Luke's Pit Stop was a busy place from 7 to 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 17, with Missouri 6th District Sen. Mike Kehoe bringing his Flapjack Tour to California. Kehoe grilled the pancakes outside under a tent, although they were served inside because of the threat of rain. Luckily, the rain held off until the last half hour of the scheduled event.
In between making batches of pancakes, the senator made the rounds and listened to the concerns of constituents of the district. Staff members of his office, and the offices of other Republican officeholders, assisted the guests in obtaining pancakes, sausage and coffee.
Kehoe said this was his 68th stop for a pancake and sausage breakfast event in the last four years.
"I decided to continue them because the people said, "We'll never see you again after the election,' and I considered it a challenge," he said.
He said people who come out for pancakes and sausage find it a casual, relaxed time to bring their concerns and issues to an officeholder, rather than at the State Capitol where many see the environment as "uncomfortable." He tries to hold two of the informal events a year in each of the counties he represents to keep in touch with his constituents.
He makes the pancakes on-site, but said he "gets up at 4 a.m. and fries the sausage at home"