Monthly Archives: August 2012

Dogs and pets, Events

Blue moon – dogs, students and dancing this week

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The summer’s fun continues to run.

We have a busy week here at Mity Nice, and we’re really looking forward to seeing friends back from vacation and students and staff back to U-M and other local universities. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s up with us:

  • Thursday, Aug. 30 –  We’re heading to Main Street around 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. to welcome Lena and Habana, the Latin American restaurant, to our neighborhood.  If you want a shot of tequila in your Italian ice, start at the cart then step inside!
  • Friday, Aug. 31 – Our first Full Moon, Dogs & Spoon event. Please stop by on Main Street with your friendly dogs, big, small, young or old. We are big dog lovers, and so we’ll have dog treats (courtesy of Dogma Catmantoo in Kerrytown) and a dog game or two. The spoon, of course, refers our wooden spoon so owners and friends can savor late summer heat with a couple of scoops of lemon or lime Italian ice.
  • Saturday, Sept. 1 – Hello Students! Look for us on our North University sidewalk space near Hill Auditorium, starting around 4 p.m. We’ll crack out the Go Blue! Italian ice, and give away a dozen of our Maize & Blueberry muffins to students, then scoop up some sweetness to new and old friends.
  • Sunday, Sept. 2 – Dancing in the Streets. Such a joyful event, with free dance lessons and music and more along Main Street. We have been part of it every year, and we always donate a percent of our sales to the organizers, the Ann Arbor Community of Traditional Dance and Music.  We’ll be there by around 1, and the dancing begins at 2 p.m. with ballroom dance lessons and family dance too.  (Yes, we will dance a bit, when we’re not scooping or pouring drinks.)

We hope to see you at a few of these fun events – dancing shoes and dogs are optional, but joy and friendship and Italian ice are essential!

 

 

Events, Kerrytown news

Second Sunday: Books are Beautiful

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Anyone who knows Vickie knows she adores books and reading. She considered becoming a librarian (and chose another wordsmith occupation – journalist / freelance writer – instead). And she started the Mity Nice Stories on the Steps near our cart, and hopes to continue it for a long time.

So our next Second Sunday event, held in conjunction with the Kerrytown Book Festival, is special, even though it also is considerably smaller than our recent Fairies & Fairy Door Festival or Mity Nice Street Fair.

We are celebrating books, especially books for children and books about fairies and friendship, at the Books are Beautiful Second Sunday.  (We have a couple of new books that we think you’ll really love!) We will read and share our favorite titles – and create a book-related craft project or two, including a custom bookmark.

Then we’ll encourage you to spend time at the wonderful activities in the Book Festival. (We’re supporting the festival by giving all its volunteers a Mity Nice Italian ice sometime in the afternoon.)

What: Children’s arts and crafts table, poet’s corner and story time

When: Sunday, Sept. 9, 12 – 3 p.m.

Where: At the Mity Nice cart, on the sidewalk at 303 Detroit Street

Who: Mity Nice staffers and you

Why: Because we love books and poetry — and celebrating with friends!

How:  Get ready by re-reading your favorite books – we’ll be asking you about them! Then invite along a friend to this lovely afternoon.

What else: At the Kerytown Book Festival make a book with our friends from FLY Art Center, who created the moustaches and wands during our Fairy Festival. There’s also a 3 p.m. session for kids called “Stories about Stories” with a local librarian.

 

Dogs and pets, Events

More fun with farmers, fairies, dancing and dogs

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Every month, on the Second Sunday, we organize and hold a special event at the Sunday Artisan Market, part of our effort to bring more people to see the beauty and savor Kerrytown (and our Italian ice.)

This weekend is our Fairies & Fairy Door Festival, and it is jammed with joyful activities. We hope you have your fairy wings or pirate costume prepared.

Yet Mity Nice lives up to its name, sweetly, with some other fun days and nights planned too. We are celebrating the farmers and other vendors at the Farmers Market and appreciating the return of U-M and other students to Ann Arbor.  And we’re trying a new evening to bring together dogs and dog owners and give them a place to gather together and savor the season.

Here’s a look at some of the joy that gives credence to our slogan “joy and jobs through Italian ice – that’s Mity Nice!”

Weds., Aug. 15 –  Free Farmers Market vendor ice day . Vendors will receive a special coupon, good for one day only, so they can feel our appreciation for how hard they work, and how much they liven up Kerrytown.

Friday, Aug. 17 – Mity Nice Dogs Night Out.  Bring your well-behaved dog down to Main Street for a treat and a chance to sniff and smile at other pooches.  The official event is  7-9 p.m. but we’re dog-friendly all the time. (Our mascot is Dannie, our big brown dog, and she’s likely to come out for the evening.)

Sept. 1 – Hello students night! We’re Mity Nice…. We will set up on our North University space, right near Hill Auditorium, and we’ll hand out some free Maize & Blueberry muffins (limited quantity) and coupons and such. This event also will kick off our fundraising drive, throughout September, to reduce the number of hungry in our community. The funds will go to Food Gatherers, the Breakfast at St. Andrews and a third local anti-hunger charity still to be chosen.

Sept. 5 – Friends & Family Free Ice Frenzy.  You can enjoy as much free Italian ice as you like during this annual event, provided you are friendly with us on Facebook.  Details on the location and hours will be given on our Facebook page!

Besides these activities we’re creating, we also like to join the fun when city codes allow it or when groups invite us in.  So we’ll set up on our Detroit Street spot for Nash Bash, featuring musicians from Nashville, on Aug. 16, and we expect to be on Main Street during Dancing in the Streets, a very fun event on Labor Day that we’ve supported for a few years.

Please share these events with your friends, and stop by and say hello. We have some of the nicest customers and we’re so glad to see you, regardless of whether you’re buying a pint of Italian ice or just bringing Bowser by for a visit.

 

Events, Mity Nice news

Our new fairy door

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Shhhhhhh.

Today, we’re giving you sneak peak at our second fairy door, which was created for us by Master Tinkerer Bob Simmons, of Fairy Hill Woodworksin Ann Arbor. (He’s at the Sunday Artisan Market, one of a handful of vendors with fairy items for children and adults and fairies to take home).

Ours is one of only a tiny number of mobile fairy doors in Michigan. Here’s what it looks like:

The second Mity Nice fairy door, made in Ann Arbor

Our first fairy door, installed last summer, is on hiatus for a while, so we’re excited to have a new one to share with children and adults who visit our cart. (Hint: It’s on the white cart, the one that holds our sink and your lemonade.)

We also  are creating a map of fairy doors in Kerrytown, which will be available Sunday at the Mity Nice Fairies & Fairy Door Festival. We believe we’re one of only three doors that are in or adjacent to the Ann Arbor Farmers Market.

Of course, this weekend, more than a dozen artisans will unveil their own fairy doors during our festival too, which is another reason to visit on Sunday.

For those who don’t know, fairy doors can only be opened by fairies or their cousins, pixies and brownies. Humans are not able to pry them open, even for a minute. Instead, you may want to leave a penny, a charm or another gift to stay in the fairies good graces, and to encourage them to show up.

Our fairy friends already have been selling Mity Nice Fairy Ice for more than a year in Ann Arbor.  This door gives them a mobile shop,  a place to come and savor the sweetness and joy of a Michigan-made treat.  They, like so many, are fans of both the Italian ice and the kindness and whimsey, joy and charitable support we dish up regularly.