Community Corner

Severna Park Rita's Offers Free First Taste of Spring

The lure of a free Italian Ice broke the winter hibernation - Rita's had a line all afternoon on Sunday.

Staying true to an 18 year tradition, Rita's Italian Ice shops throughout the country celebrated the first day of spring by giving away a free regular-sized Italian ice to each customer on Sunday, the first day of spring.

In Severna Park, the weather helped put everyone into the springtime spirit as the sun was shining and the temperature was a comfortable mid-50s by noon.

A whopping 3,240 free Italian ices were served at the Severna Park location, with the mango flavor taking first place "by far"  with 10 buckets emptied, said owner Rob Marcus. Close behind was cherry. The store is in its fifth season in the park and the owners still can't believe that people still arrive asking "how long have you been here?"

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Teenagers, tweens, pet-walkers and tots stopped by for a sampling of what's to come when the weather warms up for good. "Yesterday (Sunday) is a combination of customer appreciation and store marketing," said Marcus.

Although the day was off to a slow start the first two hours, the rest of the afternoon was a continuous thread of people, said Marcus, noting that spring arriving on a Sunday this year attributed to the slower than usual start.

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Last year's spring freebie day was on a Saturday and coupled with staying open an extra hour later, that day brought in 400 more customers than this year. "It was the perfect storm," Marcus said.

The McVicker family of Severna Park saw the lines on Sunday and decided to waive the freebie and come back Monday. "This is our favorite place," said Kim McVicker, sitting outside of Rita's with sons Brent, 10, Connor, 8, and Tyler, 4. It made no difference to her that they had to pay for their treats, stating that she would rather enjoy it without having to wait in the long lines on Sunday.

Being located in the "center of the universe" in the Olde Severna Park shopping center off of Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard is another plus for Rita's who will be serving up Italian ice and other treats until closing for winter in October.


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