There are two things, for me, that mark the heralding of spring. One is the first bloom of daffodils. The second is the Pancake Breakfast.
Moharimet Elementary School in Madbury, NH prides itself on its surrounding maple trees and the sap they provide. Saturday April 5th was Moharimet’s Pancake Breakfast, a 26-year annual event where the community gets together to enjoy pancakes drowned in maple syrup made from the sap collected by the students. I’ve been to this event nearly every year since I was in kindergarten. When I was little, the event was full of laughter, music, and the sweet smell of maple syrup. It’s my senior year of high school now, and that hasn’t changed.
At the Pancake Breakfast, the children’s outfits range from a pair of Care Bears footie pajamas to a Cub Scouts uniform accessorized with a tutu and bedazzled purse. The most popular clothing item, however, was shirts with “Got Sap?” on them that were being sold in the hallway. The merch was a big hit: as I walked past, I heard a man say to another, “Come on… ‘Got sap?’ Get in line!”
As I waited in the seemingly mile-long yet fast-moving line for pancakes, I saw the volunteers at the food-serving tables, their customer-service smiles on their faces. Most of them were students in the Oyster River High School (ORHS) class of ‘25 and ‘26 and were getting in their volunteer hour for National Honor Society, just like I did at the same event last year.
Luke Sullivan (‘25), one of the NHS volunteers, suggested I take a picture of him pouring syrup. Grace Palmer (‘25) paused from serving pancakes to smile next to him.
Here’s my mini food review of the Pancake Breakfast’s meal:
- Pancakes 8/10 Nice, fluffy, and made on the spot by the cafeteria workers.
- Banana 8/10. Pretty good. My only note is that I wish it had a few more brown speckles!
- Sausage 10/10 My favorite thing here. Crispy on the outside, soft inside, just absolutely delicious.
- Syrup 100000/10 The real star of the show. It’s hard to believe that my favorite maple syrup was made by the children I see running around the room.
Looking back, I see I’ve given everything really high reviews. Maybe my taste buds are clouded by nostalgia. I think the Pancake Breakfast food is just that good, though. The only thing I would add is that soupy blueberry sauce with the tiny blueberries in it. Now that would have truly put this meal over the top.
As I sat, I watched two joyful elementary school girls holding hands. Trailing behind them was a girl holding a full tray of food, whose aura can only be described as…hangry. Me too, girl.
David Goldsmith, Moharimet’s principal, appeared. I watched him talk to the table in front of me. He’s able to connect with both the parents and the children. Even though I know he’s been at Moharimet for eight years now, I still think of him as the “new” principal—he took the job right after Dennis Harrington, former Moharimet principal, who retired after my last year of elementary school.
Harrington made an appearance at the breakfast too. It was nice to see the man who stood by “the Bear,” the large statue of a bear playing a tuba that sits at the school’s entrance, every morning. Harrington would shake every single child’s hand as they walked into school.
I don’t know if Goldsmith shakes the students’ hands, but he definitely connects with them. “Could you taste your syrup that you made from your tree?” I heard Goldsmith ask a student.
“I think we ate it too fast…” the student responded.
The karate studio, who’s performed at the breakfast every year as long as I can remember, was performing to Rose and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” Then “Shut Up and Dance” by WALK THE MOON came on and I was torpedoed back to fourth grade, when that was my favorite song.
The stage was full all morning—when I walked in, the fourth-grade chorus was performing. Later, the Irish step dancers were onstage.
Every table in the cafeteria was covered in brown paper, and every few feet a cup full of crayons was placed. There’s something nostalgic about coloring with the dull crayons in those little plastic cups.
Forgive the quality of my drawing—crayon and brown paper aren’t my usual mediums.
When I was leaving the Pancake Breakfast, this poster of Jessica Raspa’s kindergarten class of 2013 caught me by surprise. Which ORHS seniors can you recognize?
If my word isn’t enough to prove to you that Moharimet’s maple syrup is delicious, then take this graph the first-grade students made as proof. As you can see, it’s the clear winner.
-Paige Stehle
Mouth of the River 
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