ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
International Pancake Day is less than a month away, and prior to the annual celebration with Olney, England, some Liberal businesses are taking advantage of the festivities to drum up business by inviting customers through their doors to find flapjacks.
After a great start in 2024, the Flapjack Find is back for this year’s festivities, and the fun starts Feb. 17 and runs through Feb. 21, and organizer Nora Rubio said the event is simply another activity to enjoy as part of Pancake Day.
“It’s a way to give thanks to the businesses who advertise with us,” she said.
Rubio said there is no cost for businesses to participate, but the Flapjack Find will get people through the doors of local business searching for a pancake.
“The Flapjack Find is like a scavenger hunt,” she said. “The businesses that participate get a paper flapjack. They hide it somewhere in their business. They can get as creative as they want to with it.”
After participants enter businesses and find the flapjack, a representative from the business will sign a form saying the customer has found it.
“They turn it in whenever they’re done,” Rubio said. “They can visit all the businesses that participate or as many as they’re able to in that period, and they turn those forms in to the Hall of Fame. We have prizes we give away. The prizes depend on how many flapjacks they find.”
Rubio said she already has several businesses on board for this year’s Flapjack Find.
“They were excited from last year,” she said. “They had fun last year doing it. They were excited to do it again. I have several more. Last year was a tryout phase. Everybody loved it. This year, we’re trying to reach out to as many businesses as we possibly can.”
Rubio said the initial edition of the Flapjack Find in 2024 went great.
“Businesses loved it,” she said. “The participants loved it. They had fun looking. Some of the businesses were pretty creative in hiding the flapjack. They had a blast looking for it.”
With the Pancake Day celebration already having many festive activities, Rubio said the Flapjack Find is a great addition to the event.
“It’s fun,” she said. “We have Pancake Day festivities, which start that Saturday and goes through Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. This is before, so it gives people a little head start to thinking about Pancake Day.”
With the Flapjack Find taking place a couple weeks before Pancake Day, Rubio said this made for great timing of the event to get everyone excited for the celebration.
“We start this, and they’re already looking for it,” she said. “It gives them that period of time to visit as many businesses as possible. It takes them to the Hall of Fame. Everything Pancake Day is there. It’s something to get everybody started thinking about Pancake Day.”
Businesses who want to get involved with the Flapjack Find can contact a Pancake Day board member or the Hall of Fame.
“I have a list of businesses we are calling, but the more businesses the better,” Rubio said. “We want to get as many as possible.”
Prizes for the Flapjack Find come from the Pancake Day Hall of Fame, and Rubio, who also manages Mead Lumber, said all will be connected with the annual celebration.
“The businesses, if they choose to, can have we call a Golden Pancake,” she said. “If they choose to do that, they can pick anything they would want to give away with that. It’s a one-time find. Whoever finds it gets it. Last year, we participated in that, and we had a $50 gift card. Whoever found that, they got that gift card, and that was it. It’s only if they want to do that. They’re more than welcome to do whatever they want to.”
For more information about the Flapjack Find, call the Pancake Day Hall of Fame at 620-482-0466, visit the Hall of Fame at 318 N. Lincoln in Liberal, go to www.pancakeday.net, visit the International Pancake Day Facebook page, or contact any board member.
Rubio is excited for festivities to begin with both the Flapjack Find and Pancake Day itself.
“Last year, I didn’t have as much time to do it, but I had fun doing it and seeing the businesses being happy to participate and with the participants this year, calling them to see if they would want to participate again,” she said. “They want to do it again. We’re trying to make it bigger and bigger and get people into businesses.”
