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Events, Mity Nice news

Fairy games, crafts and fun coming Aug. 12

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Fairy Photo

If you’ve never seen a fairy in Ann Arbor, perhaps it’s time you started hanging out at the Mity Nice cart. They like to stop by around dusk, and play a few games and pick up an itty bitty Italian ice to take home to their brothers and sisters.

Or better yet, come by on Sunday, Aug. 12 for the Fairies & Fairy Door Festival, when fairies and humans will mix and mingle and enjoy an afternoon of fun and games, arts and crafts.

We have some surprised planned, so we can’t tell you everything. But here’s some highlights of our fairy and pirate event:

  • The folks at FLY Art Center will provide some wonderful craft activities. Fairy fans will be able to make a wand and a tiara and pirates and their pals can create their own villainous mustache and a hook from tin foil and a cup.  (They also are our non-profit partner, so a percent of all Italian ice and food sales from Mity Nice will go directly to this great group.)
  • Children and adults are encouraged to dress up as fairies or pirates, and join the costume contest at 1:30 p.m.  (No sharp swords please.)

    Fairy Photo

  • The folks from BrickBash, the cool Lego-building festival, are bringing out some of their favorites to share with our guests.
  • A face painter will be available to give you a flower or some fairy dust or perhaps a patch over your eye or a terrifying scar, if you’re a pirate. Thanks to the kind support of LilyGrace, the luxury cosmetics boutique on Main Street, we will offer free face painting for most of the event.
  • We will offer an array of fairy games and dances – some of them will be magical. (Yes, you can play even if you have no wings or magical powers.)
  • Hear stories of fairies and fairy adventures, listen to fairy tales in some storytimes on the steps.
  • See some new fairy doors that are popping up, both at the Mity Nice cart and throughout the Artisan Market.
  • Try some treats made by local fairies and their cousins, the sprites and brownies.
  • Buy some amazing fairy items – including some locally made fairy doors and wands and some postcards, crowns and books from the Mity Nice Fairie Shop.  We appreciate Nicola’s Books for handing over most of the fairy books that will available.
The event starts at 11 a.m., though mosf the children’s activities and crafts will commence at noon, at the Sunday Artisan Market in Kerrytown, and at the Mity Nice cart. If you flit by early enough, though, creep by and spy on the fairy circle just a little after dawn at Wheeler Park.
This event is organized by Mity Nice and Integrity Shows in partnership with the Fairy Council #3 and the Sunday Artisan Market.
Thanks to our sponsors LilyGrace Cosmetics and Tea Haus of Ann Arbor for their support.
Copyright Mity Nice LLC

 

Mity Nice news

Art Fair – we’re there, times two

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If you’re looking for your Mity Nice Italian ice for the next few days, you’ll have to head up to the heart of the Ann Arbor Art Fairs.

We have two locations this year, on either end of the Diag. They are:

1. State and North University  – We’re serving from our mini-carts but you’ll find four flavors of ice and plenty of lemonade and tea too.

2. South University and East University – Look just past the Information booth and you’ll see Mity Nice in a sliver of a space.

In both spots, you will see our red, white and green umbrella that is one of our signatures. We’re serving up Tea Haus tea, including the beautiful flavor Summer Romance and the classic black (so you can make an Arnold Palmer).  The raspberry lemonade tastes wonderful with a scoop of lemon ice added, too.

We know it’s a ways from Kerrytown, but we hope you’ll come see us!

Mity Nice news, Photos

Almost a circus at the Mity Nice Street Fair

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We’re sharing some photos of the fun we had Sunday at the Mity Nice Street Fair:

And we want to give thanks to Zingerman’s Bakehouse, Tea Haus of Ann Arbor and Found Gallery for their support of this event, and to the food carts, the performers and everyone who came to play and juggle with us. It was Mity Mity Nice!

Events, Mity Nice news, Photos

What a parade! What a lot of free ice!

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This is our third year in the Jaycees 4th of July Parade in Ann Arbor, and our second year to give away free Italian ice to everyone in it.

This year, we promoted the Mity Nice Street Fair — this Sunday – throughout the parade.

The parade loops around downtown, and it ends on Thompson Street, where Mity Nice surprises and delights everyone with a free little Italian ice in red, white or blue. (Flavors: raspberry, lemon or Go Blue!)  We pre-scoop much of this and serve it in pizza boxes so we can hand it to the groups going by.

Such smiles and delight on their tired hot faces when they see us!

We gave away 863 portions of Italian ice, with Mark scooping as fast as he could and our juggler friend, Dave, helping to pass out the pizza trays full of icy vegan sweetness.

Here’s a few photos from the start of the parade, as Shelley, Mark and Dannie, our brown mascot, were waiting to walk a mile amid politicians, pre-schools and prancing twirlers.

Events, Mity Nice news

More on the Mity Nice Street Fair

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This is our first press release of the year, and we’re sharing it here as we send it out to bloggers and media and others. Please share it with your media and non-media friends too!

Ann Arbor –  The crew of Mity Nice has been learning to juggle almost since the first scoops of Michigan cherry and lemon ice were handed over to customers in the summer of 2009. This year, though, Mity Nice is bringing in some experienced performers to entertain and delight as it organizes the Mity Nice Street Fair, a celebration of street performance and street food on July 8.

The event, held at the Sunday Artisan Market in Kerrytown, will feature performers from the Detroit Circus, who specialize in poi spinning and contact juggling, as well as The Josh and Roy Show, a Vaudville style performance. Among the other performers include Ian Tran, a violin player who attends the University of Michigan.   Other performers will dance and hoop and carry on.

Mity Nice also will offer an “open mic” stage near its cart for acoustic performers who didn’t make it into the festival but want to drop in and perform on Sunday.

“We’re thrilled to be creating a new family event that is sure to bring joy and delight to our audiences,” said Mark Loeb, co-owner of Mity Nice. “We put joy in our mission statement and we’re helping bring more of it to Kerrytown too.”

The Mity Nice Street fair also will feature three local food purveyors: Dad’s Dogs, a hot dog cart that usually is found on Main Street or Maynard; San Street, the Asian street food cart from Zingerman’s; and Papa John’s Pizza, which serves pizza to hungry U-M students and townies alike. Mity Nice will offer its Detroit-made Italian ices, mini-muffins, fresh-squeezed lemonades and tea from the Tea Haus.

The event is being sponsored by Found Gallery, Tea Haus of Ann Arbor and Zingerman’s Bakehouse, each of which have  Adopted-A-Busker to make the event possible.  Performers will play for tips, so the audience is encouraged to bring small bills (or big ones if you really enjoy the show)! Mity Nice and the sponsors are also supporting the entertainers with food and fun and more.

Mity Nice started the Second Sundays in May, in partnership with the Sunday Artisan Market, to encourage visitors to come and enjoy the beauty of the market and Kerrytown on Sunday afternoons.   Future events include the Fairies & Fairy Door Festival Aug. 12 and a Mystery Day in October.

The Street Fair runs 11 to 3:30 on July 8, with an after-party in Kerrytown to give performers and audience a chance to chat and relax.

As for the Mity Nice crew, some are still working their way up to three bright colored balls. But all of them have developed an amazing ability to scoop very cold ice.

Mity Nice’s slogan is joy and jobs through Italian ice – that’s Mity Nice! and every year the company gives a few teens their first or second summer job.