ELLY GRIMM

    • Leader & Times

A piece of recent Pancake Day history could soon be making its way to a local home.

A painting created by speed artist Annika Wooton will be making its way throughout town through early next year before being auctioned off. As Pancake Day Chair Kara Howery tells it, the idea was discussed last year.

"As a lot of people might remember, Pancake Day 2026 saw Annika do a speed-painting session during the breakfast program, and she captured a lot of the essence of Pancake Day on canvas, which turned out amazing. And because the painting is part of Pancake Day history now, and because we don't have the wall space for a 4' by 5' painting, we decided we wanted the painting to be out on the town so people could see every detail and every brushstroke for themselves that they might not have been able to see that day," Howery said. "As we were talking through everything, I suggested 'Why don't we try auctioning it off for Pancake Day 2027?' We want someone to have that piece of history in their own home. The painting is currently on display at City Hall at 324 N. Kansas Ave. and will be there through Nov. 20, and then it will move to Liberal Memorial Library at 519 N. Kansas Ave. from Nov. 23 through Dec. 14. After the library, it will be on display at Tortuga Brewing Company at 103 W. 2nd Street from Dec. 17 through Jan. 13, 2027, and then the painting's final stop will be at Baker Arts Center at 624 N. Pershing Ave. from Jan. 18, 2027 through Feb. 8, 2027. After it's displayed throughout town, the painting will then be auctioned off during the Pancake Day breakfast, which will be Feb. 9, 2027, with the money raised going toward future Pancake Day activities like the races and other traditions. Annika's painting is truly a one-of-a-kind piece of art, and it's truly its own entity unless she grants rights and all of that at some point in the future."

Howery said she and the Pancake Day Board are excited to show off the painting before it goes to its permanent new home.

"It's a very one-of-a-kind piece, and the chance for people to see it up close is really neat. I know a lot of people saw Annika while she was painting it onstage, but it's a completely different experience seeing it up close and seeing all the brush strokes and details she put in," Howery said. "It's a very unique painting, and Annika's a wonderful speed painter, so I think a lot of people would love to see it in public before it officially goes to someone else's home."

Howery added some details are still being worked out as far as how the bidding process will work.

"We're hoping to have a simultaneous auction, which means we would have it live at the Pancake Day breakfast as well as online so people can bid online. If that doesn't work out, we've also discussed having an option for proxy bids ahead of time, which I've seen with some other auctions," Howery said. "We definitely want to make sure it's available to anyone and everyone, we don't want anyone to miss out on a chance to at least bid on it – we can't guarantee you'll win, but we can make sure you at least have the chance to bid on it. Since this will be our first time doing something like this, we're kind of playing things by ear as far as how many bids we'll get and all of that. We want to have each Pancake Day be fresh and unique, we don't want it to be the same year after year, and think this will definitely help with that goal. As far as who all will bid and how much the painting will actually go for, we can't say, but I think it'll be really fun to see how things turn out because we have a lot of diehard Pancake Day fans in the area."

Even though it is only November, Howery said she and the rest of the Pancake Day Board are excited for the upcoming 2027 festivities.

"One of the new things we're going to have for the 2027 festivities is a three-legged race. In Olney for the 2025 or 2026 race, they had so many women sign up for the regular race that the officials couldn't accommodate them, so they offered the solution of doing the three-legged race at the same time as the regular race, which I imagine was a bit chaotic. And that three-legged race will be open to everyone – it can be two men, two women, a man and a woman, a pair of children, whatever the team happens to be," Howery said. "The only restriction we're placing on the three-legged race is if a woman is racing in the International Race, they can't participate because they can't be at the three-legged race starting line AND the International Race starting line at the same time. I'm also the chairwoman for the first time, and it's been a fun learning experience getting everything together for that. People should mark their calendars for Jan. 2 through 16, because that is when sign-ups for all the races will be happening. We'll also be doing the Flapjack Find again, which I hope a lot of people participate in, and I think we'll be making some changes to that."

Overall, Howery said, the next few months should be a lot of fun for the Pancake Day Board.

"I'm really excited we're doing this and showing off this great painting, and if anyone has any questions or anything about the bidding process, they can call the Pancake Day Hall of Fame at (620) 624-6423, and I'll be happy to answer them," Howery said. "And everyone should mark their calendars for Pancake Day 2027, it should be a great day!"