Bear Fest Ice Cream

As you've hopefully heard by now, Easthampton is soon to be visited by 35 bears. The bears you see above are the 'canvases'. Local artists were chosen from among over 130 proposals, ranging from astronaut bear to Patty O'bear, and many themes in between. Artists are hard at work on their bears, getting them ready for the big 'unveiling' party on June 13th. The big bears will find homes in high visibility spots throughout town. Smaller, tabletop bears are also being prepared by local school children and Riverside Industries folks. These bears will be placed inside local businesses. Mt. Tom's will proudly host a bear, as will many other local businesses.

As you can see at the Bear Fest website, the Easthampton City Arts team have worked tirelessly not only to raise the funds to bring the bears to town, but to also plan some great events to celebrate this summerlong public display of art.

I, for one, think Bear Fest is going to great for the city. Once word gets out how cool these bears are, people will come from miles around to check 'em out.

In addition to parties and concerts and artwalks, Opa Opa Brewing Company is creating a Bear Fest brew. They will be 'unveiling' that at a benefit party on June 3rd.

And here at Mt. Tom's, we've got an ice cream flavor contest going right now. I'm letting the kids invent the flavor for a Bear Fest flavor! All kids 10 and under got entry forms at school. Entry forms are also available here at the shop. We've asked them to come up with the ingredients and the name. The winner gets a free cone a week for the entire summer and a $25 giftcard! 2nd and 3rd get giftcards too. The contest runs until May 31st. Winners will be notified by the 5th. And the first batch will be made shortly after that, with the winner helping out and getting the first 'taste'. We've already received a bunch of entries, and definitely some keepers in the stack...

The new Bear Fest flavor will be served at the 'unveiling party' on June 13th at 2pm. That will be held at the public parking lot on Cottage Street. Hope to see you there.

I'll be posting the winning flavor here on June 5th.

Stay cool and tuned...