By SHELBA NIVENS / Community Columnist

Leprechauns and a large, green dinosaur roamed the fellowship hall of Liberty Baptist Church on St. Patrick’s Day.

Men, women and children paused in their eating to have pictures taken with them, or just to pass the time of day.

According to Dale Neuendorf, between four and five hundred people took part in the Chelsea Kiwanis Club’s First Annual St. Patrick’s Day Pancake Day festivities.

Cooks prepared more than 4,000 pancakes. Twenty-four Kiwanis members cooked and served with the help of four Publix employees and several Chelsea High School Key Club students.

Publix’s Plato the Publixaurus helped greet people, along with Garrett Palmer and Grey Sanders — Sir James and Sir John, the leprechauns.

Individuals, businesses and cities helped with donations, said Maggie Glass, Kiwanis Division Five lt. governor and a Chelsea Kiwanis member.

Division Five consists of eight clubs: Chelsea, Calera, Columbiana, Helena, Homewood-Mountain Brook, Hoover Metro, Inverness and Vestavia-Hoover, Neuendorf said.

Two new members, Frank Glass and Terry Moore, were inducted into the Chelsea club by Maggie Glass during the St. Patrick’s Day festivities.

Each hour, as people came and went during the four-hour event, the group paused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag and a blessing for the food.

Proceeds will benefit Shelby Baptist Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and a college scholarship fund for a Key Club member at Chelsea High School.

According to the Kiwanis International website, Kiwanis.org, Key Club International is “a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world, one child and one community at a time.” Key Club members organize and perform a variety of service projects and fundraisers in their communities.

Chelsea Kiwanis Club officers are: President Jaime Echols, Vice President Dale Neuendorf, Secretary Diane Thomas and Treasurer Mike Denton.

For more information about the Chelsea Kiwanis, call Jaime Echols, 678-6801.

Shelba Nivens can be reached by email at Shelbasn@juno.com.