Who Doesn’t Love An Ice Cream Party?

Gifford’s  Launches “The Good Times Ice Cream Tour” in the Washington, D.C. area —with Ice Cream Parties All Summer Long

SKOWHEGAN, MAINE —June 20, 2014 —Gifford’s Famous Ice Cream, award-winning ice cream from a small town in Maine, is launching its line of creamy, delicious vintage-made ice cream into greater Washington, D.C. with a summer-long Good Times Ice Cream Tour. A colorful state-of-the art ice cream truck, equipped with freezers and loads of award-winning ice cream, is scheduled to appear at more than 70 events throughout the D.C. area throughout the summer. Fans of delicious, creamy ice cream are invited to tweet for the truck @GiffordsMaine using #FreeGiffordsIceCream and hashtag your city. Or, if you have an event you’d like us to attend, email info@giffordsicecream.com.

The summer-long Gifford’s Good Times Ice Cream Tour kicks off Sunday, June 29, at the L.L. Bean retail store at Tysons Corner in McLean, Va., from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., where customers are invited to celebrate Outdoor Discovery Days and all things Maine, from fly-fishing, to knot-tying, to stand-up paddle boarding, to delicious, FREE ice cream. The Gifford’s Good Times Ice Cream Truck will also participate in the fourth annual “DC Scoop,” an ice cream competition to be held July 19 at Union Market, on the eve of National Ice Cream Day.

At the L.L.Bean kickoff event, Gifford’s General Manager Lindsay Gifford-Skilling will scoop free ice cream samples — Camp Coffee, Maine Wild Blueberry, World’s Best Chocolate and French Vanilla — and chat about what it’s like to grow up in a fifth-generation ice cream family from Skowhegan, Maine. At age 31, Lindsay is one of four young emerging leaders at the company who oversees operations, a staff of 35 year-round employees, five seasonal ice-cream stands, and an ice cream factory with sales of 1.7 million gallons of ice cream a year.

The expansion into Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia follows the company’s 2011 acquisition of Maryland-based Gifford’s Ice Cream & Candy Co. Although the two companies share the same name and similar stories, the two families are not related.

“My entire family wants to ensure that fans of the Maryland-based Gifford’s Ice Cream & Candy Co.will come to know our strong family values and the emphasis we put on making exceptional ice cream,” said Lindsay, who is great, great granddaughter of the family patriarch who started the original dairy business from a horse-drawn wagon in the late 1800s. “Our hope is that families in Virginia, Maryland and D.C. will come to know our story too and come to love our ice cream just as much.”

Gifford’s has recently been introduced to customers at Whole Foods Market, Balducci’s, Wawa, and other fine grocery stores throughout the Washington D.C. area.

“We have some incredibly energetic and loyal customers who seem to fall in love with our ice cream and our story,” said Lindsay. “Our family is working hard to take it to the next level to make our grandparents and parents proud. We are excited to be in D.C.!”