She's queen of ice cream
The Post and Courier
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
By: Teresa Taylor
Mary Jane Hegley is being treated like a queen, Texas-style, and she's lapping it up.
The Otranto woman won the grand prize for thinking up a new ice-cream flavor in Blue Bell's "Taste of the Country Flavor Contest" last summer. Her idea for "Southern Hospitality" with pineapple, pecans and strawberry sauce was just what the company was looking for — a flavor that best represented her state.
Now the Texas-based company is rolling out "Southern Hospitality" across 17 states. The flavor will be sold exclusively in Charleston the first week of April, only in South Carolina the rest of the month and will hit all Blue Bell markets in May.
A proclamation will be made in Hegley's honor Thursday at Charleston City Hall. It is the latest bow to Hegley since she bested 16 other finalists in July. She also was given a year's supply of ice cream and a special ice-cream party.
"This has been such a wonderful experience from beginning to end," Hegley says.
Blue Bell brought Hegley, her husband and daughter to its headquarters in Brenham, Texas, for a three-day, all-expenses-paid trip. "We were given the VIP treatment all around," she says, including a plant tour and being introduced at the company's huge anniversary celebration at the local fairgrounds, where the ice cream was served.
The company turned Hegley's suggestion into a custom mixture of vanilla with crushed pineapple, roasted pecans and a strawberry swirl.
In her entry, Hegley had said the ingredients reflect South Carolina's customs of "welcome, friendliness, conviviality and warmth."
Pineapple long has been a symbol of Southern hospitality, like the Pineapple Fountain at Waterfront Park, Hegley says. Pecans are a nod to the native Southern tree. Strawberries are much-loved here and would add color.
Hegley herself first tasted the new flavor in Texas. "I never made it," she says. "It was only in my head."
Now her picture and the story are on the side of every carton. She is flattered, but even more impressed with the royal treatment she's received.
"They have been the most wonderful people I could ever hope to meet. Just super. We just marvel."