The Aberdeen Lions Club held its annual Pancake Supper, which serves as an unofficial marker for the start of spring, on Tuesday in the Aberdeen High School cafeteria.

The Lions served more than 400 people from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. as friends and neighbors from far and near gathered to meet after the winter thaw.

Tom Baine, a past District Governor for District 22A, which covers central Maryland, said many years ago an old timer told him the tradition has to continue because it serves another purpose.

"You come out to see who survived the winter," Baine said. "It's more of an institution than anything else."