A customer recently contacted me about a cool DQ® memory he shares with his wife. The husband and wife celebrate every single wedding anniversary by sharing a DQ Banana Split.
It all started when the couple eloped to Michigan from Cleveland, Ohio, and after all the costs for the wedding license, filling up the VW Beetle, etc., they only had 50 cents when they left to return home. They stopped at a DQ store in Coldwater, Mich., and shared a Banana Split.
They love to relive that experience every year, although that 50 cent price tag has increased a bit. Do you have any special wedding anniversary traditions?
Posted by Carolyn K under Blizzard on September 1st, 2010
Happy 25th Anniversary to the Blizzard® Treat– and to Us!
My husband and I were married 25 years ago, and I think it’s cool that we celebrate our 25th the same year the Blizzard Treat does. We had a picture perfect day. Hollywood couldn’t have done it better – it was the end of August, beautiful blue skies, not too hot, and there was a full moon that night. Surrounded by our combined family and dear friends, we had the best time!
Here we are 25 years later, and I really wouldn’t change a thing. O.K. I would still like to be taller, and I sure wish my metabolism would speed up again… but as far as the marriage goes? Nope. No changes there. Not always perfect, sometimes pretty tough, and worth every minute.
We have managed to celebrate nearly every day this past week with some kind of fun gathering or event starting with a dinner at a fancy restaurant with our kids and my mom. And it looks like our celebrations are going to extend into this weekend as well!
Last year we celebrated my Aunt and Uncle’s 50th wedding anniversary – again a delightful celebration and they were surrounded with family and dear friends. I cannot wait to see what the next 25 years will bring for the two of us.
I know there were a ton of other weddings in 1985 – and folks are celebrating 25 years of all kinds of anniversaries. What are your favorite anniversary memories? How are you celebrating this year?
I recently returned from a two-week honeymoon in Europe, where my husband and I lazed over cheap bottles of wonderful house wine and plates of cooked-to-perfection pasta. Meals were hours long, always with the promise of some tantalizing dessert to follow. I spent 15 glorious days eating gelato in Italy, chocolate in Switzerland and profiteroles in France. But something didn’t feel right.
I couldn’t quite put my finger on it until we were halfway through Switzerland. I wanted a Dilly® Bar. Make that, I HAD TO HAVE a Dilly Bar. The sweet delicious taste of creamy DQ® vanilla soft serve engulfed in a thick hard shell of delicately salty but sweet chocolate, with a trademark curl on the front. But not only are there no Dairy Queen® stores in Europe, nobody has even heard of the Dairy Queen brand. I’d never felt so lost.
As we celebrate our 70th birthday this year, I can’t help but think I’ve taken for granted the wonderful brand I work for. Sure, I picnicked where Caesar Augustus picnicked, ate crepes mere meters from Napoleon Bonaparte’s summer home and had truffles by Roger Federer’s home court. The weird thing is, none of these experiences compared to how I feel when I eat DQ® food and treats. We’re a legacy.
I remember nothing more vivid than how excited I was when Grandma would take us to the local DQ store, visions of cherry Dilly Bars dancing in my head. I guess what I’m trying to say is, Europe can have their art, architecture and history, but give me a Dilly Bar and red-roofed building any day. Little league teams stop after wins and losses, couples become engaged over Peanut Buster® Parfaits, and motorcycle groups tour states stopping at our stores. The list goes on and on.
Seventy years ago this week (June 22, 1940, to be exact) a dream became reality as the Dairy Queen® system was born. Sherb Noble, our first DQ® franchisee, officially opened his DQ location in Joliet, Ill. Little did Sherb know at that time that his Dairy Queen store–aptly named for the creamy soft serve he offered, which was a “queen” among dairy products and the epitome of freshness and wholesomeness–would grow into a chain of more than 5,700 restaurants in 18 countries outside the U.S and Canada. Or that the menu solely consisting of cones, sundaes and take-home pints would be expanded over the years to include a vast array of irresistible soft serve items and delicious hot food offerings.
Last Tuesday, during a ceremony that took place at a DQ location in downtown Chicago, members of the Noble family were presented a proclamation by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, who declared it “DQ Day” throughout the state in honor of the system’s 70th birthday. Although Sherb has passed on, his two daughters, Susan and Christie, were both in attendance to hear and accept the proclamation.
All of us associated with the Dairy Queen system are indebted to Sherb and the other early DQ pioneers for the rich heritage and legacy they left behind. Their entrepreneurial spirit and standard for providing quality products and service to all of our loyal customers who have come to know and love the brand is still alive today.
Everyone in the United States knows that the Dairy Queen® system has been around forever… or at least for about the last 70 years. But what many people might not know is that the Dairy Queen brand exists in other countries besides the United States and Canada—19 other foreign countries to be exact! There are more than 5,600 DQ® locations around the world, and the numbers keep growing.
In 1959, the first Dairy Queen restaurant in the Central American country of Panama opened to the public. This year marks the 50th anniversary of that store’s opening, and to date there are seven other DQ locations in Panama. The official celebration took place in March, but there are festivities and celebrations that will continue throughout the rest of the year.
To kick off the “50 Years Growing With You” campaign, a birthday party was held for DQ staff, special guests and the local media. Shortly after that, the general manager from the DQ store visited TV and radio stations to participate in morning talk shows, and on one radio program they developed “Dairy Queen Memories,” where people could call in to share their memories of growing up with the DQ brand. The event was so successful it prompted the launch of a Facebook page, and those who shared stories and photos were entered to win prizes like digital picture frames and cameras. And in September, they held a Customer Appreciation Day.
Panama, which is located between Colombia and Costa Rica, borders the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean. It is slightly smaller than the size of South Carolina and has a population of more than 3 million people. The most popular menu items are Blizzard® Treats, chili dogs, shakes, Moolatte® beverages and banana splits. They also sell DQ Cakes, which were just introduced to the country last year.
