Bacon prepared ahead of this weekend’s World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast

SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) — The aroma of sizzling bacon filled the air Wednesday morning as food preparations began for the World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast in downtown Springfield this weekend. More than 1,000 pounds of bacon will be served at Saturday’s event along Main Street. Members of the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department were on cooking duty Wednesday.

“We’re up to 1,000 (pounds). Right now, we’re up to 500, almost 600 pounds of bacon right now as we speak, so we got another day we’re going to finish off the rest,” said kitchen supervisor Shane Folks.

Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi, who served as the 2017 honorary chair, was also in attendance to lend a helping hand to this year’s honorary chair, John Doleva, president of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and Louis Theros, president of MGM Springfield, which has sponsored the event since 2013.

“Well, I got to tell you, when my mom calls and tells me her favorite day of the year is coming down and making the bacon, then I say ‘Well, we are signing up every year,’” Cocchi said. “So bacon is today, thousands and thousands of pounds. I have great staff that’s spent a lot of time not only just cooking it and getting it ready to be shipped off for the weekend, but most importantly, cooking it the right way, which is to take the bacon, make it crispy. That’s important.”

As for the star of the show – the pancakes – the batter will be mixed on Friday. With so many things happening simultaneously to ensure proper pick-up, delivery, and preparation, Spirit of Springfield President Judy Matt told us what we can expect the next few days.

“All the work has been done to this point, then we will be loading all the refrigerator truck back up with the milk and the juice,” Matt explained. “The tables and the chairs and the tents and the grills. It takes hours and hours for a whole team of people to set that up.

She also shared some parking information.

“The Springfield Parking Authority with be providing a $5 flat fee parking at 91 north and south on Saturday, so people that want to come down to the breakfast can go there if they can’t find a place on the street,” Matt added.

Barricades will be placed at the Main Street intersections Friday morning and will be closed to traffic until 3 p.m. on Saturday.

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