Recordpub.com - PORTAGE PATHWAYS: Brunch Bunch still 'fun-raising' in Kent after 40 years

By Roger J. Di Paolo
Record-Courier Editor
One of Portage County's longest-running " and most successful "charity fund-raisers owes its success, in large part, to a handful of men who didn't have anything better to do on Thanksgiving morning.
More truthfully, credit is due to the women of their households who didn't want them underfoot while they were preparing the family's holiday meal.
What began as a Thanksgiving morning "coffee hour" in 1968 has since become an enduring holiday tradition, one that has raised about $350,000 for various charities.
The festivities will continue this year when the Brunch Bunch will gather from 8 a.m. to noon Thanksgiving Day at the Kent American Legion, 1945 Mogadore Road, for its 40th anniversary celebration.
Last year's event raised a record-breaking $34,900, which may be a challenge to top. Organizers say that they're happy to raise even $1 more than they did the previous year " but they're grateful for every dollar since the proceeds benefit organizations that help better the lives of Portage County residents.
The Brunch Bunch didn't have a name when organizers Jack Urchek, Larry Sisson and Richard "Moose" Paskert found themselves looking for a way to get away from the holiday hubbub of their households on the morning of Nov. 28, 1968.
They found their way to Hahn's Fine Foods, a bakery and restaurant on South Water Street in downtown Kent, which was a popular gathering place for local businessmen. Over breakfast, they engaged others there in a lighthearted bit of fund-raising that netted about $235 from the 35 or so who were at the restaurant on Thanksgiving morning.
"They were a big noisy gang," Kay Burgess of Hahn's told the Record-Courier, which reported that the "Thanksgiving coffee hour" was "a big success."
The money they raised went to the Hattie Larlham Foundation, the first of many charities to benefit from the holiday event.
The coffee crew had so much fun that they decided to open their Thanksgiving morning festivities to the community. Admission was a nominal $1 for coffee and doughnuts. The laughs and auctioneering " complete with prizes of dubious value " were extra.
The following year, Urchek, Sisson and Paskert raised $355. By 1971, they had more than doubled the tally, taking in $754.
As the holiday tradition caught on, attendance grew from a handful of regulars to between 300 and 500 who could be counted on to turn out for the Thanksgiving morning fun.
The holiday hijinks grew a bit more elaborate, too.
By 1973, when the crew moved to Ace's Restaurant on North Water Street following a fire at Hahn's, Urchek was presiding over a high-spirited auction, taking bids that year on "everything from pencils to peanuts." Paskert offered "Moose-isms" at a nominal fee.
Some of the "lucky" bidders found themselves shelling out money for items such as expired football tickets and empty ham cans or, in the case of one downtown businessman, an elaborate " but fake " platter of cheese that went for $100. Kent State University President Glenn Olds paid for a plate the auctioneers said came from the Nixon White House, but probably didn't.
The fund-raisers, who came to be known as the Downtown Brunch Bunch, passed the $1,000-mark in 1974 and more than doubled their take by 1979. By then they had instituted an award, "The Big Turkey," which bestowed bragging rights on whoever bid the most during the auction. Urchek won it himself in 1986.
While Thanksgiving morning may have proved a bit more costly than some of the guests had anticipated, most didn't seem to mind shelling out the money.
"It's all for charity," Urchek said in a 1988 interview.
The list of charities that benefited from the Brunch Bunch became a lengthy one, with money going to Hattie Larlham, Happy Day School, Portage County Preventorium, the Kent Police & Citizens Association, Shrewsbury Home, We the People, and Meals on Wheels among others.
After 20 years at the helm, Sisson and Urchek "Paskert had died previously " decided in 1988 that it was time to pass the torch to a new set of organizers. "I've missed 20 Thanksgivings with my family and I suppose it's about time I get back home for the holiday," Urchek remarked. They managed to raise $4,604 at what might have been the Brunch Bunch's final Thanksgiving auction.
Tony Missimi, a quiet humanitarian, decided to open the doors of his restaurant on West Main Street on Thanksgiving morning " one of the few days it ordinarily would have been closed " to enable the event to continue. There it moved in 1989 and that's where it remained until 2002, when it relocated to its present site, the Kent American Legion Hall.
The festivities have grown to include a silent auction, and some of the prizes up for bid are a lot more elaborate than the "pencils and peanuts" Jack Urchek was offering 35 years ago. Popular items have included trips, jewelry, sports memorabilia and dinners catered by local celebrities.
It isn't just a businessmen's affair anymore, either. Families have made it part of their Thanksgiving morning tradition as have special guests, such as the Kent State University basketball team. Last year's event included a "Mayors Challenge," with the mayors of Ravenna and Kent as guest auctioneers.
Admission isn't much more, adjusting for inflation, than it was in 1968. Now it's $3 for "endless coffee, cider and doughnuts." And organizers still say that their goal is to raise just $1 more than last year.
Their tally in 2007 was a record-breaking $34,900, which puts the unofficial goal at about $35,000. Even better, though, in this 40th anniversary year, would be $40,000.
As Jack Urchek would say, "It's all for charity."
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Proceeds from this year's Thanksgiving Brunch Bunch charity auction will benefit Kent Social Services Hot Meals, Center of Hope, Coleman Adult Day Services and The Lord's Pantry.