Welcome to this week's edition of Mad Maggie's email newsletter!

Well, things have certainly heated up over the past two weeks. In my last newsletter, I moaned about the dreadful weather we had been having in May. Since I sent that edition out, we've had just about nothing but fabulous, sunny days and the the traffic at the store has jumped dramatically.

My staff has gone from clamoring for more hours to whining about being burned out! They're young and energetic, so when they complain about being "burned out" after working all of a 12 hour work week, I don't give them too much sympathy! Now that the school graduations are wrapping up, I hopefully have more of my team available to work and will have plenty of staff on each shift, but please bear with us if we're caught a little shorthanded on one of the times you visit!

We have had some really busy shifts, and after some of them the kids are a little frazzled, so please be patient with them if they seem a little shell-shocked during a hot night.

I had one customer email me, complaining that the lines were getting too long at the store. While I sympathize with the waits, believe me, we're always trying our hardest to serve you as quickly as possible, and having a line at the window is actually a nice change for us, as it means we're building up a following and maybe can make a go of this business. After two seasons of losing money while having kids sitting around, eating ice cream, and serving an occasional customer, it's an encouraging sign of progress for me!

Our longest lines seem to occur between 7:00pm and 9:00 during weeknights, and from 2pm to 5pm and then again after dinnertime on weekends, so if you really don't want to wait in a long line, try coming by at times outside of those. I always try to have enough staff on to make the waits reasonable, but because of the design of the stand, there are only so many bodies we can realistically have working before we just start bumping into each other and slowing each other down.

I have a wonderful group of kids working for me, and I don't think the waits are due to them not trying hard, but if you ever feel that service could be better, please take the time to let me know about it. I'm open to all ideas that can make us more efficient so that you don't have to stand in line swatting mosquitos for any longer than is absolutely necessary!

New Item

We got some samples of a "Frozen Hot Chocolate" drink through the mail, and they were so good that I ordered a case of the stuff to see if it sells. This is a smoothie like drink, made with milk and ice and whipped in the blender. It is a really refreshing drink, and it really does taste like hot chocolate, only nice and cold! Try one next time you're at the store!

In fact, here's this weeks newsletter coupon: Print this newsletter out, bring it to the store, and we'll give you a free Frozen Hot Chocolate drink!

Our Graduates!

We have a great group of kids working for us, and several of them have graduated over the past couple of weeks:

• Emily and Jenny, from Andover High (You may have noticed Jenny on the front page of the Andover Townsman last week!)
• Mike, from Wilmington High.
• Liz, from Central Catholic
• Samantha, from Phillips Academy

Congratulations to all of "our kids". We love them and are very proud of having such wonderful people on our team!

One of the staffing problems that I can already foresee is that all of these team members will be off to college in mid-August. Combining that with the normal flood of kids returning to fall sports, and we'd be in trouble getting enough help behind the counter for the late summer.

Fortunately, we held a training session over the weekend, and have three new team members in training -- Amanda (my daughter!), Colleen, and Charlotte. These three will be filling in during the course of the summer, and will hopefully be fully ready to give you great service by the time August rolls around, so please be patient with them if you find them helping you at the window.

No Doubt About It: We have the fastest scoopers!

Three of our team members, Jenny, Brittany, and Caroline, constitute three quarters of the Andover 4x100 relay team that won the Massachusetts state championship last week! They also finished second in the New England meet this past Saturday.

Congratulations to all of them, I know that they work very hard at training, and it's great to see them succeed.

Know of any other ice cream stores that care to challenge us to a race? ;^)

No Takers?

It's hard for me to believe, but we didn't have a single person come by to claim the ice cream cake that I offered in the last newsletter! It's still here, come on by and ask for it and we'll be happy to send it home to one of our loyal newsletter readers!

[ Addendum: Just last night, after I had written this, newsletter reader Marty came by and claimed the cake! Enjoy it Marty! ]

Now Serving: Andover Country Club!

We couldn't be happier than to announce that Mad Maggie's ice cream is now being featured on the summer menu at the Andover Country Club! So far we've been providing small samples so that they can get an idea of our flavors, but the feedback we've already received from their members has been amazing. We're looking forward to a long term relationship with them!

So, if you happen to belong to the club (or know someone who does...) make sure to order the ice cream with your meal!

Mad Maggie's in the News

We've had a bit of press coverage over the past couple of weeks, with more to come:

• The Lawrence Tribune did a piece on ice cream stands and failed to mention us, but I heard from a customer that someone wrote to the "Soundoff" page complaining that they should have listed us.
  I don't receive the Tribune, but if any of you have a copy of the feedback piece, I'd love to see it. Guess I'll have to stop in at the Andover town library to look up the back issues!
• The Andover Townsman did a rather underwhelming article about ice cream in town over the Memorial Day weekend. They clumped us in with the other two vendors in Andover, one of whom doesn't even make their own ice cream, so all in all it was a very disappointing article.
• The Boston Phoenix has an article on ice cream places in their June 10th "Summer Guide" issue. They seemed to somehow focus on the fact that we were situated near a flower market as something that makes us distinctive (!!), but other than that odd sidetrack, it was a very nice article.
• I only heard the last half of the Pat Whitley radio show on ice cream stands on Memorial Day weekend, but did hear one caller mention us. Pat claimed that he had visited us, but not sure if that was just part of his schtick.
• Boston Magazine is listing us in their "Best Ice Cream" edition in July. I'd guess that the issue should be out about a week from now, but we'll see!

If any of you happen across any other press coverage of us, I'd appreciate a heads up, as I don't always get informed when things are written about us!

Staff Profile

I forgot to include a staff profile in the last newsletter, so I'll correct that in this one!

This week's staff profile is on Samantha, one of our team leaders this season. Sam is from Andover, and is a recent graduate of Phillips Academy, where she played lacrosse. I watch the school notices faithfully in the winter time, and Sam is always listed in the academic honors announcements.

Sam is planning to attend the University of Vermont (better known as Ski-U...) in the fall. She's undecided as to what she'll major in, but has a lot of interest in social issues, and I can imagine her being either the president of Greenpeace or a legal eagle for the EPA.

I like to kid Sam that she's our resident social conscience, keeping us aware of all of the good causes we should be backing. My pet name for Sam is "Our Hippie Chick" -- she's the instigator in getting us to recycle all of our plastic containers, and is continually involved in fundraising efforts for charitable causes. I think she's going to fit in well with the culture in Burlington, Vermont!

Sam is one of the most pleasant team members I can remember -- I don't think I've ever seen her loose her cool, and she's wonderful at keeping the more junior team members focused on their work. About the only thing I can say bad about her is that she has a really annoying way of rolling her eyes whenever I tell one of my blonde jokes at the store.

Here's a link to a photo of Sam from earlier this season:

Make sure to say "Hi Sam! I read about you in the newsletter!" if you spy her serving you at the store! (Or, point at her and say "Hey, it's the Hippie Chick!" She loves that!)

Yes, We Have Cakes!

We don't have a lot of room to display them, nor enough freezer space to keep a ton of them in stock, but yes, we are happy to make ice cream cakes for any occasion! We've done a few dozen so far this season, and have twenty or so various pre-printed decoration sheets that we can place on the cakes to liven them up -- everything from Thomas the Tank Engine to Sports motifs. So if you'd like to order one, Maggie would be happy to decorate it for your special occasion. Stop by and fill out a request form, and we can have it made in time for your event!

We've had some requests for "printable images" -- that's where you can bring in a photograph and have it printed on the cake. We don't have this system yet, but we're debating purchasing one, so maybe we'll have this service available before the summer is out.

Don't forget Father's Day this Sunday -- bet Dad would love a nice delicious ice cream cake to share with you!

And Slush!

With the recent oppressive heat, we've also been doing a booming business selling buckets of slush. Our "standard" flavors are Cherry, Blue Raspberry, Lemon, Watermelon, Lime, and Cotton Candy, but we can make whatever flavor you can dream up.

Since slush is best when served fresh, and a little "loose", rather than frozen solid, we can practically have a tub made up to your taste in under an hour, as there's no need to "harden" it in our cold freezer. But giving us a day or two's notice is easiest.

We can pack the slush in 2 1/2 gallon tubs ($23), or in half gallon containers ($8), and we'll even throw in the cups and straws! So consider ordering some for your next pool party or picnic -- it's cheap and makes a great refreshing treat!

Don't Forget Dad!

Don't forget our annual "Father's Day Giveaway" this Sunday: Bring Dad to the stand anytime on Sunday and we'll give him a FREE small cone with any other item purchased! We'll even let you claim that it's your Father's Day gift to him!

Mark Your Calendars! Wash Those P.J.s!

Andover's schools are out on June 24th, with North Reading's on June 27th, if my sources are correct. To celebrate, we'll be holding our 2nd annual Pajama Party on Monday, the 27th of June. Come to the store wearing your best pajamas, and we'll give you a free small cone! You don't even have to purchase anything else -- everyone in real pajamas gets a free cone!

One rule: REAL pajamas -- tops *and* bottoms, ONLY! Don't come dressed in some dirty sweatpants, or a ripped t-shirt, or in your boxer shorts, and tell me that those *are* your pajamas. I reserve the right to act as final and sole authority of what qualifies as pajamas, and I want to see something creative. Maybe some bunny slippers, or silk kimono, or one of those eye masks like Felix Ungar on the old "Odd Couple" reruns always seemed to wear when he slept.

Come by, see your friends in their pajamas, and help us celebrate the start of summer!

I've sent a letter to the Victoria's Secret people (I had to study that catalogue for hours on end, in preparation for my role as the official pajama judge) to let them know that their lingerie models are more than welcome to come by. No doubt they won't be able to resist *that* temptation, so don't be surprised if Tyra, Giselle, and friends are all there.

I told Maggie that if Adriana shows up, and wants me to run away with her, that she'd have to close the store herself that night. I wish she hadn't laughed so hard...

We'll be giving out prizes for the most creative pajamas, with special prizes for the cutest, the silliest, and the most unusual. (I wanted to also have a prize for "sexiest", but Maggie shot that idea down too. She just doesn't have *any* marketing sense...)

Newsletter Coupon

I know there's a coupon above for a free frozen Hot Chocolate, but to thank you for reading through my rantings, here's another one: print out this email, bring it to the store, and we'll give you a second item free with any purchase. Buy a small sundae, get a second one for free!

Obligatory legal mumble: The lower priced item is the free one, one free item per newsletter!

Well, I think that's plenty of news for this edition. Thanks for reading, and we sure hope to see you at the store soon!