Wednesday, October 20, 2010

vermont

There were thirty minutes before the wedding.  I stood on the porch talking to the bride's father.  He was nervous about the walk down and the "her mother and I's" so I was making small talk.
  
     "So are you from around here?"
    
      "No, we live in Vermont."

Well, I've been to Vermont once.  And can only remember one thing from my trip.  So I threw it out there.

     "My favorite part of Vermont is Waterbury.  The Ben and Jerry ice cream plant."

Sounds impressive right? He laughed.  "I worked there for years.  Senior management."

This man had just become my new best friend.  And lucky for him I'd read Ben and Jerry's Biography and their Value Driven Business book, so we began to talk in earnest.

Mr. Wedding Dad helped Jerry and Ben transition from local ice cream shop in the gas station to major factory and world wide distribution plant.  He was a taste tester for the new Cherry Garcia ice cream and was there when Jerry Garcia flew in to christen it.  He still sees Ben once in a while.  Along with the man that started Stoneyfield and the woman that started the Body Shop.  They were neighbors with local businesses that took off at the same time.

I could have talked all day.  We had flavors to discuss.  And the projected ice cream future. But then the wedding coordinator interrupted us with a pesky request to take our places.

You just never know who you might meet on a porch.

6 comments:

  1. awe! sounds like so much fun. glad you're still doing weddings, you're favorite thing in the world. Btw: I like the new blog format.

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  2. wowza. "you never know who you'll meet on a porch" great line! fun! what's your favorite flavor?

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  3. You're just the celebrity maven!! First it's Andy McDowell and now pretty close to your favorite thing with B& J's! What is your favorite flavor as Vicki just asked?

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  4. My favorite flavor is the best flavor in the whole world - Coffee Toffee Health Bar Crunch. In a mug with milk poured over it. Then I will die and go straight to Heaven.....

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  5. How could I forget?! Sounds better than Elijah's chariot:-) M6

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