Congress unites over ice cream at IDFA’s annual party

IDFA served more than 50 flavors of ice cream and thousands of root beer floats at its 34th Annual Capitol Hill Ice Cream Party.

Brian-Perry-Perrys-Ice-Cream--Mike-Wells-Blue-Bunny.jpg — Brian Perry of Perry's Ice Cream with Mike Wells of Wells Enterprises (Blue Bunny)

Brian-Perry-Perrys-Ice-Cream-hones-his-scooping-skills.jpg — Brian Perry serves ice cream.

Dave-Carlin-IDFA-Connie-Tipton-IDFA--former-Ag-Sec-Dan-Glickman.jpg — IDFA's Dave Carlin and Connie Tipton, with former Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman.

Trying to choose from more than 50 flavors of ice cream.

IDFA President Connie Tipton with Representative Robert Aderholt.

Most-unusal-devise-for-carrying-ice-cream-back-to-colleagues.jpg — They said they were carrying ice cream back to their colleagues at the office.

Members of Congress and their staffs poured out of the Capitol Building and surrounding offices in June for the “coolest” party on the Hill, reports the International Dairy Foods Association. At its 34th Annual Capitol Hill Ice Cream Party, IDFA reported that it served more than 50 flavors of ice cream (about 2,000 gallons of ice cream and frozen yogurt), 6,000 root beer floats and 44 cases of sundae topping.

The lines for samples of the free desserts were so long they snaked outside the large grassy area and onto the sidewalks surrounding Upper Senate Park.

The following organizations donated products:

American Beverage Association
Friendly’s Ice Cream LLC
Galliker Dairy Co.
Gifford’s Dairy Inc.
Hershey Creamery Co.
HP Hood LLC
Hiland Dairy Foods Co.
Hunter Farms
Jack & Jill D.S.D.
Kwik Trip Inc.
Mars Chocolate North America
Mayfield Dairy Farms/Dean Foods Co.
Perry’s Ice Cream Co.
Pierre's Ice Cream Co.
Prairie Farms Dairy Inc.
The Ice Cream Club Inc.
The J.M. Smucker Co.
Wells Enterprises Inc.

Visit IDFA’s Facebook page to see more photos.

IDFA Instagram ice cream photo contest

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month, and the third Sunday of the month as National Ice Cream Day.

IDFA celebrates National Ice Cream Month with its fourth-annual Instagram Ice Cream Photo Contest. Users following IDFA on Instagram (@dairyidfa) are invited to share photos showing how they celebrate National Ice Cream Month. Followers have a chance to win free ice cream. Last year’s winning photos captured retro ice cream parlor visits, sprinkle-coated cones, smiling serving bowls and poetry-inspiring ice cream sandwiches.

To participate, entries should include the hashtag #IceCreamMonth and @dairyidfa. IDFA will host the images on its Instagram page, and will award the entry with the most likes each Friday in July.

IDFA asks member ice cream companies to invite their fans and followers to participate in the contest.

IDFA videos share Sunday sundae recipes on YouTube

“Sunday Sundaes” is a recipe video series on IDFA’s YouTube channel. One video styles a decadent chocolate-shell sundae bowl in under a minute. A new ice cream sundae recipe appears each Sunday of July.