Cooking up 280 pounds of sausage and 12 cases of pancake mix takes a lot of manpower.

Fortunately for the Clanton First United Methodist Church Men, they’ll have some help this year putting on the 55th annual Pancake Day.

The church’s San Juan Mission is helping with this year’s event, which is scheduled for 5:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the church’s Helen Parrish Activity Center, event organizer Dan Nolen said.

Fifty church members usually help with the effort, which begins late Friday night. The sausage is cooked early so that the grills can be devoted to pancakes as the serving line starts forming.

Tickets cost $5 and cover all the food you can eat. They can be purchased at the door or ahead of time from United Methodist Men.

Nolen said more than 1,200 people were served at last year’s Pancake Day. The record number of visitors was more than 1,300 in 2010.

“The weather has a lot to do with the crowd,” Nolen said.

Nolen and fellow organizer Delmer Owens said Pancake Day has turned into a social event for the community.

“That’s where the money goes–back into the community,” Owens said.