the way the calendar falls. It's been falling on professional development week for the teachers. This year it was a conference, so a lot of the teachers were away on Valentine's Day.
Brocklebank said it was discovered that some of the ingredients that were originally brought in for the breakfast this year most likely contained milk products, which resulted in the breakfast being delayed for awhile.
He said the delay may have resulted in some people thinking that the school wasn't having the event this year.
“We realized some of the sausage that we had brought in contained milk products, so it was a case of reordering and just being diligent. We want this to be an event that's enjoyed by everyone.
“We had originally planned to hold it on the ninth, but it ended up being the week after we got back from professional development. But, all in all, it was a great event that everyone who attended certainly seemed to enjoy, and that's what the breakfast is all about.”
