Masons' First Sunday Breakfast starts again this weekend

Mount Shasta, Calif. —

Siskiyou Masonic Lodge  #297 Master Dan Parkin called the First Sunday Breakfast “one of the county’s best kept secrets.”

After taking a break for the winter, the Masons’ all you can eat, buffet-style breakfast will start up again this weekend on Sunday, March 4.

When the Masons first began the monthly event in 1992, each meal was cooked to order and served at the table, said Dick Hughes, a past Master who helped start the tradition.

However, the meal gained such popularity it became too difficult and the buffet style emerged, Hughes said.

“One year on a 4th of July weekend we served over 700 people,” Hughes said. “We kept running out of food and had to run to the store for more.”

The menu hasn’t changed much over the past 20 years, Parkin said. Guests have many choices, including muffins, french toast, pancakes, fruit fritters, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, eggs, waffles, sausage, ham and even fried chicken livers.

Mason’s member Alan Elliot has been cooking eggs for the breakfast since day one.
“Not much has changed over the years except it’s getting busier,” Elliot said.

The Lodge invites local high school groups to bus the tables for tips as a fundraiser for their activities, Elliot added. “The really big thing is what we do for the kids,” he said.

Parkin explained the Grand Lodge of Freemasons of California encourages all lodges to devote one month a year ot education. In Mount Shasta, they support education every  month by providing this opportunity, he said.

“You might see cheerleaders in the spring and football players in the fall with volleyball players in between,” Parkin said. “Locals enjoy supporting our kids and it adds to the fellowship and good food with your neighbors.”

The price is $8 for adults, $3.50 for kids and children under age six eat free, Parkin said. The breakfast opens at 8 a.m. and runs until noon, which is “plenty of time to sleep in or drop in after church,” Parkin said.

The First Sunday Breakfast is held on the first Sunday of each month at the Mount Shasta Community Building, 629 Alder Street on the corner of Alder and Ivy.

The March 4 breakfast will feature the Dunsmuir High School baseball team.