As I rolled down the road in Bessy (my faithful ice cream truck) and rounded the corner into Garfield Park in Ashland, Oregon, I was greeted by one of the most amazing sights of my life: a bunch of cheering kids running as fast as they could to be the first one in line for free ice cream. By the time I parked and popped my head out of the door, hundreds of young, eager faces were waiting patiently (mostly) for an icy cold treat on a very hot day.
That was the scene here in Ashland yesterday for the second annual Ice Cream Social. What better way to celebrate a hot August day then to give away 700-plus ice cream treats to kids and their parents in this great town.
It was a transcendental experience. I was so overwhelmed with joy that I got short of breath there for a minute, but my ear-to-ear smile said way more about what I was feeling than words could. This is what living the good life is all about.
And to think that this almost didnt happen. Id been planning on returning to do another Ice Cream Social, but wasn’t sure if I could financially pull it off. Shields and I did some brainstorming and decided the only way to make it happen was if we got someone to sponsor it and purchase all of the ice cream.
Thats when Passport2Ashland stepped up. Thanks to them, the Social not only happened, but was a huge success. All week long Shields, Josh, and I worked our tails off. The first thing to do was promote it, so Shields and I hit the town on our bikes and plastered flyers everywhere we could. On Thursday and Friday I drove the truck around my old stomping grounds and gave away ice cream so I could promote giving away ice cream. It seemed a little weird, so I just took my time and chatted with old friends and folks I used to sell ice cream to last summer. But this time I was giving it away.
And I must say, it felt really good to be back in Ashland on the same route where this whole crazy idea started.
Saturday finally came around and I was a bit nervous: Did we promote it too well? Would I have enough ice cream? I had a lot. Too much I thought at first. (Its always better to have more than you need, but I had a 13-hour drive home in a couple of days, and didnt want to transport it.) But when I saw how many people were at the park waiting for me, I thought it wouldn’t be enough. I started to regret giving some away over the past few days. But in the end it turned outpretty much like everything else this weekend…perfect. We ran out just as the last kids were coming back for seconds (actually, probably fourths or fifths).
My crew was great. The line was so long that I couldnt even see the end of it from the truck. But we kept the it moving. Jodie was working the back window, I had the passenger door, and Ian was in charge of distributing the goods to both of us. We tried to be as friendly as possible without holding up the line.
For that hectic but blissful hour and a half it was all-you-can-eat ice cream. And they ate it all. First to go were the Julies Organic ice cream bars and sandwiches (always a favorite). Then the SpongeBob SquarePants treats all got devoured. The last to go were the Cotton Candy Swirls. When five oclock rolled around, I handed out the last few bars and then quietly rolled out, knowing that the 300-plus people who braved the hot weather were completely satisfied. What a great day this was!
Events like the Ice Cream Social take the work of dozens of individuals and companies. Id first like to thank Shields and Josh at Passport2Ashland.
Without their faith in Ice Cream Man, none of this would have happened (and kudos to Josh for keeping the kids busy with the hula hoop contest until I arrived!). We also had great support from some of our favorite local businesses:
Greg at Happy Falafel
Julie from Wiley’s World
Freddy and Damaris at Dagoba Chocolate
Earth Friendly Kids
Everyone at Stratford Inn
Leslie and Matt at Kokopelli Rafting
Wild Man Jay at Jay Newman Photography
Pete at Momentum River Expeditions
KTVL News 10 Thanks for being patient.
Ashland Park and Recreation
Ashland Police
Everyone in Ashland who makes this town great
They all pitched in to make sure everyone left with big smiles. THANK YOU!
And once again, Ian and Jodie, you guys rocked. It was a pleasure having you work the truck with me.
The Ice Cream Social was indeed a huge success. All of the hard work was worth it, but we set the bar pretty high. So the question is: How can we make it even better next year?
