This Labor Day was a picture-perfect day in Berthoud, Colorado. Beautiful blue skies, barely a cloud in sight. Fully restored vintage cars lined Mountain Avenue, sparkling in the sunlight and sporting pristine paint jobs. The smell of cooking batter on the griddle wafted up and down Mountain Avenue through the line of people patiently waiting to get their plates of flapjacks and sausage. It could have been a scene from the 1950s, but it was this year, in 2023, with the reinvented Flapjack Day, a day the entire community looks forward to.
A Berthoud tradition from 1948 to 1958, Flapjack Day was originally a day hosted by the Chamber of Commerce in Berthoud, for the community to come together, play some games, have some fun, and have free flapjacks and coffee for all. A Miss (and later Mrs.) Flapjack Queen was crowned each year. The popular event was canceled in 1958 due to financial constraints.
Fast forward to 2015, when City Star Brewery owner Whitney Way had an idea to bring Flapjack Day back. But she didn’t stop with free flapjacks. The local brewery extraordinaire, City Star got in on the action, making “breakfast beer flights”, five highly creative and expertly brewed breakfast-inspired libations. $2 from each flight of beer sold on Flapjack Day goes directly to the Berthoud Historical Society.
The title of Flapjack Queen was also reimagined. A flapjack eating contest where the winner consumes a flapjack stack with butter and syrup, required to use a fork and knife, in record time. Flapjack Day became a major Berthoud event once again, with proceeds and donations received going straight to the Berthoud Historical Society.
The Berthoud Historical Society, the most active historical society in Northern Colorado, has more than 200 volunteers and members. It is a true treasure of the town, much like City Star. President Mark French is passionate about the place he calls home and how the organization “preserves and interprets the history of Berthoud.” Keeping the small town feel alive, preserving, and presenting the history of Berthoud is part of the society’s mission, and is on full display at the Little Thompson Valley Pioneer Museum, run by the Historical Society.
The Historical Society’s own Diane Levy, now a Berthoud celebrity in her own right, has been in charge of the batter for the flapjacks since its reconceptualization. The “Batter Queen” herself is out there on Mountain Avenue, every year, making sure the pancakes coming off the griddle are just right, and never doughy or overdone. Levy remembers telling Way, “Whatever you do, do not use a store-bought mix. Make the flapjacks from scratch. I have a recipe you can use.” Her buttermilk pancake recipe, adding cornmeal to make it a flapjack, has been used since, having a special place not only in Berthoud’s history but in the hearts (and stomachs) of all who attend.
French, Way, and Levy are just three of the incredible people making Flapjack Day happen. It’s all hands on deck at City Star as their entire staff cranks out hundreds of beer flights. Levy is backed by a wonderful team of volunteers, all making sure each link of sausage and flapjack is perfect. It’s the community who comes to this event that really makes it special. French says of people who live in Berthoud, whether they have moved from elsewhere or are natives, they “crave the feeling of a small town. This event builds a sense of community and creates a good relationship people have with their town.”
The sense of community is strong in Berthoud, thanks to people like Whitney Way, her husband John, Mark French, and Diane Levy. The community is not only brought together with events like Flapjack Day, but it’s a family-friendly event, steeped in tradition that is like nothing else in Colorado, and that everyone loves attending. Supporting the mission of keeping the history of Berthoud alive makes for an absolutely flippin’ great time.