1,600 trays of cornbread. 145 pounds of ham. 78 apple pies. And copious amounts of piping hot coffee at the ready. These and more are what it takes to feed hundreds of guests at a local church carrying out a longtime tradition.

For 156 years, the Oak Lawn Baptist Church has held its annual May Breakfast. Underneath the hustle and bustle of hundreds of guests from all over the state is a finely tuned system of volunteers.

Some have been volunteering for decades at the May 1 rite of spring while others have joined up recently. They all work together to serve hot plates full of eggs, clam cakes, apple pie and fresh cups of orange juice.

Julie Ellison heads up the May Breakfast at the church. She says the May Breakfast is an important community event that is part of the church’s heritage. So much so that in its 156-year history, the church has canceled it only twice – during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s amazing how important this tradition is to everybody involved,” Ellison said. “It’s not just me or Jim (her husband); it takes hundreds of volunteers to make this happen.”

Pam Pearson is one of those volunteers. She’s been helping at the breakfast for about 15 years. Keeping it in the family, her granddaughter, Jenna Antunes, says she’s been volunteering at the breakfast since she was 14 years old. She will turn 20 this year.

Antunes says “it’s just a blast to be working with the people you see at church every Sunday and then have people from the community come in to just have breakfast with each other.”

In the kitchen, you find trays of cornbread batter waiting for the oven. Orders are called out for fresh eggs, a clean set of tongs and a new bowl of freshly baked cornbread, a crowd favorite.

In the middle of it all is a family that has been volunteering at the breakfast for more than 20 years. Jeff Butzier, his daughter Morgan Butzier and his sister Robin Butzier are busy making the cornbread and making sure there are fresh eggs ready to be served.

Taking a moment in the kitchen frenzy during last Thursday’s May Breakfast, Robin says the breakfast is a time full of tradition, family and community.

In a little area off to the side, more than 100 pounds of ham is plated and sent off to the tables. It is there we find Bob Butzier, father of Robin and Jeff, and Scott Lewis – a duo known as “The Hams.”

Bob, who is 81 years old, has been volunteering for more than 20 years. Lewis has been helping at the May Breakfast for about 65 years.

Lewis remembers helping his dad get cars parked behind the library. And when he was old enough to drive, he said, he was one of the teenagers who helped pick up the brewed coffee for the event.

Ellison notes how important the volunteers are to keeping this event running every year. It is a big undertaking to put on such an event and she says the people who come in and help tirelessly understand it takes a big team to keep it all together.

“We’re just like a well-oiled machine,” she says. More than 100 volunteers served close to 500 guests during the breakfast.

“It's really nice to say when you’re done, ‘I had fun doing my job today,” Ellison said. ‘I had fun being a part of this community, this church, this fellowship.’ And it shows by the people coming and sharing that they had a wonderful time.”

Celebrating its 156^th anniversary this year, the Oak Lawn Baptist Church held the first May Breakfast in 1867.

The breakfast got its start in1867 from Roby King Wilbur, president of the Searle's Corner Benevolent Society, who borrowed the idea from the English May Day celebration to raise money to build a new church building.

The May Breakfast tradition started at the Old Quaker Meeting House, the first church in Cranston. According to the church program for this year’s breakfast, the Old Quaker Meeting House, which dates to 1729, stood on the spot where today’s Oak Lawn Baptist Church stands.

This year’s May Breakfast saw numbers of people come out to celebrate the start of a new season and a new month in one of the best ways to do it – with great food and community.