Appleton - Happy Pancakes President Nora Popp and her team on Friday collected seed money and gained pageant sponsorship from area business, Schmidtke Orthodontics (http://www.teethbyschmidtke.com).

"We are happy to support her," says Katie Schmidtke, representative of the orthodontist.

Popp and her fund manager are working towards raising $240 this holiday weekend to pay for June training in Appleton. This is half of the entry fee needed by August for the pageant at Chula Vista Resort in the Wisconsin Dells.

All money raised will help the Happy Pancake president get closer to being the next Miss Wisconsin.

"I am thrilled," she squealed.

Chef Bennett has crafted the ingredients of the pancake to be served in snow cone cups with syrups and fruit toppings. Sous Chef Caden will build the prototype to test on neighbors this week.

"These pancakes will be out of this world," says Chef Bennett. "We are considering chocolate [as a topping] but we could test barbecue flavor, and ketchup and mustard."

The first Ooey Gooey pancake sale is scheduled for next weekend baseball tournament play. Each pancake will retail for $1.50.

The National American Miss pageants are dedicated to celebrating America?s greatness and encouraging its future leaders, according to the organization's mission statement. Each year, the pageant awards $1 million in cash, scholarships and prizes to recognize and assist the development of young women nationwide.

Winning the Miss Wisconsin title in August will get Popp one step closer to the national title in Los Angeles. In addition to the coveted crown, she will win $1,000 and tickets to fly to the competition as well as VIP access to Disneyland.