Courtesy photo
Charlene Johnson Brehm is a former Flapjack Day contestant.

By Shelley Widhalm
The Surveyor

Batter Queen Diane Levy likes to do things in a big way, at least when it comes to her flapjacks that will be the center of attention Labor Day during the 9th annual Flapjack Day at City Star Brewing.

Levy needs 20 eggs, 1 gallon and a quart of buttermilk, 20 cups of flour, 2.5 cups of cornmeal and several other wet and dry ingredients to make 250 flapjacks. Times that by eight, and she will have enough batter to make approximately 2,000 four-inch flapjacks.
“My pancake recipe has a little bit of cornmeal,” said Levy board member of the Berthoud Historical Society. “That is a critical element. Cornmeal brings a little lightness to them, a little color to them.”

Levy’s recipe is for City Star Brewing’s revamped version of Flapjack Day, a Labor Day event held from 1948 to 1959 and hosted by the local Lions Club and Chamber of Commerce in Berthoud Town Park.

Whitney Way, co-owner of City Star Brewing, got the idea from a black-and-white photo depicting some of the Flapjack Queen contestants after Ian Phillips, an employee there, showed it to Berthoud historian Mark French to learn more about it. Way put a modern twist on the popularity contest, where contestants tried to collect the most penny votes in jars left at shops, by making it into a flapjack-eating contest. She added a vintage car show for a historical flavor and breakfast beers to go with the flapjacks, making the Berthoud Historical Society the beneficiary of the historical connection.

For a $5 entry fee, Flapjack Queen contestants try to speed eat five flapjacks with the fastest winning the honor and a gift basket of prizes.

Each year, an average of 10 to 20 contestants take on the challenge dressed in 1950s attire. For the past five years, the title has been held by Lynsey Morgan of Berthoud, reigning champion with her record at 32 seconds.

“It’s fun to just watch ladies dress up in ’50s garb and eat pancakes super fast,” said Alex Sage, event manager of City Star Brewing. “Everyone is competing because they want to take Lynsey out because of her streak of winning.”

Levy offered her recipe to Way, which she developed from her mother’s waffle recipe and recreated into buttermilk pancakes. She added cornmeal to it, later learning that cornmeal is what makes a pancake a flapjack.

“I’m the Batter Queen because it’s my recipe from the beginning,” Levy said. “I told Whitney, don’t you use a store-bought mix. You have to use a scratch batch.”

Six volunteers worked all day Aug. 19 to assemble the dry mix into batches to prepare for Flapjack Day when the batches will be used to make flapjacks on griddles at the brewery’s front patio facing Mountain Avenue. Levy will oversee the griddling to make sure the flapjacks are left on the griddle for the right amount of time at the right temperature so that there aren’t doughy middles. She likely will be wearing her special Batter Queen apron, given to her by Way in 2019.

“Last year was the first year we went through all eight batches because I think everybody was coming back from COVID,” Levy said. “It was a big response last year with a line out the door and around the corner.”

As people get their flapjacks, they’ll be able to see an informal car show of 30 to 50 vintage and classic cars parked along Mountain Avenue and Third Street. They’re also encouraged to dress the 1950s.

“It’s a fun way to bring the town of Berthoud together for something fun and the nostalgia of it, of course,” Sage said.

City Star Brewing is selling a breakfast beer flight with new flavors this year, including Cherry Pop-Tart Seltzer, Banana Pancakes Triple, Mochacinno Brown, Maple French Toast Stout and Hot Honey Waffle Wheat—the beers also will be served as individual pours.

Last year, City Star Brewing served 2,000 flapjacks, had 45 vintage cars in the show and sold 216 flights of beers, raising $2,035 to donate to the Berthoud Historical Society. The flapjacks are free, but donations are accepted, and City Star Brewing donates $2 per flight sold.

“It’s just one of the small-town, simple-pleasure kind of events that gets people together,” Sage said. “Who doesn’t love free flapjacks and breakfast beer flights?”

The schedule of events for Flapjack Day is:
11 a.m.-4 p.m. FREE Flapjacks
11 a.m.-5 p.m. Breakfast Beer Flights
11 a.m.-1 p.m. Vintage Car Show
1:30 p.m. Flapjack Queen Contest
3-5:30 p.m. Live Music with The Vern Neeley Vibe

For more information https://citystarbrewing.com/flap-jack-day/.