7th Annual Miss Mary's Ice Cream Crankin'

It was a nice Saturday morning and I found myself hanging out, doing a little cleaning, watching some tv, checking out facebook,  and the phone rings.  It was my good friend Diane and as we have not seen each other in a while we take a moment to catch up on life.  It is pleasant to get her phone call and towards the end of our conversation she invites me to spend the next afternoon with her.  She will be volunteering at a fundraiser for The Drake House.  A local Atlanta Charity who serves women with children, providing them with short term housing while they work to get back on their feet.   Sunday afternoon was their annual fundraiser: Miss Mary's Ice Cream Crankn'.  I had been involved with the organization previously and since it was a good cause and I had no plans,  what a great way to give back.  OK, maybe another motivator for me is that the event will have over 170 flavors of  ice cream.  How could I pass that up?  Different groups/organizations will bring their home made ice cream to Roswell Square and give samples to the attendees.  Antendees pay a small fee at the door which gives them free rain to taste the different flavors. I won't have to pay being a volunteer but will make sure to leave a donation for my ice cream tasting experience!   YUM! How could I say no?

Well, I head to bed early not knowing what to expect of this new adventure.  Diane and I meet at the Roswell Square around 1:30 the next afternoon as scooping will start at 2:00.  It is a beautiful day with sunny skies and a nice refreshing breeze.  The square is set with tents around the outside edges and people hustling about to get their booths set up and ready.  The groups/organizations providing the ice cream consist of churches,  rotary clubs, local businesses, individuals and general supporters of The Drake House.  Each with their unique ice cream flavor which is also part of a contest for best flavor honors to be held later in the afternoon.   In the middle of the square, workers are setting up long tables for an ice cream eating contest to be held later as well.  Talk about a brain freeze.  This along with a variety of other activities make this a great day for the whole family.

 We get signed in and are designated to work a station handing out water to the guests.  Water for Life has donated the product and our job is to make sure the water coolers are full of ice and water.  We are also supposed hand out the water, mention  Water for Life and suggest the recipients make a voluntary donation to the kettle hanging at the station.  (All proceeds going to The Drake House of course)  I am sure I can handle that!

 

At 2:00 P.M. the last minute scurrying around has to stop as people start arriving with their taste buds ready.  A group of violinists begin to play in the small band shelter at the other end of the park.  I am actually stationed in the middle of the park and get to listen to the music played by the young musicians which adds to the enjoyment of my afternoon.  The only disadvantage of my location is that it is in the middle of the open area and exposed to the sun the whole time.  Two hours of sun - YIKES.  It is a good thing I have a little sunscreen on.   The afternoon goes by quickly as the demand for water is great with the skies being cloudless.  Ice...water... ice ... water ....ice ...  collect money and on and soon  3:45 comes even though it feels like we just started. We are releaved of our posts so we can spend the last  minutes of the "crankn'" tasting the delightful flavors.  

There are so many flavors, some being traditional and some being of an experimental nature.   My favorites are a mix of tradition with a touch of experimental: I gravitate towards the ones I like the best which include: pumpkin, chocolate chip,  mint,  vanilla, oatmeal cookie, fig and basalmic, toffee almond, chai, expresso, just to name a few and make your mouth water.  The great thing about the event is some of the unusual flavors that you would never try unless you are at an event like this.  These flavors included: salt n pepper,  spicy cream,  Shirley temple, pineapple pork rinds, sweet onion jam, beat & basil, just to name a few.  You will have to attend next years crankn' to taste all 170 plus flavors .  There was not one flavor I did not like at least a little, but then again they are all ice cream.  Soon the day is over and time to head home.  We are told that the water collection kettles did far better this year then previous years and are thanked for our efforts.  It has been a good day of volunteering and if you get a chance to check out Miss Mary's Ice Cream Crankn' -  the $5.00 entry is sure worth every penny!

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