Hello Cherry Brick Road

Sept. 30 was no ordinary Monday on the N.C. State University Brickyard.

Dean Richard Linton of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences played host to hundreds of students and staff members who lined up to try the dean’s signature flavor of Howling Cow ice cream and hear the announcement of its name.

“Cherry Brick Road” is the newest flavor of ice cream produced at the CALS Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences (FBNS).

Joining the dean to serve up scoops of Cherry Brick Road were N.C. State student volunteers — including Eanas Alia, who came up with the name of the dean’s ice cream flavor.

The ice cream is a dark chocolate, featuring chocolate bricks, Michigan cherries and marshmallow swirls. Alia, a sophomore in environmental technology and management from Palestine, said she created the name to suggest the cherries and chocolate bricks, the university’s brick campus — and her love for “The Wizard of Oz.”

A few days earlier, the dean had joined CALS Alpha Zeta students for an evening painting session in the Free Expression Tunnel to advertise the event. They coated the walls with the message, “Follow the Cherry Brick Road to a Howling Good Time!”

It was a promise made good. FBNS supplied more than 60 gallons of ice cream served under the tent at the event that ran from late morning till mid-afternoon. FBNS’s Carl Hollifield and Gary Cartwright, director of the Dairy Enterprise System, were on hand to provide Howling Cow stickers to those waiting in line.

And there was another surprise treat:  At noon, after a welcome from Dean Linton, the Brickyard audience enjoyed a special “flash” appearance by members of the Wolfpack Band and dancers. – Terri Leith