Local Celebrities Serve Breakfast at Effie’s to Raise Funds for Park Road Parade

The annual celebrity breakfast was held June 14 at Effie’s Place Family Restaurant on Park Road in West Hartford.

Tony Landino (left) and Richard Chiarappa. Park Road Parade Celebrity Breakfast. June 14, 2022. Courtesy photo

By Ronni Newton

Among the events that returned in 2022 following several years of COVID cancellation was the annual Celebrity Breakfast at Effie’s Place Family Restaurant on Park Road, which serves as a fundraiser for the annual parade held in October.

While last year’s parade was back on the schedule, the breakfast – where diners enjoy a hearty breakfast of “Effie’s Eggs” and home fries,  pancakes, or Belgian waffles, with sausage or bacon, coffee or tea, and juice – served up by a variety of local celebrities that included Mayor Shari Cantor, Deputy Mayor Liam Sweeney, Town Councilor Adrienne Billings-Smith, state Sen. Derek Slap, state Reps. Jillian Gilchrest and Tammy Exum, Acting Town Manager Rick Ledwith, Town Clerk Essie Labrot, West Hartford-Bloomfield Health District Director Aimee Krauss, West Hartford Neighbors & Friends Facebook Group administrator Patti Albee, and West Hartford Symphony Music Director Richard Chiarappa who was dressed to the nines in his tuxedo. Other area business and civic leaders also donned aprons, as did Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin who crossed Prospect Avenue and touted the importance of collaboration between Hartford’s Parkville neighborhood and Park Road.

Many of the servers, and several of the guests, also spent time chatting with John Lyons and Ronni Newton, who hosted a We-Ha Roundtable on Facebook Live. The video of the discussion can be seen through the link on the We-Ha.com Facebook page or on West Hartford Community Interactive’s YouTube channel.

John Paindiris, owner of Effie’s Place and co-president of the Park Road Association, said the breakfast raised just over $1,400 in support of the iconic annual parade, which will be held on Oct. 1, 2022.

Some of the celebrity servers gather for a group photo. Park Road Parade Celebrity Breakfast. June 14, 2022. Courtesy photo

Town Clerk Essie Labrot dines with Candace Fisher, WHCi board member. Park Road Parade Celebrity Breakfast. June 14, 2022. Courtesy photo

Park Road Parade Celebrity Breakfast. June 14, 2022. Courtesy photo

Deb and Roger Goldbeck await their breakfast. Park Road Parade Celebrity Breakfast. June 14, 2022. Courtesy photo

The Sweeney family posed for a photo. Deputy Mayor Liam Sweeney (right) was also a server. Park Road Parade Celebrity Breakfast. June 14, 2022. Courtesy photo

Mayor Shari Cantor (right) spoke with WeHa Roundtable hosts John Lyons and Ronni Newton on a Facebook Live program that was held for the duration of the Celebrity Breakfast. Courtesy photo

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