Hundreds of hungry islanders braved the rain Saturday, Oct. 10 and made the trek to the Madison Avenue fire station for the 20th annual Bainbridge Island Fire Department volunteer pancake breakfast. The volunteers cooked up a feast of ham, eggs, juice, coffee and, of course, lots and lots of pancakes. Also, guests were invited to take a ride around the block on a firetruck.

Department officials said that the breakfast raised $8,038 to support the volunteers, 27 percent more than last year’s event.

About 1,4778 meals were served throughout the morning, Bainbridge Island Fire Department Assistant Chief Luke Carpenter said, including 35 bags of pancake mix – enough for about 6,685 flapjacks.

More than 1,300 guests rode the firetruck, he added.

The two decade-old tradition has been a season staple on Bainbridge, though, Chief Hank Teran said, the tradition of offering yearly firetruck rides to eager young citizens dates back to the ’50s.