Photos by Ron Clarke
February 19, 2024
Bandera American Legion celebrates 10 years of free community breakfasts
By Ron Clarke
The Bandera Prophet
On Saturday, Feb. 17, the volunteer cooks and prep cooks converged on the Bandera American Legion kitchen early at about 5:30 a.m., to begin preparing their free quarterly “God Bless America” Community Breakfast.
At 8 a.m., the doors opened as they have for the last 10 years to Bandera County residents seeking a fantastic repast of traditional breakfast fare. The “All American” menu includes made-to-order omelets with a variety of add-on options, pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausage, and biscuits with a top-secret sausage gravy recipe (more on attempts to spy on this recipe later in this story), and much more. It was topped off with ice-cold orange juice or hot fresh coffee served by the smiling barista and Legion Commander Susan Junker.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the American Legion Community Breakfast. Dennis Birchall, a Legionnaire member who has organized the quarterly event for the last 10 years, said, “It began as a simple idea to further outreach in our Community. We knew that Silver Sage Meals on Wheels was providing meals during the week, and we simply wanted to extend that into a weekend. We asked around and found that people were getting what they needed during the week from these programs but were only having an exceptionally light breakfast such as cold cereal on weekends. The Bandera Community supports our Veterans, so we thought it was an effective way for us to reach back out to our local neighbors and it's hard to believe 10 years has slipped by since we posted those first advertising flyers for this now traditional Bandera breakfast. It is a terrific way for the Veterans and Bandera neighbors to mix.”
What supplies and preparations are needed to host such an event? The volunteers in true military fashion have a military-type battle plan to feed all who attend. Imagine cracking 14 dozen eggs, preparing 24 pounds of sausage, 30 pounds of “thick sliced” bacon, 5 pounds of ham, a gallon of salsa, omelet vegetables and add-ons, 250 flour biscuits, preparing four gallons of that top-secret sausage gravy, and making five gallons of orange juice along with about four gallons of coffee. Toss all that together with setting up a made-to-order omelet food line and you have the makings of a true military-style feast.
“When we started doing these in 2014, we had just over one hundred people attend. Now, on average we serve 200-250 free breakfasts including our top-secret biscuits and sausage gravy. We have Veterans who come to this breakfast just for that secret sausage gravy,” Birchall said.
This reporter attempted to use his former military interrogation skills to obtain information about the ingredients and in true military fashion, was denied any intelligence other than it came from an old recipe that was sausage-stained, yellowed, with scribbled notes on the margins, but still highly classified.
The Bandera American Legion Community Breakfast is always free; however, donations are always accepted. To donate, call the American Legion Post at 830-796-7528, or visit them on Wednesdays at 205 12th Street in Bandera. You can also find them on Facebook.
At 8 a.m., the doors opened as they have for the last 10 years to Bandera County residents seeking a fantastic repast of traditional breakfast fare. The “All American” menu includes made-to-order omelets with a variety of add-on options, pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausage, and biscuits with a top-secret sausage gravy recipe (more on attempts to spy on this recipe later in this story), and much more. It was topped off with ice-cold orange juice or hot fresh coffee served by the smiling barista and Legion Commander Susan Junker.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the American Legion Community Breakfast. Dennis Birchall, a Legionnaire member who has organized the quarterly event for the last 10 years, said, “It began as a simple idea to further outreach in our Community. We knew that Silver Sage Meals on Wheels was providing meals during the week, and we simply wanted to extend that into a weekend. We asked around and found that people were getting what they needed during the week from these programs but were only having an exceptionally light breakfast such as cold cereal on weekends. The Bandera Community supports our Veterans, so we thought it was an effective way for us to reach back out to our local neighbors and it's hard to believe 10 years has slipped by since we posted those first advertising flyers for this now traditional Bandera breakfast. It is a terrific way for the Veterans and Bandera neighbors to mix.”
What supplies and preparations are needed to host such an event? The volunteers in true military fashion have a military-type battle plan to feed all who attend. Imagine cracking 14 dozen eggs, preparing 24 pounds of sausage, 30 pounds of “thick sliced” bacon, 5 pounds of ham, a gallon of salsa, omelet vegetables and add-ons, 250 flour biscuits, preparing four gallons of that top-secret sausage gravy, and making five gallons of orange juice along with about four gallons of coffee. Toss all that together with setting up a made-to-order omelet food line and you have the makings of a true military-style feast.
“When we started doing these in 2014, we had just over one hundred people attend. Now, on average we serve 200-250 free breakfasts including our top-secret biscuits and sausage gravy. We have Veterans who come to this breakfast just for that secret sausage gravy,” Birchall said.
This reporter attempted to use his former military interrogation skills to obtain information about the ingredients and in true military fashion, was denied any intelligence other than it came from an old recipe that was sausage-stained, yellowed, with scribbled notes on the margins, but still highly classified.
The Bandera American Legion Community Breakfast is always free; however, donations are always accepted. To donate, call the American Legion Post at 830-796-7528, or visit them on Wednesdays at 205 12th Street in Bandera. You can also find them on Facebook.