Pancakes, snow and Santa.

The Vicksburg Convention Center’s exhibition hall was alive Saturday morning with the sound of Christmas carols and the voices of children waiting anxiously for an early visit from St. Nick as the convention center’s 14th annual Breakfast with Santa worked into full gear with cartoons on a projection screen and tables full of diners.

Santa wasn’t the only attraction. The program included a magician and several tables where children could make ornaments, color a souvenir page, make reindeer heads from a pinecone and pipe cleaners, get a “tattoo” or write letters to Santa. There was also a drawing to give away gift bags of toys valued at $1,000.

The breakfast was to start at 8 a.m., but people began gathering in the convention center’s lobby before 7:30 and the line soon extended to the sidewalk along Mulberry Street. When the doors finally opened, the feast was waiting.

“Awesome,” was the way 6-year-old Mary Elizabeth Yates and her cousin Cade, also 6, described their meal. The cousins and their grandmother, Torey Yates, were among the estimated 500 people who enjoyed the program, which is a fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House. Last year’s breakfast raised $2,800 for the charity.

But the main reason for the breakfast was not on Mary Elizabeth’s or Cade’s minds as they sat a round table enjoying their meal. They were looking for Santa, and Mary Elizabeth was looking for someone else.

“I don’t know if my elf will be here,” she said, referring to her elf on the shelf. “He was at home.”

“Mine was sitting on my deer on the horns,” Cade said, adding he had a list he was ready to give Santa.

Keegan Blount, 8, was ready to meet Santa with an excuse. He was wearing a T-shirt with the words, “Dear Santa, I can explain.”

“It’s for something I’ve done,” he said.

Anna Walker, 7, who was with her mother, Tiffany Walker, was enjoying the last of her chocolate milk before finishing her pancakes.

“I’ve already given Santa my list,” she said. “He already knows what I want. When I get to see him, I’m going to give him a hug so I can be on the ‘nice’ list, and then pull his beard so I can be on the ‘naughty’ list.”

She didn’t have long to wait, as Santa soon made his entrance to falling snow and the children singing, “Santa Claus is coming to Town,” as they flocked to him to give him a hug or shake his hand.

Sue Bagby, convention center special events coordinator said the attendance for the breakfast matched last year’s, adding, “The crafts tables were very popular, all of the tables were very busy. I think this has been a good program this year.”