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Thanksgiving Breakfast

Family keeps up
a four-decade
holiday tradition
for family and
friends.

Photos (and story) by Judy Marx

At last year’s event,
Rachel Rosenthal
of Sylvan Lake,
Andrew Nathan of
Farmington Hills and
Brandon Rothenberg
of West Bloomfield

J

Max Petry of Bartlett, Ill., watches Nate
Gold of Northville help himself to his
first pancakes of the morning.

ennifer and Jeff Hollander of West
Bloomfield won’t wake up early on
Thanksgiving morning to put their
holiday turkey into the oven. Instead, they
will be heating up griddles for the first
batch of pumpkin pancakes that will serve
some 70-80 friends and family at their
annual Thanksgiving Breakfast, a tradition
dating back some four decades.
Jennifer’s parents, Judy and John Marx of
West Bloomfield, began serving breakfast
to friends on Thanksgiving morning in the
late ’70s, when “the guys,” on their way to
the Silverdome, would stop by to pick up
the Lions’ tickets that John had ordered.
“Invite their wives for breakfast, too,” Judy
recalls saying, “and tell them to bring along
the kids.”
Bagels and lox? No way! The fare was
always typical Americana: pumpkin pan-
cakes, turkey bacon, oatmeal, cranberry

The Hollanders: Ari, now 18; Rachel, now 22; Jeff and
Jennifer have welcomed guests to their home on
Thanksgiving morning for the past 18 years.

22 November 24 • 2016

nut bread and more. The breakfast crowd
grew each year and, after the Lions moved
to Ford Field and tickets were harder to
obtain, the morning happening became
an event in its own right. Jennifer and her
brother began inviting their friends as well.
Jennifer and Jeff met in 1984. After
they were married, they announced that
when they moved into a home, the annual
Thanksgiving Breakfast was the first holi-
day gathering they would like to host. And
so, in 1998, the couple prepared a morning
feast for 35 adults and 10 kids — friends
and family of both the Hollanders and the
Marxes.
Ari Hollander, now a freshman at
Michigan State University, had his first taste
of pumpkin pancakes as a 6-month-old that
morning while 4-year-old Rachel made tur-
key decorations for the occasion.
Eighteen years later, the tradition con-

Rachel Hollander with Jordyn Sheatzley and Ally
Nathan, both of Farmington Hills, at last year’s
breakfast

tinues with three generations of visiting
pilgrims enjoying the several hundred pan-
cakes that come off the griddle, along with
a variety of breakfast dishes contributed by
the Hollanders’ guests.
“Our holiday tradition is incredibly
important to us and to the dozens of fami-
lies who begin Thanksgiving weekend at
our house,” Jeff says.
“The smells of hot apple cider and
pumpkin pancakes, the chatter of returning
college students exchanging stories from
the past year and the sight of the friendly
football game in the backyard are what
makes this occasion so special for all of us,”
Jennifer says.
This year will be no exception at the
Hollanders’ house. When the flock of
friends and family trot on over, once again
there will be plenty of pumpkin pancakes
and all the fixings for gobblers of all ages.

A holiday tradition with longtime friends: Cheryl, left, and
Allan Rothenberg, standing, of West Bloomfield and Emily
and Stuart Nathan of Farmington Hills.

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