Thank you from Dowtown Optimist Club

On Tuesday, Feb. 26, The Downtown Optimist Club hosted the 72nd annual Pancake Jubilee at the Temple Ballroom Theatre and more than 2,700 people came out to eat pancakes and sausage to help us raise money to support Youth programs in Meridian. Thank you all for supporting this event!

We especially want to thank all the broadcast and print media companies in our area for helping us promote this event. Newspaper, TV and radio stations gave freely of their valuable print space and air time to help us get the word out about the Pancake Jubilee and we appreciate their spirit of community.

We also want to thank some very special people who helped make our event a great success.

The Service Company donated their time and expertise to connect our power panels so we could cook the pancakes. McDonald & Hill donated propane so we could cook the sausage. Southern Business Supply donated all of the spring water used to brew our coffee. Our food supplier, Wood Fruitticher, donated the use of a refrigerated trailer to store our milk and sausage. Meridian Coca-Cola donated the banners you’ve been seeing around town and provided ice bins for keeping our drinks and milk as cold as ice. And, as he does each year, Roger Smith gave us extra time to setup in the Temple Ballroom where the Jubilee has been held for as long as anyone can remember.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the volunteers from various organizations that came and worked very hard to help in so many ways. The Debs, the Boy Scouts and the volunteers from Meridian High School were amazing. Those kids are our future and based on their efforts at this year’s Jubilee, our future is in good hands! Care Lodge & Cans For Kids volunteers came to help as always and we were so proud to work side by side with them yet again this year.

The annual Pancake Jubilee is more than just a fundraiser; it’s a chance for us to remember all the DTOC members who have cooked pancakes since 1947 to raise money for the youth of our community. Each year, we are blessed to see the people of Meridian & Lauderdale County take time out of their busy lives to come to eat, laugh, visit and reinforce the bonds of community for another year. And each year, the members of The Downtown Optimist Club are reminded that we are so blessed to live in a community ready and willing to invest in enriching the lives of our youth.

The annual Pancake Jubilee is much more than a fundraiser, it is tradition shared among friends.

Thank You!

Paul H. Tarver

The Downtown Optimist Club of Meridian

Meridian road conditions are poor

North Hills Street and other Meridian streets are not being maintained. What is the plan for maintaining roads in the city? We are moving back and the roads are terrible.

Sandra Byrd

Meridian