It was 1950 and one Calgary-area dairy farmer decided he wanted to call over his friends for a bit of a party after the work was done for the morning. Of course, that farmer was Harry Hays.

From humble beginnings, the Hays family Stampede pancake breakfast became one of the most well-known invitation-only breakfasts in town over the following seven decades.

"He was a prominent member of the downtown Rotary Club and a budding politician, although he didn't know it at the time, and was a very prominent breeder of Holstein cattle," Dan Hays recalls of his late father.

Harry Hays went on to become Calgary's mayor as well as a member of parliament and the federal minister of agriculture.

This Sunday, July 7, after the 69th event, the Hays family is hanging up their pancake flippers and cowboy hats.

"People get older," Dan told the David Gray, host of the Calgary Eyeopener. "I'm 80 and my children don't seem to have the same interest in all the work that goes into the Hays breakfast."

Friends join Harry Hays, right, in mixing the infamous syllabub in 1964. (Courtesy: "Barefoot on the Hill: The Life of Harry Hays")

From regular Joes to prime ministers

Dan believes every sitting prime minister has attended the breakfast at some point in their term. And those visits come with stories to be told. Harry Hays's daughter-in-law Kathy Hays says prime minister Lester B. Pearson's visit really stands out.

"I remember reading about when Pearson was here and Pearson and Harry Hays had an argument on stage — and Pearson won. So he milked the cow that year. And that was kind of fun, Kathy said.

And why did anyone need to milk a cow, you ask?

Dreaded concoction of choice

Syllabub is a milk-based mystery concoction notoriously associated with the breakfast.

"It's up to the individual chef [or] bartender to throw in whatever he or she wishes to make in that particular recipe at that particular time. Dan and Dan's father always felt that because of the dairy connection, why not fresh milk?" Kathy explained.

And so there is always a cow on hand to provide the freshest milk possible. But as for demystifying the remaining ingredients there within, the Hays family will have none of that.

"That's the ultimate secret. But you name it, we throw it in," Kathy said.

"Most of which have some alcohol in their base," Dan added. "It's not for kids."

"I think the alcohol is just to cover up all the other flavours," Kathy said with a chuckle.

Harry Hays milks a cow at the 1965 breakfast. The fresh milk is a main ingredient of the syllabub but also a foundational aspect of the breakfast. (CBC archives)

Generations immersed in western hospitality

"The legacy of the Hays breakfast will go down in history and we're privileged to have been a partner and host location for this one-of-a-kind event for the past two decades," says Alida Visbach, president and CEO of Heritage Park Historical Village.

"The Hays Breakfast has entertained, satiated and immersed multiple generations of Calgarians with our city's unmatched western hospitality."

The final breakfast is going to be held at the Heritage Park Historical Village from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.

The event is by invitation only, with more than 2,000 people expected to attend including Premier Jason Kenney, Mayor Naheed Nenshi, the Stampede royalty, as well as members of the Canadian military, and rodeo and chuckwagon personalities.

With files from the Calgary Eyeopener.