A limerick composed by Mt. Hood Lions Club member Jim Espenel to celebrate
the 60th annual Chuckwagon Breakfast, held later this month, begins, ““There
once was a Lion from the Hood, who often was up to no-good.”

The Lions Club hopes to get up to a lot of good raising money for their
community projects by making a lot of bacon and eggs during the June 30
and July 1 event, a major fundraising event for the club.

The brunch will take place at their clubhouse located at Hwy. 26 and Woodsey
Way in Welches.

The annual occurrence is customarily held as close to the Fourth of July as
possible and will be held from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. the weekend before the
holiday.

“It’s a very traditional breakfast,” said club member David Buoy. “We’ve been
doing the same thing for three or four decades; it hasn’t changed.”
The meal includes eggs to order, pancakes, bacon and sausage, with coffee
and juice and is all-you-can-eat.

“It’s kind of a mountain tradition,” Buoy added, “a lot of people know about
it.”

The club expects to serve between 350 and 500 breakfasts each day.
“We try to have the smell of bacon wafting over to the neighboring (Saint
John in the Woods) Catholic church by the time mass gets out,” Buoy said,
laughing, “and hopefully get a mention from the pulpit.”

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the breakfast, first held in 1958 in
the old mule barn at Camp Zigzag on East Lolo Pass road.

Club president-elect Milt Fox II recalled washing dishes as a child at the first
event and stated that the funds from the breakfasts have allowed the club to
give out thousands of shots and immunizations to the community over the
years.

The breakfast was originally started by the club’s health committee to fund
health projects and has shifted to providing financing for other club projects
as healthcare became more readily accessible in the region.

“Everything we do we try to put back to the community,” Fox said, describing
the club’s goals of providing resources for the Mount Hood area.

Proceeds from the breakfast are used to offer scholarships awarded each year
at Sandy High School, support the “Reading is Fundamental” program at
Welches Elementary School, provide health screenings for glaucoma and
cataracts and sponsor local Boy and Cub Scouts Pack 173.

While discussing the upcoming breakfast, Fox said he “hopes for good weather
and a good crowd,” to support the club’s community outreach programs. “It’s
our longest continuous fundraising event.”

Tickets are $6 in advance, $7 at the door for adults, $4 for children 10 and
younger and will be available at Welches Mountain Hardware, Clackamas
County Bank and Mountain Roasters Coffee throughout June. There will be a
daily raffle at the breakfast with donated local items. Additional support for
the breakfast is provided by the Hoodland Thriftway and Boy and Cub Scouts
Pack 173.

For additional information regarding the Chuckwagon Breakfast contact the
Mt. Hood Lions Club at 503-622-4111.