page_title: Centerville, Iowa
section_title: Pancake Day
hierarchical_section_title: Centerville, Iowa / Events / Pancake Day
caption_attribution_description: English: Picnic tables full of people on the Centerville, Iowa courthouse lawn eating pancakes.
context_page_description: Centerville is a city in and the county seat of Appanoose County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,528 in the 2010 census, a decline from 5,924 in 2000. After the turn of the 20th century Centerville had a booming coal mining industry that attracted many European immigrants. The city today remains the home of many Swedish Americans, Italian Americans, Croatian Americans, Albanian Americans and others descended from immigrants who worked in the mines.
context_section_description: Since 1949 the city has conducted an annual Pancake Day festival.  For the first five years, the celebration was held the first Thursday in October until 1954 when it was moved to the last Thursday in September.  In 1965 the celebration was moved to the last Saturday in September.  Pancake Day is a time for local businesses and organizations to cook up pancakes which they provide for free to their customers to show thanks for their continued patronage.  The event that is held in the Courthouse Square Historic District features a morning kiddie parade, a larger afternoon parade with a unique double-loop parade route, a beauty queen contest and free entertainment.
  Pancake Day has been attended by many well-known celebrities including  Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver; J. C. Penney; Philip W. Pillsbury; former Governor of New York, W. Averell Harriman; Muriel Humphrey; Rocky Marciano; and Centerville Native Simon Estes.  Entertainers have included Thomas Ian Nicholas, Barbara Mandrell, and Minnie Pearl.
caption: Pancake Day in Centerville Iowa draws thousands of visitors annually for free pancakes.
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