By David Chesanow, JTNews Correspondent
Ah, the signs of spring! The flowers and the bees, the birds in the trees — and Blintzapalooza at Temple Beth Hatfiloh in Olympia.
According to organizer Linda Blustein, this year’s festivities on March 30th had hungry blintz lovers lined up around the block. The event was a Sunday brunch of blintzes and bagels, lox, and cream cheese, with a used book sale at the same time.
There were frozen blintzes to go, but the juried blintz cook-off was much more fun. Two categories competed: Real Cheese Blintzes — “for purists,” said Blustein — and Other, which covered everything else. Though there were winners, the judges no doubt had a hard time choosing among all of the delectable treats.
Thousands of books were donated for the book sale. Eclectic might be the right word for the treasures to be found. “There [was] a fair amount of Judaica and the classics. And there’s always a lot of children’s books,” said the temple’s resident book expert, Gary Franklin. More than enough volunteers came out to help with Blintzapalooza as well.
“Everyone wants to be part of it. I would say that we had over 40 volunteers helping from setup to clean up,” said Blustein.
The real star of the show however, was not the food. It was the fundraising. Like an event at any other synagogue, Blintzapalooza is primarily intended to raise money. The difference, however, is that Temple Beth Hatfiloh uses none of the proceeds for itself.
“All of the money that we bring in, even when our temple’s budget has been tight,” is donated to local charities, Blustein wrote in an email to the Transcript. “We really see it as our opportunity to give back to the community.”
Three agencies will receive the $5,000 raised by filling hungry bellies: the Crisis Clinic, the Dispute Resolution Center, and Associated Ministries of Thurston County. Blustein added that Blintzapalooza stands firm in its mission to help out its local beneficiaries while letting the public know more about the temple.
Though Blintzapalooza is but a happy memory, dreams of crépes, sweet cheese, and filled-up tummies linger until next year. Also, Temple Beth Hatfiloh would still be happy to take donations for the three charities. Call (360) 754-8519 for more information.