Election Day refreshments in Ithaca include all-day pancakes, free coffee

The Ithaca Rotary Clubs' annual pancake breakfast is an election day tradition at the Women's Community Building. 14850 Photo.

• 14850 Online main page

Ithaca, 4 November 08 -- A jump of about 200 attendees in less than an hour around lunchtime gave organizers of the Ithaca Rotary Clubs' annual Election Day pancake breakfast hope that they'd set a new record today. Before 1:00pm, pancake purchasers had reached the 700-ticket level.

A line around the room to get to the food scared off a few at lunchtime, and saved some people's waistlines from the temptation to grab seconds, but it'll be easier to get in for the rest of the day. The $7 meal, which includes plain or blueberry pancakes, eggs, sausage and bacon, potatoes, fruit salad, Cornell Dairy yogurt, orange juice, and coffee, runs until 7:00pm tonight.

The pancake breakfast is staffed by lots of Ithaca-area Rotary Club members, political notables, and high school students who participate in the region's foreign exchange program, sponsored and organized by the Rotary Clubs. Funds raised today will support that program.

Asked about the community's voting preferences, retired Ithaca police chief Harlin McEwen told us polling was running "just about even" between those asking for sausage and those asking for bacon.

If the Rotary Club coffee isn't enough, locals can stop by the Ithaca Coffee Company or Starbucks for a free, small cup of brewed coffee. (Don't forget to tip your barista!) Similar offers less accessible to those in Ithaca include free popcorn chicken at KFC, a free star-shaped donut at Krispy Kreme, and a free scoop of ice cream at Ben & Jerry's.

Vendors offering freebies for Election Day have mostly backed down from a requirement that customers show an "I Voted" sticker or even state that they'd voted. Federal election law prohibits anything that could be considered a bribe to induce someone to vote. Thus, everyone's entitled to the freebies just for the asking.