COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Soldiers from Fort Carson and Airmen from Peterson Space Force Base helped prepare breakfast for thousands of community members at the annual Western Heritage Street Breakfast in downtown Colorado Springs June 21, 2023.
The service members volunteered to cook and serve mounds of pancakes, eggs, and sausage along with ensuring there was plenty of syrup, coffee and orange juice on hand for hungry attendees.
Brig. Gen James K. Dooghan, deputy commanding general for maneuver, 4th Infantry Division and Fort Carson, welcomed the crowd to the Western Heritage Street Breakfast and thanked the people for their support of Fort Carson.
“Since 1936 the City of Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak Range Riders have hosted this incredible celebration of Front Range culture,” said Dooghan. “Its just a small way for Fort Carson to say thank you to everyone who supports our Soldiers and Families.”
Col. Sean M. Brown, commander, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Carson, who attended his second street breakfast, echoed the sentiments.
“This an awesome opportunity for us to give back to a community that gives us so much,” said Col. Sean M. Brown, commander, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Carson. “It is a really nice event that the Soldiers enjoy participating in.”
The 57 Soldiers and seven Airmen started setting up for the event at midnight so they could begin serving at 5:30 a.m.
Spc. Eric Cabrera, a culinary specialist with the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), said this was his first time at the Western Street Breakfast but he loves volunteering in the community.
“(My unit chain of command) said we need volunteers for the street breakfast and my hand shot up because I love helping the community and being involved,” Cabrera said. “This is an opportunity for us to get our faces out there and show people we are not just Soldiers; we are also people who like to hang out and say hello to people and know what’s going on (in the community), and, if we can, we would like to make everyone’s day a little brighter.”
Senior Airman Susan Hand, a volunteer from Peterson Space Force Base, said it is important to support the community when she can.
“I wanted to come to last year’s breakfast, but I didn’t have the chance, but I have time this year, so I decided I was going to volunteer,” said Hand. “I think it is very important for those in uniform to be seen outside the uniform; that we are people, we have families, we have personalities and that we are a part of the community.”
This year’s attendance was estimated at 10,000 attendees. Nearly 1,100 pounds of pancake batter, 1,500 pounds of eggs and sausage, 938 gallons of milk, 500 gallons of coffee, 312 gallons of juice and 80 gallons of syrup were served, according to Gregory Joell, food program manager, Army Field Support Battalion - Carson.
The roads were blocked off and 1,100 bales of hay were placed for attendees to sit on while they ate breakfast and were entertained with live music from Exit West and the Flying W. Wranglers and a performance by the Sweetwater Native American Hoop Dancers.
Children participated in the western dress-up contest, practiced their roping skills on hay bales and visited the kiddie corral where they received free cowboy hats and bandanas.
Dooghan, Brown and Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Jason R. Mortensen and the Fort Carson Mounted Color Guard led over 200 members of the Pikes Peak Range Riders on horseback from the breakfast as they began their four-day ride around Pikes Peak. It is the 75th year the Pikes Peak Range Riders have made this ride to promote the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo.
Fort Carson has been supporting the street breakfast for 58 years and proceeds from the event help support local service members and their Families in the Pikes Peak region.
The rodeo is July 11-15 at the Norris-Penrose Event Center, with July 12 dedicated to honoring Fort Carson.
The rodeo, which has been a part of Colorado Springs history for 79 years, will feature steer wrestling, mutton busting, barrel racing, bull riding and more. Military members receive $5 off adult grandstand tickets for the Tuesday-Thursday evening and Friday and Saturday matinee performances, and $2 off adult grandstand tickets for the Friday and Saturday evening performances. Visit https://www.pikespeakorbust.org for more information.
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