Order Up: Rotary Club Flips for a Cause
November 3, 2025
• The local service organization took over an elementary school cafeteria for its annual pancake breakfast fundraiser.
Flipping pancakes in the kitchen at Newman Elementary, you learn one key rule very quickly: Don’t mess with Ted Shaughnessy’s griddle. No add-ons, no special requests — Mickey Mouse ears (when you add two small pancakes on top of another) are a no-no.
“Somebody had asked for chocolate chip pancakes or something, and Ted was very against the idea,” Rotary Club member Bill Paulson recalled. “He figured it would mess up his grill.”
And still, families lined up in the cafeteria, the morning after trick-or-treating, to feast on unlimited stacks of flapjacks and sausages. The breakfast staples were served alongside juice, butter and syrup, and the simplicity, Shaughnessy said, is the key.
He and other Rotary Club members anticipated making about 1,200 pancakes for between 200 to 450 people Saturday morning. To keep up with demand, they cooked pancakes and sausages ahead of time and kept them on warming trays.
Shaughnessy rotated between three griddles, waiting for the moment to flip. Since Needham Rotary’s first pancake breakfast more than 30 years ago, he’s become quite the pancake chef.
“When the bubbles stop, that’s when you’re ready to flip,” he said, watching six pancakes sizzle, spatula in hand. “And when they’re flipped, they don’t need much time at all.” He pressed down on each cake, which he said is the key to an even cook.
The proceeds from the annual breakfast benefit local, regional and international charities. In Needham, that will go toward flowers for residents in nursing homes, travel abroad for Needham High School students, leadership awards for students and work at the Needham Community Farm, among other causes.
The pancake fundraiser is a tradition among Rotary chapters around the world, Paulson said, and they aimed to raise about $4,000 to $5,000. But it’s not so much about the money.
“We don’t make all that much money on it, considering the amount of work we put into it, but it’s a great community event,” he said. “We really love seeing the people come and enjoy the pancakes and play the games and climb on the fire truck.”
Paulson, who manned the children’s games, stopped by the school Halloween night to set them up. It’s the first time in recent memory that the breakfast landed on Nov. 1, he said. The event is held on the first Saturday of November.
Before anyone arrived, Rotary ran into a slight dilemma: They had requested about six five-gallon pails, similar to last year, but the Newton Marriott, which provides the batter, only gave them two. A volunteer rushed out to Restaurant Depot for reinforcements.
The breakfast is a succinct operation. Scott MacFarlane was the quality control, mixing the batter to prevent lumps and ensuring a soft pancake. The batter is then poured into dispensers, which the cooks use to measure out the perfect-sized cake.
“Everybody’s got a different job here,” MacFarlane said. “The two chefs here make sure they’re not overcooked and they’re not undercooked. They cook them perfectly.”
They then stack them onto trays, which make their way to the front of the kitchen, where local officials serve up hungry customers. Select Board member Kevin Keane and state Sen. Becca Rausch took the first shift at 8 a.m.
“The key to efficient pancake service is to stack them in groups of three in advance,” Rausch said. “Three is the most popular pancake number, so then, when people come in, you just take the stack, and boom.”
Select Board Chair Heidi Frail and member Cathy Dowd took over in the second hour, during the first big rush of the morning. The Rotary Club expected a bit of a delay in patronage, since families were likely recovering from Halloween. State Rep. Josh Tarsky also stopped by later in the day.
Along with the games, Needham High students tabled for the ShelterBox Club, which raises money to provide supplies and temporary shelter for families displaced by natural disasters around the world. A sample shelter box, which resembles a large tent, was set up in the cafeteria.
Needham Community Council also stationed by the front doors, sharing information in light of cuts to SNAP benefits, which took effect that morning.
Recently, the Rotary Club helped build a sensory room at Tynan Elementary School in Boston for students with autism. The club also held a diversity book fair with the Tynan School and Needham’s elementary schools back in 2021. In Needham, they also supply dictionaries to third graders at the start of each school year.
The club also supports a residential community in Haiti that houses abandoned and disabled children, as well as various sanitation projects in Africa and Central America.
The charitable aspect of the pancake breakfast wasn’t lost on Brian, who dined with his daughter and her friend Saturday morning.
“It’s a fun opportunity to spend time with them and support a good cause,” he said. He also brought in a bag of leftover Halloween candy, which volunteers handed out to kids playing games.
Rotary member Holly Brown, who has worked the breakfast for about seven years, said it serves as a reminder of the tight-knit community in town. She sees familiar faces each year at the breakfast and the carnival, which takes place in July.
“It’s a nice constant,” Brown said.
