{"id":326689,"date":"2026-07-02T00:19:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T00:19:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/326689\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T00:19:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T00:19:17","slug":"west-orange-serves-up-patriotic-pancake-breakfasts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/326689\/","title":{"rendered":"West Orange serves up patriotic pancake breakfasts"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a long line of hungry families stretch around Windermere Town Hall on the morning of the Fourth of July, Mayor Andy Williams takes pride in his community being like the perfect pancake \u2014 rare and made with care.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Williams, a fifth-generation Windermere resident, has been attending the town\u2019s annual Fourth of July pancake breakfast since the tradition began in the early \u201990s with charitable roots.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a fundraiser raising money for the Historic Preservation Board,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Town Hall at the time was in rough shape. It has evolved. It\u2019s grown and shrunk, and now it\u2019s definitely on the growing side again.\u201d<\/p>\n

No matter the size, Windermere and Winter Garden\u2019s patriotic pancake breakfasts always have been about celebrating patriotism and community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Jerry<\/p>\n

Jerry Fay has volunteered for Windermere\u2019s Fourth of July Pancake Breakfast for the past 30 years.<\/p>\n

File photoWindermere Fourth of July Pancake Breakfast<\/p>\n

While Windermere\u2019s breakfast began as a fundraiser, it has remained focused on bringing residents together. Running from 9 to 11 a.m., the breakfast now is free to attend, allowing town families to enjoy a morning of food and connection.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great community event that\u2019s smaller,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIt\u2019s not like a food truck (night), where you\u2019ve got 1,000 people there. The impact is really on the town residents. We see a lot of people walking and biking up that morning for the event. They come straight from their \u2026 house, and they\u2019re not having to get in the car to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even with the small-town appeal of the event, it continues to draw more residents. Last year had the largest turnout yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went through 30 gallons of pancake batter,\u201d Williams said. \u201cWe normally have at least a bucket left over that we end up donating to Edgewood (Children\u2019s) Ranch, but last year was the first year we ran out, and nobody really understands why. We didn\u2019t do anything different.\u201d<\/p>\n

With hungry mouths to feed, making the perfect pancake isn\u2019t always possible, but when it does, it\u2019s special.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is patience,\u201d Williams said. \u201cThe griddle can\u2019t be too hot or the pancake burns and it\u2019s raw in the middle. It can\u2019t be too cold, because they just don\u2019t cook all the way through. In the line of people, that perfect pancake doesn\u2019t happen all the time, but when you do see it, it\u2019s special like our events.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much like creating the perfect pancake, Williams said living in Windermere requires patience and effort.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a special community to live in,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIt\u2019s not easy, but people who want to live in Windermere do it for the people that are here. They love their neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams said Windermere\u2019s dedicated group of about 50 volunteers is the driving force behind the pancake breakfast. Williams said the events such as the Fourth of July Pancake Breakfast often feel like a high school reunion.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot every community is small enough to have this kind of event, where so many people know each other,\u201d Williams said. \u201cOur event, our residents, they walk in, and it\u2019s akin to walking into a high school reunion. Where you can\u2019t take but five steps without running into someone you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Last<\/p>\n

Last year, Lila Miller, 10 months at the time, enjoyed the Winter Garden All-American Kids Parade & Pancake Breakfast with her mom, Ale.<\/p>\n

Photo by Michael EngWinter Garden All-American Kids Parade & Pancake Breakfast<\/p>\n

Winter Garden Masonic Lodge No. 165, in partnership with the city of Winter Garden, also is hosting an Independence Day celebration, the 22nd annual All-American Kids Parade & Pancake Breakfast.<\/p>\n

Ken McGowan, secretary of the Winter Garden Masonic Lodge, said in the breakfast and parade\u2019s 22nd installment, it has the same mission to invite families to eat, decorate and show their patriotism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Starting at 8 a.m., the lodge offers free breakfast to children under 12, first responders and veterans. All other attendees make an $8 donation. Then at 10 a.m., the red, white and blue-decorated bikes and riders parade the streets of Winter Garden.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In its early installments, the parade and breakfast drew in no more than 150 people, McGowan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we first started, we had a small trailer on the side of the lodge that we would pull up and our speakers would stand on, and all the kids and people would meet on the side,\u201d McGowan said.<\/p>\n

Since its humble beginnings, the annual event has grown and continued to unite the Winter Garden community. This year, more than a dozen charities and groups are supporting the event.\u00a0For McGowan and the Masonic lodge, the community impact makes it even more meaningful.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just brings the community together,\u201d McGowan said. \u201cWhat we do as a lodge is the majority of what we do is community-based, bringing families together. The Fourth of July lets us all get together to celebrate our country, spend time with our kids and do something fun with them. They love the parade.\u201d<\/p>\n

McGowan described the event as a celebration of \u201ccommunity, family and patriotism.\u201d The breakfast serves as an opportunity for residents to come together and enjoy the holiday with their neighbors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a way that we can show masonry in its truest form,\u201d McGowan said. \u201cDoing charitable work and bringing the community together and bringing families together to enjoy a morning and putting away everything else. We really have a good time with that, just the success of everybody coming out and getting involved and just having a great morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Windermere and Winter Garden, community is the backbone of these sparkling Fourth of July celebrations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the Fourth of July, we all have pride about our country, and we have those patriotic feelings,\u201d Williams said. \u201cThat\u2019s the first part of it, and I think everybody coming together with the same feelings, you appreciate the town you live in, the community you\u2019re a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

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