What is the significance of that day? As it turns out, Oct. 25 is my birthday (no gifts please, cash only) along with Helen Reddy, Pablo Picasso, Johann Strauss and Heather Klein, which means that Oct. 25 is a great day for “Pumpkins & Pancakes,” which is a fun, family-focused fundraiser for CASA, which is short for Court Appointed Special Advocates.
For more than 24 years, the totally dedicated volunteers at CASA have served as mentors and advocates for children in Orange County’s foster care system. Dedicated? I’ll give you dedicated. Every year, CASA volunteers spend more than 70,000 hours working with more than 800 disadvantaged kids, which is a lot of hours and a lot of kids.
Next Sunday, the Macy’s Home Store wing at South Coast Plaza will positively percolate with pancakes and pumpkins to say nothing of kids. And we’re not talking about those run-of-the-mill garden-variety pancakes that your uncle is so proud of except no one can understand why. We’re talking about a first-cabin gourmet pancake breakfast from Plums Café.
Have you been to Plums on 17th Street in Costa Mesa? You haven’t? I hope you’re joking. If you travel the country, then the world, then the solar system, even the galaxy maybe, you will not find a breakfast that holds a candle to Plums. Their Dutch Baby? Wait. Just give me a minute. I’m OK. Let’s go on.
Beyond the breakfast, Pumpkins & Pancakes is a whirlwind of kids’ activities, entertainers, an animal show, a silent auction and a full-on costume contest. I actually have a history with Pancakes & Pumpkins that precedes the CASA connection.
When our kids were kids, my wife put long hours into costumes for my daughter in the annual Halloween bash at South Coast Plaza, culminating in her “Poor Cinderella” costume, which took the grand prize that year (whew).
