On the Town: The Cabrini Guild celebrates Fat Tuesday
It was Mardi Gras at Cabrini over the weekend. On Saturday, Cabrini Literary Guild members adorned the Oakmont Country Club with Mardi Gras paraphernalia from feathered eye masks and long beaded necklaces to Harlequin figures. A New Orleans-type jazz band kept the rhythm going. Even lunch fit the theme, beginning with a Creole salad with Cajun vinaigrette dressing. The entry was chicken New Orleans with dirty rice. Father Paul Hruby gave the blessing on the food.
Once sated, Cabrini members and guests wandered among silent-auction items, spied opportunity prize baskets and bought raffle tickets for the chance to win $1,000. Dressed in a fright wig and beads, a distinctly un-sisterly looking Sister Regina Palamara pushed the raffle tickets.
Cabrini’s biggest fundraiser, “It’s Mardi Gras!” took a lot of Cabrini movers and shakers to pull off. Guild President Mary Andrade cajoled her chairpersons to extra heights. Event Co-Chairpersons Marilyn Linder and Marie Urrutia supervised another 15 Cabrini chairpersons to get the job done. Miryam Finkelberg did triple duty as supervising invitation and program design and printing. She also put together the silent auction and created the table centerpieces of wine, beads, masks and feathers. Patty Szot also put in centerpiece duty, as well as arranging for the entertainment. Jan Kubani was an efficient reservations chairwoman.
The guild was the first organization to “christen” the newly renovated Oakmont. Contributing to the fundraiser in the ballroom was an improved sound system, newly installed carpeting and refinished doors. The bar at the end of the lobby was turned around. Now Oakmont members and guests face the golf course as they sip their beverages.
Enjoying the afternoon “funraiser” was guild member Cecelia Botticella, whose guests were daughter Andrea Botticella and her daughters Marissa Botticella and 7-week-old Gabriella Botticela — future guild member.
Expected gross proceeds, not counting the auction and raffles, will be about $12,000. The funds will go primarily toward the guild’s annual creative-writing contest for Archdiocesan high schools.
Glendale’s IHOP was the place to go for a free breakfast on Feb. 28. A short stack (three buttermilk pancakes) was offered gratis to celebrate National Pancake Day.
From 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., hundreds of pancake lovers took advantage of the freebie. The catch was the “dine-in only” requirement. Also, as opposed to an “all-you-can-eat” marathon, one free short stack was allowed per guest.
The Kennedy family from Glendale had stopped by for a family breakfast. The table card told them about the free short stacks. So they switched their eggs to pancakes. Coco Kennedy, 4, dug into her Happy Face pancakes. “I like the bananas, but I like apples better,” Coco said. Bananas or apples, by the time Coco finished, the Happy Face was long obscured. Sister Geneva Kennedy, 1, stayed with her baby food. Mom Stephanie Kennedy was still working on her own short stack. Grandparents Joanne and Steve Lawlor enjoyed adding fruit to their pancakes.
Thousands of pancakes were expected to be consumed by the end of the night. In return for the free pancakes, guests were asked to consider leaving a donation for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Since beginning its National Pancake Day celebration in 2006, IHOP has raised nearly $8 million to support charities in the communities in which it operates.