Attending the World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast is a family affair for Cheryl Stone and her two daughters Cera and Haley Fortin.

But they won’t be the first in line to eat breakfast at the 200 tables that will be lined up along Main Street from State to Bridge Streets in Springfield this Saturday, May 17. They will be the last to eat after helping to serve up those fluffy pancakes until the last one is flipped.

“I started helping out at the breakfast about 10 years ago with a group of postal employees while serving as postmaster in East Longmeadow. Then last year as postmaster in Springfield, I was asked to serve as pancake chair for all of our area offices by organizing volunteers for the breakfast,” Stone said.

“When I was asked to chair the committee, my daughters told me I had to accept it because they have loved helping me over the past years at the breakfast,” she added.

Cera, 27, is a cook in the tents and Haley, 25, helps by serving breakfast to those waiting for their hearty meals.

Matt is president of the Spirit of Springfield, organizers of the event, which began in 1986.

“It’s a good thing that we don’t have eggs on the menu,” Matt joked, “but don’t worry because we have plenty of batter for the pancakes and tons of bacon to go around for everyone.”

MGM Springfield has been leading sponsor of the breakfast since 2013, with additional support this year from Monson Savings Bank and TD Bank.

In addition to the pancakes, which will be topped with butter donated by Cabot Creamery, there will be bacon donated by Smithfield, coffee donated and brewed by the Sheraton Springfield, H.P. Hood milk and orange juice, Springfield water right from the tap, and Little Bites donated by Bimbo Bakeries USA.

Breakfast begins at 8 a.m. and will continue until 11a.m. or until everyone in line has been served a plate of pancakes.

Tickets are $3 for adults and $1 for children under 12. Admission, beverages and Little Bites are free.

“We don’t want anyone to miss out on breakfast. For years, we have been making sure that everyone has an opportunity to have a place at the breakfast table by distributing 67,000 free tickets to area students with the help of American Medical Response who travels from city to town with them,” Matt said.

This year’s honorary chair is Springfield Fire Commissioner B.J. Calvi.

“It is a great honor to be selected as Honorary Chair of the World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast. It gives me the opportunity to represent the men and women of the Springfield Fire Department and all they do to protect the community,” Calvi said.

“I will be arriving early to greet everyone and to walk around and visit our vendors and the many volunteers in the cooking tents. I’ve flipped pancakes in the tents before and let me tell you it can get pretty hot in there,” he added.

Calvi added that the World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast is a “true community event.”

“It is great to get people together. The breakfast is not city centric to Springfield, which celebrates its 389th birthday as part of the event, but attracts people from all over to share breakfast, exchange ideas, and engage in friendly conversation,” he said.

It is quite an operation to get the breakfast to the tables, Matt noted.

Before Saturday arrives, Mercy Medical Center will have already mixed more than 500 gallons of batter, donated by Performance Foodservice and MGM Springfield. The Hampden County Sheriff’s Department will have cooked 1,050 pounds of bacon and loaded and placed them into 100 foil pans donated by Mansfield Paper Company. Michael’s Party Rentals will have set up three cooking tents, more than 200 tables and just over 1,000 chairs. The Springfield Department of Public Works will have picked up paper supplies donated by Baystate Health and Mansfield Paper Company and delivered the bacon to MGM Springfield.

On Saturday morning, before the sun rises, H. P. Hood will have delivered hundreds of gallons of milk, juice, and cream that Yellowstone Landscape will have transferred to refrigerated trucks provided by Quality Beverage, Performance Foodservice, and Home Grown Springfield – Sodexo. Soon after, Sheraton Springfield will be brewing hundreds of gallons of coffee, and MGM Springfield will start warming the bacon.

Volunteer cooks, servers, ticket sellers and cleaners then arrive to lend a helping hand. Volunteers come from 94.7 WMAS, Baystate Academy Charter School, Bethel Child Care Services, Jack and Jill of Western Massachusetts, John Boyle O’Reilly Club, Law Office of Maurice Powe, MacDuffie School, Metro Center Association, Monson Savings Bank, Q 99.7, RFK Academy, Rock 102, SATCO (PVTA), Sigma Gama Rho Sorority, Springfield Code Enforcement/Building Division, Springfield Department of Health and Human Services, Springfield Thunderbirds, Springfield UNICO, TD Bank, UMass Five Federal Credit Union, United Way of Pioneer Valley, U.S. Postal Service, Western Mass News, Western Mass Square Round Dance Association and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority.

While enjoying a hearty breakfast, diners will be entertained by the Sci-Tech Jazz Band, Springfield Prep Charter School, and Mary Anne’s Studio of Dance at the Bruce Landon Way Stage. At the Harrison Avenue Stage, there will be Red Grass Ministries - BRKN Music, En Motion Dance Theater, Malik James, and Libertas Academy Charter School.

Also, kids and adults alike can grab a photo with Boomer from the Springfield Thunderbirds.

While entertainment begins at 8 a.m., there will be a short break at the Bruce Landon Way Stage at 9:30 a.m. for a speaking program that will include a show of patriotism. Vanessa Ford, with the assistance of the St. Michael’s Academy Choir will sing a rousing rendition of “God Bless America” along with the Pledge of Allegiance, led by State Rep. Carlos Gonzalez of Springfield. Free U.S. flags will be distributed to the first 500 people attending the breakfast to wave in unison during the program. Also, a garrison American flag will be strung high across the street attached to two ladder trucks from the Springfield Fire Department.

Additional displays can be found along Court Street, where Monson Savings Bank and the Springfield Police and Fire Departments will have booths set up. At the TD Bank Plaza, the bank’s mascot, TD, will be greeting folks, and there will be a prize wheel with giveaways courtesy of WWLP-TV22News.

Area community service organizations and businesses also will staff tables at the event to provide information about their services, including All in Energy, Alzheimer’s Association, Behavioral Health Network, City of Springfield - Human Resources Department, Community Autism Services, Community Bank, N.A., Department Of Children and Families-FOSTER MA, Eastern States Exposition, Farmers Market at Forest Park, Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts, GoNetSpeed, Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity, Green Energy Consumers, Hampden County Bar Association, HCS Head Start, Home Grown Springfield - Sodexo, Juan F. Latorre III for Springfield City Council, Libertas Academy Charter School, Martin Luther King, Jr. Charter School, Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, Massachusetts Air National Guard, Massachusetts Army National Guard, Monson Savings Bank, New Growth Recovery, Scouting America, Springfield Armory National Historical Site, Springfield City Library, Springfield Museums, Springfield School Volunteers, Springfield Water and Sewer Commission, Square One, Stavros Center for Independent Living, TD Bank, Western Mass News, and WWLP-TV22News.

Additional support is provided by Costco, Elegant Affairs, MassMutual Center, Springfield Parking Authority, and Springfield Police Department.

Parking is available at the I-91 North and South Garages, Convention Center Carpark, Columbus Center Garage and Union Station Garage.

The day-long event is finally complete when everyone has gone home, and the Springfield Business Improvement District makes certain that Main Street is clean and ready to reopen for traffic around 3 p.m.

For more information about the World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast, visit spiritofspringfield.org .