From another list...

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Procession

[from Scott Robert Knitter, East Lansing Liturgist]

The Shrove Tuesday Pancake Procession is a unique East Lansing tradition
that dates back to the late 19th century, when Michigan Agricultural College
(now Michigan State University) was growing, causing the settlement of
faculty, staff, and students in the new town of Collegeville, adjacent to
the north end of the university grounds.
The procession is now based at All Saints Episcopal Church in the historic
Bailey neighbourhood seven blocks north of the student union.

Following the Shrove Tuesday Solemn Evensong, the solemn procession forms at
the head of the aisle, and the sacred ministers are supplied with their
birettas. The celebrant also receives a large platter of steaming-hot
buttermilk pancakes; the deacon and subdeacon take up large pitchers of
Michigan maple syrup. Acolytes with large forks and spatulas attend the
sacred ministers. Following the deacon's versicle and the people's response,
the thurifer leads the procession through the nave and narthex and down the
steps to the undercroft, where a station is made at the kitchen. The choir
accompany the procession with appropriate antiphons, responsories, and
plainsong hymns, such as the Corpus Christi introit, Cibavit eos: "He fed
them also with the finest wheat flour, and with honey from the rock."
Naturally, in the early days of the procession's history, these words were
taken quite literally, and the pancakes were made of whole wheat and served
with pure Michigan honey. Tastes these days being what they are, adjustments
have been made, but the symbolism still obtains.

After the station at the kitchen door, the procession moves back upstairs to
the Grove Street entrance and turns left, encircling the
Unitarian-Universalist Church of Greater Lansing, next door, as a gesture of
hospitality and ecumenism. Traditionally, the UU minister joins the
procession dressed in a simple cassock-alb and bearing a large bowl of
flower petals gathered by UU parishioners; these are added to the pancake
plates as a lovely garnish and a reminder of the oneness of creation with
Creator. (A secondary but salutary effect of the procession in the early
years was the reconciliation of the neighboring Episcopal and UU churches
following the previous year's Trinity Sunday outdoor solemn procession,
which had encircled the UU church three times to the increasing outrage of
the UU minister and congregation. The Trinity procession route was
subsequently changed to encircle the historic Beaumont Tower on the
university campus, during which the university carillonneur traditionally
performs Anglican hymns in 3/8 or 3/4 meter, ending with three sets of three
tolls on the three largest bells).

The procession moves south from the UU church down Grove Street past the
rectory, where a station is made and the antiphon Sacerdotes Domini chanted,
and then past the first block of fraternity houses, where students have been
lining the streets to depths of four and five persons since before noon. By
now the pancake plates and syrup pitchers have been replenished by the
vergers from supplies driven ahead of the procession by the sextons. The
students wear no particular traditional garb when they are served the
pancakes, except that shirts and shoes are required in addition to the usual
shorts or jeans. Hats are expected to be removed while the pancake platter
is in one's block of residence.

The procession then makes a one-block turn to the west and then heads south
on Abbott Road, the main street into the university and the location of City
Hall and further blocks of fraternities and sororities. The culmination of
the procession is the arrival at the West Circle Halls of Residence, a
lovely group of three-storey Tudor-style halls, each with a large
dining-room. On this night alone out of all the nights of the year, the
dining-rooms are closed in observance of the solemn pancake procession. The
waiting students are served efficiently as the procession reaches the
university test kitchen at Williams Hall, where nutritionists receive
samples of the pancakes for chemical analysis and testing and the eventual
assignment of a rating for that year's batch. Finally, having given up the
pancake-serving utensils, the sacred ministers, vergers, acolytes, and
servers proceed to the Alumni Memorial Chapel not on foot, but on the Sigma
Chi homecoming float flatbed, its permanently installed Liberty Bell replica
ringing all the way, and all enter the chapel for the Solemn Te Deum and
Benediction.

Gregory has helpfully reposted the ceremonial for a solemn pancake
procession passing a pancake restaurant. Sadly, due to changes in
restaurants in recent years, the ceremonial had to be simplified somewhat
and is used only in front of the Evergreen Grill, which serves pancakes only
on Saturday and Sunday mornings. This used to be a major station with full
ceremonial when this restaurant was the Pan Tree, a 24-hour establishment
specialising in pancakes, deep-friend French toast, and enormous hot-fudge
sundaes. The building also happens to have been the original East Lansing
post office, which may be of interest to some but is of no liturgical
import.

As cantor, I look forward every year to intoning the various antiphons and
hymns along the way. I feel as though I am part of something utterly unique
and steeped in history, mystery, and civic goodwill. The event has
contributed greatly to the growth of our parish and that of the Episcopal
Ministry at MSU, and I am proud to have had a part in carrying on this
tradition.

A blessed Shrove Tuesday to all, and do make it a point to process with us
here in East Lansing at least once in your lives. It is well worth a visit,
and you will be warmly welcomed.

In response to Mark Kessinger's question about what happens during a solemn
pancake procession when it passes by an International House of Pancakes
(IHOP):

I spent a little more time in researching this than I should have, but I
ended up consulting my copy of Ritual Notes, Interim Edition, which is an
unpublished edition that was compiled for specific London parishes' use
during the Second World War. While RN/IE doesn't specifically mention the
IHOP, it does treat of the subject in general terms:

PANCAKE PROCESSIONS: Encountering a Pancake Restaurant.

In certain neighbourhoods, the solemn pancake procession will of necessity
pass by a restaurant whose speciality is pancakes, flapjacks, or crepes.
Extraordinary means are not to be taken to avoid this situation, unless a
detour would add dignity and not unreasonable length to the route.
Traditional ceremonies are to be observed while passing before such an
establishment.

When the restaurant is sighted by the verger, he shall signal to the
acolyte, who shall ring the bell thrice. The procession shall continue, but
the serving of pancakes shall cease until the restaurant has been passed by.
On hearing the bell, the clergy and lay ministers in procession shall turn
their heads so as to face the establishment directly whilst they continue
forward. Upon a single stroke of the bell, all shall stop and turn to face
the restaurant. The sacred ministers shall remove their birettas, taking
care not to drop the syrup pitcher as they do so. The lay ministers shall
take the birettas and pitcher. The sacred ministers shall then
double-genuflect, first bringing the right knee to the ground and then the
left knee to join the right one on the ground. All others shall bow low. The
celebrant shall chant the collect for Shrove Tuesday. This completed, all
shall rise, and the celebrant shall cover the pitcher. A single stroke of
the bell shall signal the resumption of the procession.

--RITUAL NOTES, Interim Edition, Morehouse-Barlow 1941.