The phrase “spooning” received a whole new meaning Tuesday afternoon. Armed with utensils, people of all ages flocked to City Hall Plaza for their fill at the kickoff of the 21st annual “Scooper Bowl.”
The three-day festivity began on Tuesday, opening its ice cream cone gate to patrons for two reasons: to partake in the all-you-can-eat frozen goodness and to donate money to cancer research.
Proceeds from the “Scooper Bowl,” presented by AT’T, go to the Jimmy Fund and assist research at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Attendants are given a spoon immediately after crossing under the giant ice cream cone gate. Tents litter City Hall Plaza with individual cups of dairy deliciousness in a multitude of flavors, just waiting for eager ice cream lovers to snatch.
“It’s wonderful,” said Howard Allen of Wakefield. “[We’re] eating ice cream for a good cause — how much better can it get?”
Since June 1983, the Jimmy Fund’s “Scooper Bowl” began with four vendors, serving 1,000 customers who paid $1 for admittance. Twenty-one years later, ice cream companies are competing for the limited space available in City Hall Plaza, dishing out an estimated 10 tons of frozen treats over a three-day period, according to the event’s Web site, www.scooperbowl.org.
Raking in more than $100,000 last year, ice cream vendors are hoping to exceed that mark this year, not for their own benefit, but for the Jimmy Fund.
“[The ‘Scooper Bowl] is great for the Jimmy Fund,” said Mike Wheeler, who works for Hood Ice Cream and is on his 21st year of working the event. “[Vendors] don’t try to market [themselves], just try to raise money. There’s no thought for publicity. Dana Farber has done a very good job at keeping it that way.”
Companies donate all of the ice cream, labor and products for what has been known to some ice cream enthusiasts as the unofficial start of the summer in New England.
Mouth-watering flavors include a wide spectrum like traditional mint chip and black raspberry to more exotic trials such as Hood’s Peak Treasures’ “Caramel Cup Goldmine” or Kemp’s Carb Promise flavor, “Toffee Fudge Chunk.” Vendors range from Kemps and Hood to Ben ‘ Jerry’s, Baskin Robbins and Edy’s.
WBZ News Radio 1030 and representatives from New England’s professional soccer team, the Revolution, joined the fun, offering informational handouts and giveaways as the hot sun beat down on the growing crowd.
AT’T representatives manned “the topping tent,” after joining the “Scooper Bowl” team as a sponsor in 2003. Whether you call them sprinkles, jimmies or shots, toppings of all sorts can be found in the area.
Volunteers of the event hope the weather holds out, drawing more members of the community and visitors to the delicious extravaganza.
Last year brought over 50,000 people to City Hall Plaza and it was raining, said Rachel Olson, student at University of Massachusetts at Amherst and volunteer of the “Scooper Bowl.” She looks for the event to exceed that number due to the predicted sunny weather.
First year volunteers and veterans of the event all share a common aspiration and desire to help, making the “Scooper Bowl” a successful event, inside and out.
“There are so many people around,” said Natasha Massoudi, a sophomore at Emmanuel College and employee of Dana Farber. “I see a lot of kids with cancer, so this makes me really happy.”
The overall mood of the day was one of happiness and encouragement, as patrons not only got their lactose-overload, but also garnered information to see exactly how much of an impact their donation made.
Emily Olson, a nurse and employee of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, said the event is something that always brings smiles to faces, including her own.
“It’s great to see the money generated here benefit the research,” Olson said. “And all you can see is wall to wall people with big happy faces.”
Through Thursday, June 10, the gate to the “Scooper Bowl” will be open from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. General admission tickets are $7, $3 for children 3 to 10 years old and free for children under 3 years old.
