By: Dave Rosenberg, Davis Odd Fellows
Where in Davis can you get breakfast for only five dollars?
The answer: The Davis Odd Fellows Lodge on Picnic Day morning.
The general public is invited to attend the popular “Picnic Day Pancake Breakfast” at the Davis Odd Fellows Lodge Hall on Saturday morning, April 12. Breakfast is served from 8:00 a.m. till 10:30 a.m. The menu includes pancakes, sausage, coffee, juice and sliced oranges. The cost is only $5 per person (cash only), reflecting a breakfast price from a generation ago. And kids under 5 get breakfast for free. Tickets may be purchased at the door. The Odd Fellows Lodge Hall is located in Downtown Davis at 415 Second Street – which is right on the Picnic Day Parade route. Comfortable breakfast seating is available at the Lodge.
This Odd Fellows Picnic Day Pancake Breakfast is a Davis family tradition that began in the 1950’s and has been offered to the public every year for over the last 70 years.
The Davis Odd Fellows are a fixture in Davis having been chartered in 1870, even before there was a city of Davis, a UCD, or a Picnic Day. The year 2025 marks the 155th anniversary of the chartering of the Davis Lodge (then known as the Yolo Lodge), and the 206th anniversary of the founding of Odd Fellowship in North America. The Davis Odd Fellows Lodge is the largest Odd Fellows Lodge in the world with close to 400 members, men and women, in ages ranging from 18 to 92. Often called “the Three Links Fraternity” the Lodge’s by-words are “Friendship-Love-Truth.”
The Picnic Day Pancake Breakfast committee is headed by long-time co-chairs Holly Bishop and Kathy Hemness.
“The magic of Picnic Day begins at the Pancake Breakfast,” said co-chair Holly Bishop. “Bring the family and come for breakfast, and stay for the Picnic Day Parade. The parade goes right past the Lodge on Second Street. What a great way to spend Picnic Day morning.”
Added co-chair Kathy Hemness, “We are proud to have maintained the $5 price of breakfast since the 1950’s, and to provide free breakfast to children under the age of 5. It’s part of the community service Odd Fellows provide to Davis and Yolo County.”
For more information about the Davis Odd Fellows Lodge, visit the Lodge website at www.davislodge.org.
