By Mikayla van Loon
It was a pancake frenzy at the Montrose and District Men’s Shed to celebrate Pancake Tuesday on 21 February, bringing members together for morning tea and a chat.
The tradition which follows the Christian calendar has always been celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday.
But why pancakes? It was seen as a way of enjoying a feast before beginning the season of Lent and fasting, while using up the essential items of eggs, flour and butter.
For the Men’s Shed, Pancake Tuesday has become somewhat of a tradition.
“This has become a tradition, we’ve been doing it for several years. I was doing it for a while but then we signed up a member who’s a professional chef so he took over,” Montrose Men’s Shed member Max Lamb said.
Resident Men’s Shed chef Roy Bennett was busy in the kitchen, beginning the process of pancake making from 10.30am to supply enough pancakes to the gathered members.
The last Friday of every month is usually always dedicated to a barbecue lunch for the members except for February which is dedicated to pancakes, a popular day for many.
“I would say it is. I think if we looked at the book, we would get more than the usual number for a Tuesday but if we had everyone turn up, we wouldn’t be able to move so luckily not everyone turns up at the same time,” Mr Lamb said.
The monthly catch up was also a good opportunity for wood craftsman and member Fred Holmes to show off an 18 month project he’d been working on.
Having taken pieces of scrap timber from the Shed, some that had been bent in all sorts of ways, Mr Holmes turned those into a model 1927 car all made to scale.
“I scaled down a full size car. So from the bumper bar to about [halfway] is exactly to scale and the same with the width of the wheels,” he said.
When Mr Holmes was a boy growing up in Hawthorn he used to do lawn mowing for a number of houses but one day when he needed petrol, the local station had a 1934 Pontiac going begging.
Moving houses years later, unfortunately the car couldn’t come with him, something that stuck with Mr Holmes’ brother.
“He’d always been really upset about this all this time and we’re talking about 40 years,” he said.
So one day he turned up with a 1928 Pontiac.
With the timber and tools, Mr Holmes set out to make a scaled replica of the vehicle, which will now sit in a display cabinet at home.
The Montrose Men’s Shed also returned to the Montrose Community Craft Market for the first time in 2023 on Saturday 18 February, with every third Saturday dedicated to attending and selling handmade items.
“It’s the best promotion. We have so many members who are here now who came through the market,” member George Gredler said.
Montrose and District Men’s Shed is located behind the Montrose Public Hall on Leith Road. To contact the group, email montrosemensshed@gmail.com
