Though the clouds threatened rain, the weather held long enough Saturday morning for hundreds to enjoy Pancakes on the Plaza, one of Santa Fe's finest summer traditions.

"For me, this is perfect weather," said Santa Fe City Councilor Ron Trujillo. "It's not too hot."

Trujillo, his wife Amber and their children, Hunter, 10, and Krystianna, 7, strolled through the Plaza on their way to brave the pancake lines, though Hunter was more interested in a breakfast burrito, his dad said.

Trujillo, a 40-year-old Santa Fe native, said he's been to a majority of the 34 Pancakes on the Plaza gatherings and said this year's turnout was as large as ever.

"This is part of Santa Fe," he said.

On the other end of the spectrum, fellow Santa Fe native Rocky Durham, a local chef in his late 30s, said he was attending his first-ever Pancakes on the Plaza. Asked why he'd never partaken of the flapjack festivities before, Durham said, "Maybe it was too early before."

"I'm just glad to be here on the Plaza in Santa Fe on Independence Day," he said.

Live music blared from the bandstand as people cruised by booths selling handicrafts and tried to find a place to sit on the green grass or at one of the many tables set up on the streets surrounding the Plaza.

Lucia Lucero had been flipping pancakes for about half an hour — which translated to about 100 pancakes, she said — after spending the early part of the morning pouring cups of orange juice.

Her pancake-making partner, Deborah Carr, who poured each pancake on the grill, said there was an art to creating pancakes. She said she carefully counted to five for each pour.

"It's all in the wrist," she said. Lucero agreed.

Former state District Court Judge Tim Garcia was all smiles as he delivered up plates of flapjacks, ham and sausage to long lines of hungry people. Garcia, who said he was enjoying his new job on the state Court of Appeals, estimated that the crowd grew larger as the morning wore on. The event benefits United Way's Santa Fe Children's Project, The New Mexican Community Fund and the Rotary Club of Santa Fe.

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.