Pancake Supper and Silent Auction a Success for Pleasant Ridge

Over 2,600 pancakes were served to 524 people March 3 during the annual pancake supper at Pleasant Ridge Elementary School. The fundraiser was organized by the school PTA and teachers helped serve dinner. 

The turnout surpassed last year’s attendance by more than one hundred. Deb Urquhart, PTA President at Pleasant Ridge, thinks location could be the reason.

In past years, the fundraiser had been held in the commons area of Saline High School, but the PTA Board was excited to bring the event home.

“I think it was awesome to have the supper at the school.... (It) gave a sense of belonging, and the kids felt the ownership,” Urquhart said.

The kids made sure the cafeteria was set in style. Each student created a placemat for each seat. King Pancake, a company out of Belleville, served up the hotcakes, flipping and serving over 900 in the first forty-five minutes of the event. Attendees paid $5 for the all-you-can-eat dinner, which included pancakes, sausage links, applesauce, juice and milk. The line moved continuously for two hours.

Both main hallways of the school were also a bustle of activity. In “B” Hall, the third day of the scholastic book fair was underway. Michele Doran, PTA secretary, chaired the event. 

“It’s been a great week so far,” Doran said. “We’ve had close to $2,800 in sales just today, and about $2,500 of that was from the hours during the pancake supper.” 

The book fair was open all week during the day, and had extended hours Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Profits were up from last year, according to Doran.

“We are closing in on $5000 for this week, which is huge,” she said. 

The PTA will receive a 60% profit in books from the fair.  The books are used as birthday books and add to classroom libraries and the media center.  

In “A” Hall, bidders were hovering over gift baskets and other silent auction items right up to the buzzer. Each classroom created a basket around a letter of the alphabet.

The baskets were part of the March Is Reading Month Theme, "Reading A-Z."  

For example, one basket, called “M is for Made In Michigan,” was created by third grade students in Mrs. Welzbacker’s room. It contained many items from around the state and sold for $60. The high bid of the night was from the letter "X," from students in Mrs. DeGrand’s room. It was an “X Marks the Spot” treasure trove complete with a GPS system, spa packages, jewelry, pirate movies and party theme items, $500 in grocery coupons and an overnight suite at Great Wolf Resort. The basket, worth and estimated $1,600, sold for $425.  

Dawn Ducca, V.P. of fundraising for the PTA sought out other items from local businesses. Many gift certificates and other items were donated, including an autographed photo of Detroit Lion Alphonso Smith.   

Heidi McClelland, PTA vice president of communications, was in charge of the baskets and creating the buzz for them.

“This year we displayed the baskets in the media center and on Facebook before the event to get people excited about them,”  McClelland said. 

It worked. The total money raised from the silent auction was $2,460.

Darby and Chris Kolano attended the event with their daughters Nikki, Jackie, and Natalie. 

“It’s a great event,” they said, “we come every year.” 

Saline City Council member and local business owner David Rhoads attended the event to show his support. He also donated two gift certificates for the auction. 

“I was happy to be able to participate,” Rhoads said.

In all, the event raised over $7,500 in funds and books for the school.

PTA events support field trips, school equipment and educational assemblies.