Supporters flip for breakfast

The sun hadn’t peeked through the scattered clouds Saturday morning, but the handful of volunteers flipping pancakes said they didn’t need the natural light at 6:30 a.m.

Preparing for the seventh annual Community Pancake Breakfast was nothing new for the roughly 20 volunteers who also set up the ticket booth and cleared off dining tables in the quad area of Crescenta Valley High School.

By the event’s end, roughly 550 patrons had ventured to the school for plates of pancakes, sausage and eggs costing either $5 or $6, depending on whether they had purchased pre-sale tickets.

For the fundraiser, the Crescenta Valley Town Council partnered with various high school groups, such as Prom Plus, the Academy of Science and Medicine and the Lacrosse Booster Club — as well as the La Crescenta Woman’s Club and American Legion Post 288.

The breakfast raised at least $2,400, with ticket sales still being counted as of Wednesday. Organizations were allowed to keep half of the proceeds from tickets they sold.

“This doesn’t just benefit the town council,” said Councilwoman Kyle Studebaker, who oversaw the breakfast. “It’s a good fundraising opportunity for organizations.”

At the mobile kitchen, Todd Hunt, Steve Goldsworthy and Mark Miller have been lending their grilling talents to the breakfast for several years. The trio kept close eyes on the sizzling sausages.

“Uh-oh, lost one,” Miller said as he flicked a sausage into a trash bin after it rolled onto the ground.

“Two points,” chimed Goldsworthy, as the trio laughed.

Miller has lots of experience at a grill. For 20 years, he manned the sausage station for the YMCA Foothills’ annual prayer breakfast or oversaw barbecues hosted by the high school’s Prom Plus group.

“You share your blessings with everybody,” he said.

As volunteers kept food hot in warmed containers, rain pelted the school’s quad area, forcing some volunteers to take shelter an hour into the breakfast. It wasn’t enough to keep patrons, with umbrellas in tow, away. Greg Rees, joined by his two children and wife, was one of the staunch supporters.

Rees’ son, Ethan, wore a thick jacket as he pedaled his bike through the quad. The 9-year-old grinned when he talked about his favorite part of the breakfast — pancakes.

“We’ve been coming out here for three years. It’s a good cause,” Greg Rees said.

And as Rees has made an effort to support the fundraiser, so has 83-year-old Boris Stoikoff. The Griffith Park Lions Club member hauled the mobile kitchen — once a transport for factory workers during World War II — to the breakfast. The club has donated its mobile kitchen to breakfast organizers since the event’s inception.

Stoikoff looked on as volunteers kept busy perfecting pancake flips and keeping eggs warm. He uttered only a few words.

“There’s not much to talk about. This was very simple,” he said about offering the mobile kitchen for the event. “I’m just glad we have the means to help.”