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Maryland’s Best Ice Cream Trail is Open for 2013! Agriculture Secretary Urges Memorial Day Travelers to Visit Dairy Farms on the Trail

Deputy Secretary Mary Ellen Setting and Secretary Buddy Hance present 2013 passports to Megan Kilby and her son Will during the launch of the 2013 trail at Kilby Cream.

Deputy Secretary Mary Ellen Setting and Secretary Buddy Hance present 2013 passports to Megan Kilby and her son Will during the launch of the 2013 ice cream trail at Kilby Cream.

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Maryland Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance and Deputy Secretary Mary Ellen Setting today proclaimed the Maryland’s Best Ice Cream Trail (text version) officially open for 2013 by enjoying the first official scoop on the trail at Kilby Cream in Cecil County.

Eight dairy farms that operate creameries make up the trail, and if you’re traveling to popular vacation destinations in Maryland this weekend – whether to the mountains of western Maryland or the beaches of Ocean City – you might be able to make at least one stop on the trail without going far out of your way.

“Last year we launched the Ice Cream Trail to promote our dairy farmers and encourage Marylanders to visit rural parts of our state,” said Secretary Hance. “Nearly 200 people visited each farm and submitted completed passports last year, and we know hundreds more visited at least a few of the creameries on the trail. We’re opening the trail a little earlier this year to encourage people to visit some local farms and enjoy some truly local ice cream during the long holiday weekend.”

As Maryland’s third largest agricultural commodity, milk and dairy products accounted for more than $188 million in farm receipts in 2012. The eight farms on the trail stretch over more than 290 miles from Ocean City in the east to Washington County in the west.

“Visiting a creamery is not just a fun way to spend time with the family, but an opportunity to see different types of dairy farms while learning about farming directly from a farmer, all while enjoying some delicious ice cream,” said Deputy Secretary Setting.

Last year's trail blazer winner Dawn Farris and her son Andrew joined Secretary Hance and Deputy Secretary Setting in launching the 2013 trail at Kilby Cream in Cecil County today.

Last year’s trail blazer winner Dawn Farris and her son Andrew joined Secretary Hance and Deputy Secretary Setting in launching the 2013 trail at Kilby Cream in Cecil County today.

 

Secretary Hance and Deputy Secretary Setting kicked off the Ice Cream Trail at Kilby Cream in Rising Sun. The Kilbys deliver milk and ice cream produced on their farm directly to the homes of customers in Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania. Settling on their Cecil County dairy operation in 1961, the family began making ice cream at the farm in 2005.

The newest creamery on the trail is Keyes Creamery in Aberdeen. Currently producing ice cream wholesale, the farm will begin selling retail about June 15.

Other farms on the Trail are: Broom’s Bloom Dairy (Harford County); Chesapeake Bay Farms (Worcester County); Misty Meadows Farm Creamery (Washington County); Prigel Family Creamery (Baltimore County); Rocky Point Creamery (Frederick County); and South Mountain Creamery (Frederick County)

Anyone who completes the Ice Cream Trail Passport by getting their passport stamped and answering a unique question at each of the eight creameries by September 9 will have a chance to be named Maryland’s Best 2013 Ice Cream Trailblazer. Passports are available at all eight creameries or can be download at: www.marylandsbest.net. Completed passports submitted to MDA before September 9 will be entered into a drawing for the grand prize, which includes a $50 gift certificate to a favorite creamery along with a copy of “The Maryland Harvest,” an hour-long DVD about Maryland chefs and their partnership with local farmers, and a signed copy of “Dishing Up Maryland,” a cookbook by Lucie Snodgrass.

In addition to the Trailblazer Passport contest, MDA is also offering a Maryland’s Best Geocaching Ice Cream Trail. Geocaching is a sport in which participants using handheld GPS devices and iPhones find hidden “caches.” After logging in at each of the caches, participants will submit their unique Geocaching Ice Cream Passport to MDA Marketing to win Maryland’s Best geotags developed in cooperation with the Maryland Geocaching Society. To learn more about geocaching, visit: www.geocaching.com or contact Stone Slade at MDA, (410) 841-5779, stone.slade@maryland.gov.

Maryland’s Ice Cream Trail is a joint promotion supported by the Maryland Department of Agriculture and the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association, the local affiliate of the National Dairy Council. Learn more about dairy farming and why “Your Milk Comes from a Good Place.”

National Dairy Month, which begins June 1, celebrates the value of milk and dairy products as part of well-balanced diets of every American, as well as the importance of milk production to the agricultural industry. July is National Ice Cream Month.

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NOTE: To learn more about Kilby Cream, watch a short video or visit their website.


Contact Information

If you have any questions, need additional information or would like to arrange an interview, please contact:
Jessica Hackett
Director of Communications
Telephone: 410-841-5888

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