Eyota American Legion Hosts Breakfast to Benefit 61st Rochester Eagles Cancer Telethon

By St. Charles Press Editor Laura Berndt

Since 1981, the Eyota American Legion has hosted an annual event to benefit the Rochester Eagles Cancer Telethon. The breakfast is usually held on the Sunday that coincides with the telethon, which usually falls on the third Sunday of the month. This year’s breakfast took place on Sunday, January 18th. Eyota American Legion Commander Paul Spafford says that the profit from the breakfast is donated to the cancer telethon.
As always, this year’s breakfast drew a large crowd, and, the line was even out of the door at one point. Depending on the weather, Spafford says that the size of the crowd may vary, but, that there’s always plenty of community members who stop by to support the annual event.
In addition, Spafford notes that the event could not be possible without the help of the Legion members who volunteer their time preparing and serving the meal. “We have a good crew,” said Spafford, of those who volunteered their time on Sunday morning. At that time, he estimated there were about a dozen Legion members working together at the event, performing various tasks from welcoming visitors at the door to serving the meal itself.
Saturday’s menu included French toast, pancakes, sausage, eggs and a variety of drinks, such as coffee and orange juice.
“We are a service organization, and this is a good opportunity for our community and our Legion to do a public service by donating to the cause,” Spafford said.
The event is also provides the chance for Legion members to get together. Although it does take work to plan and host an event like this, Spafford says that Legion members enjoy working together for the greater good of their community, especially for such a good cause.
“We also get to see more community members,” said Spafford, adding that many people make a special trip to Eyota just to attend this special event.
Spafford says that he and the other Legion members are proud to be able to contribute to such a worthy cause each year.
This year, the 61st Eagles Cancer Telethon reached a milestone, raising a record amount of over $1 million. The funds from the telethon go towards cancer research.