ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Pancake Day 2026 is rapidly approaching, and one of the main events of the day seeking participation is the Pancake Day Parade.
The Pancake Day Parade will be at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17, and it is the true wrap-up to all the Pancake Day festivities including the flipping and eating contests, the community breakfast, the races, etc. The parade will start at Trail Street and then go north. The five divisions are Commercial, Non-Profit Organizations, Schools, Antique Automobiles & Equipment, and Motorized Vehicles, and the judges will score the entries on originality, creativity and effort.
“It's an overall great way to wrap up all the Pancake Day fun, and the Rotary Club's been in charge of the parade since the beginning, and it's always a fun time for everyone who comes out,” Pancake Day Chairman Mike Brack said. “With everything being in February, we will take into consideration the weather, and we will give advance notice if it's supposed to be nasty. We had to cancel the parade last year, and it really is a sad deal when we have to cancel, because a lot of work goes into planning the parade and getting signs made and floats made, and the bands practice the music to play when they march.”
Brack said he hopes to see a lot of participation in this year’s parade.
“Floats are great. They're a lot of work, but they really are crowd-pleasers. They get a lot of attention for whatever group the float is representing. And people can also do cars, they can decorate a pickup like the cheerleaders from Liberal High School and the middle schools, like the wrestling teams, the soccer teams, all of those groups,” Brack said. “If an individual or group/entity/church has the time and the and the money to decorate a float for their organization, that's great, but we don't expect everybody to do a float. We like to have lots of representation of our of our activities and civic groups in the in the community, it's always great to see a lot of participation. As chairman for Pancake Day, I would love to have every area band participate in Pancake Day. As a school board member, I know Liberal's the only school district in the area that's lucky enough to have off that day. It's a fun time to be part of our community, whether you're in the parade or you're on the sidelines watching and catching candy or footballs or whatever treats that happen to be thrown out.”
With that in mind, Brack added those interested in putting together a float should sign up sooner rather than later.
“Anyone wanting to enter a float can go to pancakeday.net to get the entry form for the Pancake Day Parade. Another big thing I'm looking for is convertibles for the International Race winner, the Men's Pacer Race winner, the chairman and other dignitaries,” Brack said. “We've got a motorcycle club in town, we've got several car clubs in town, so if any of those groups would be interested in participating, we'd love to have them. I like to watch and look at the classic cars, I know how much work goes into restoring those types of vehicles.”
Along with float participation, Brack said he hopes the community will come out and see everyone in the parade.
“It's a great way to be part of the community and have a good time with your family. Liberal is a big a big community, and you can go someplace and see new faces you don't recognize and faces of friends and others you know,” Brack said. “I was amazed at the Christmas Parade at the number of people I recognized from either work or from going to school events, church. It's just a great way to be around neighbors and friends and have a good time. It's a great tradition for Liberal, and it's one of the longest that I know about that's been around in a smaller-town USA since 1950. We're a rarity in that regard, because not a lot of traditions like this continue to this day, so it's a big deal. I want everybody to be able to participate and share the tradition with people who might be new to our community. I meet so many people who have been new to the community, and they talked about what how exciting it was to go to their first pancake eating contest, or the first parade, or going to the race itself to see the kids run or the crazy mascots. Everyone gets to see how much hoopla goes on for the international race, right like the special tray, the flowers, the cape, the tiara, and the big Shriving Service at First United Methodist Church.”
Brack added he hopes for good conditions for this year’s parade.
“With the parade, we just pray for nice weather. The Rotary Club has been part of the Pancake Day tradition since the beginning, and they've always been in charge of the parade,” Brack said. “It's different now without Al Shank being our emcee for the races and the parade, but we honor their participation over the years by continuing to do our best. We get to carry on this tradition and have a good time and shine a light spirit to this wacky, crazy idea RJ and Virginia Leete came up with. I've thought multiple times back to what it would've been like to be a fly on their wall when he was trying to convince his wife this needed to happen in Liberal. Everything got started by writing letters back and forth, and everything had to go through the U.S. mail back then to England, and it took a long time to get mail there, and those types of phone calls were expensive, and sometimes couldn't go through because the lines were cluttered. As a kid in the 1970s, I remember sitting in the lobby of First National Bank waiting for the operator to get a line over to Olney, and I find it crazy how much Pancake Day has evolved throughout the years.”
Overall, Brack said, he expects another successful parade.
“When I get to that 60-entry level number with the applications, I know it's going to be a good parade. It's so disheartening when bad weather happens, like last year, because I've got to contact all those people. But if you want to enter a float, or if you just want to walk the parade is as a neighborhood group, that's also great. There are also cash prizes for the winners of each category,” Brack said. “Anyone wanting more information about anything Pancake Day 2026 can go to pancakeday.net. All the schedules are there, and our merchandise is also on there if anyone wants to buy anything. I'm also excited for the Dignitaries Reception, that has just turned out to be a great, great event. Baker Arts Center does such a good job hosting that event, and they've always got an interesting art exhibit going on that time. I have to give them a shout out. I also have to give thanks to our board, they work so hard throughout the year getting everything organized.”
