The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Treat dad to breakfast on his special day
Gather on the grounds of the Lake County History Center for site’s traditional holiday pancake breakfast
Because many folks seem to agree things taste better when cooked outdoors, the Father’s Day Pancake Breakfast at Lake County History Center is a potentially fun, inexpensive choice to start Dad’s day.
It takes place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 17 on the history center’s 8-acre grounds at 415 Riverside Drive, Painesville Township.
“You can bring Dad out for pancakes and also tour the museum for free and see our galleries of Lake County history,” said Lea Filson, new executive director for the Lake County Historical Society, which runs the center.
If it’s a nice day, there are plenty of picnic tables where the whole family can eat outdoors, but there’s also lots of indoor dining space in the barn and other outbuildings surrounding the stately 1875 museum building housing center offices and exhibits. Built as the county home and serving that function and others for well over a century, it’s now the repository for the rich history of Ohio’s smallest county.
Vintage cars from the Model A Club will be displayed for dads and others on Father’s Day.
Current exhibits include the “Crown Jewelers,” framed around John Rich Jewelers, at 60 years the oldest familyowned business in Lake County; and “Marvelously Mod Mid-Century,” a display of women’s clothing from the ’60s and ’70s. Exhibits on 19th-century medicine and a tribute to World War 1 on the hundredth anniversary of U.S. involvement are also on display, along with “The Takashimaya Kimono” — a lesson in museum research and conservation.
Reservations for breakfast are a good idea if you wish eat together with the entire family. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 3 to 11. Reservation deadline is June 14. Call 440-639-2945.
The breakfast long has been a tradition at the history center, with 15 Father’s Day Breakfasts in the past. It’s an undertaking that this year involves at least 35 volunteers to set the tables, cook, serve and clean up afterward. About 150 breakfasts are expected to be served, but a final count won’t be known until the reservation deadline June 14.
Pancakes hot from the grill will be served along with sausage and juice, coffee, tea or milk.
Raffle tickets, at $1 each, will be sold for a pair of 10-episode miniseries sets meant to appeal to most dads: the five-disc set “Jazz-The Story of America’s Music,” by Ken Burns, and the sixdisc set “The Pacific,” which examines World War II through the eyes of several Marines. Also to be raffled are tickets to Lake County Captains games and a large halogen light said to be ideal for use in the garage.
Dads among the breakfast volunteers will each get a raffle ticket.
The blueberry syrup created by volunteers will be back.
“We couldn’t have our Pancake Breakfast without our blueberry syrup — it’s everyone’s favorite,” said volunteer Dick Frey. “This year we will also offer strawberry syrup.”
If it’s a nice day, there are plenty of picnic tables where the whole family can eat outdoors, but there’s also lots of indoor dining space in the barn and other outbuildings surrounding the stately 1875 museum building housing center offices and exhibits. Built as the county home and serving that function and others for well over a century, it’s now the repository for the rich history of Ohio’s smallest county.