Brenda tries out some new Ben & Jerry's flavors.

Was it the basketball, or switching to Daylight Savings Time that left us all a little discombobulated yesterday? What a weekend. Bet CVS was plumb out of antacids for those of us whose stomachs were tied in knots from watching Duke, N.C. State, UNC and Florida State in their last-second cliff hangers! And now we know the pairings for the NCAA tournament with Davidson College playing Louisville on Thursday in Portland, OR. Tip off for the game is Thursday at 1:40 p.m. EDT! Hope you have your brackets filled in. (We hear tell that some are filling in teams according to the pretty colors of their uniforms … probably as good a way as any to pick a winner!)

Leaving round ball behind for now, Around Davidson has news today of yummy new flavors at Ben & Jerry’s, a note about our post boxes, girl scout anniversary wishes and congratulations to Elizabeth Rodes headed for the US Naval Academy.

New flavors? Yum! Just ask (l-r) Sam Hunter, Alexis Bowden or Karen Toney.

THE DAVIDSON SCOOP

My goodness, Karen Toney is at it again. Last Friday she made the news by passing out free ice cream to those assembled to “Occupy the Green” in Davidson. Last evening she was front and center once more letting invited guests try B&J’s new flavors in a waffle bowl. Karen has been the manager of our delightful ice cream shoppe since 1993. Hooray for her creativity and community spirit – and thanks for the ice cream. Gotta admit that Raspberry Fudge Chunk (frozen yogurt with fudge chunks) was this columnist’s favorite at the tasting although Chocolate Nougat Crunch, Cinnamon Cereal Swirl, Rocky Road-ish, Blueberry Vanilla Graham and Banana Peanut Butter Greek Frozen Yogurt were not far behind. And how many minutes did I add to my treadmill workout for this evening of luxury tasting? Quite a few.

Trying out new B&J's flavors are l-r: Ally Fleming (10), Kate Fleming (8) and Colby Duggdale (11) with the familiar face of Karen Toney in the back!

And just a note about Ben & Jerry’s. Last Friday at the Occupy The Green afternoon of fun, Karen handed out 287 scoops of ice cream. She thanks all who donated to cover expenses and reminds us that Free Cone Day is coming up on Tuesday, April 3.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRL SCOUTS

One hundred years ago on March 12 Juliette Gordon Low founded the Girl Scouts of America when she swore in 18 girls as Girl Guides (later Girl Scouts) in her home in Savannah, Ga. A visit to her house is still a prized destination for many Girl Scout troops. Area scouts celebrated the 100^th anniversary Sunday evening with a candlelight ceremony at Bailey Road Park in Cornelius. Over 275 girls and 50 adults attended.

(L-R) Abigail Haupt, Caroline Webb and Natalie Black who were recognized at DUMC for their Silver Awards on Scout Sunday, March 4. These girls have been together with Troop 2996 for 10 year since they were Daisy Scouts as kindergarteners.

Last week Around Davidson mentioned that area scout leader, Lisa Haupt, had taken the time to create the wonderful Girl Scout display – all part of her own collection – in the left window of Main Street Books in Davidson. This past weekend we caught up with Lisa and another longtime Girl Scout, Pat Butt. Lisa’s background includes 10 years as an active scout and 16 years as a leader. Pat, on the other hand, has logged 45 plus years as a scout and leader. Sunday evening Pat was recognized at the anniversary event as the longest serving girl scout in our area – and no doubt the most energetic!

Pat Butt (l) and Lisa Haupt know the Girl Scout promise by heart.

Lisa lives with her family on Barnhardt Road in Davidson while Pat is a resident of The Pines. Both readily agree that their husbands, Bob Haupt and Bob Butt, are honorary girl scouts as well having provided lots of support over the years. Lisa currently has a Senior Troop (9^th-10^th grade) and an Ambassador Troop (11^th -12^th grade) which includes her daughters, Abigail, a 9^th grader at Woodlawn, and Emma, a senior at Woodlawn. Pat does not have leadership of a troop now but is available as needed to share her “scouting story” with younger girls and join in troop activities.

Pat Butt was recognized for her years in girl scouting.

It is especially interesting to note that Davidson College co-eds often help with area troops. One young lady, Jessica Malordy, was an assistant to Lisa’s Senior Troop 2996 during her entire four years at Davidson. Following graduation, she traveled to India and is now just completing her internship at Sangam in Pune, India, one of the four Girl Scout World Centers this month. Take a look at her blog: http://jmalordy.wordpress.com/ Girl scouting reaches out to so many in very different ways.

Asked for favorite memories of Girl Scout leadership, Lisa remarked how gratifying it is for her to see the older girls develop wonderful leadership abilities and put these skills to work helping younger scouts. Pat commented that a favorite memory was taking her girl scouts to Glade Cave in Virginia where they had to trust in their leader and themselves that sliding 10 feet down a hole in a farmer’s field would lead to an exciting caving experience.

We salute these enthusiastic ladies and hope you will buy a box of Girl Scout cookies in their honor. (Remember that nothing tastes quite as good as a frozen thin mint!)

Proud Dad Ken Rodes stands with his daughter, Elizabeth, who is Naval Academy bound!

SHE’S A NEW MIDSHIPMAN

Congratulations to Elizabeth Rodes who received wonderful news in the mail on March 2. The letter inside the envelope announced that she had an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis beginning this summer. What a marvelous gift of a four-year education! From approximately 20,000 applications each year, Elizabeth earned one of 1,200 freshman spaces at the academy. Her nomination came through the office of N.C. Congressman Patrick McHenry.

Elizabeth is a senior at Mooresville High School. She has been in Naval ROTC there for the past four years, takes all advance placement (AP) classes and still finds time to pole vault, earning recognition as 5^th best in the state for the 2011-2012 indoor season. (The highest she has vaulted is 11 feet!) Asked what she likes to do in her spare time, Elizabeth did not hesitate but answered, “Sleep!” She will graduate from high school on June 9 and report to Annapolis for Induction Day on June 28, which marks her check-in for Plebe Summer. She and all the other 1,199 incoming “plebes” will be housed in the world’s largest dormitory that not only has space for all 4,400 midshipmen but also is so big it carries its own zip code.

Needless to say, Elizabeth is thrilled with her appointment. She hopes to qualify for training as a naval aviator and advance to flight school. Following her four years at the academy, she has a five year obligation for active duty.

Elizabeth is the daughter of Ken and Kim Rodes of Mooresville and the granddaughter of Phyllis Twitty of the St. Alban’s neighborhood in Davidson. The family lived in Charleston until 2005 when they came to North Carolina and settled in Mooresville. Many will recognize Elizabeth and her dad in the accompanying photo from doing business in our Davidson PostNet branch. Ken and his wife, Kim, own of the business and work many hours in the store along with Elizabeth, who is assistant manager on weekends. In addition to their daughter, Ken and Kim have a son, David, who is a freshman at Furman University and a younger son, Daniel, who is in second grade.

What a wonderful honor for Elizabeth and her family.

How much is one of these boxes worth to you?

OUCH! PAIN AT THE POST OFFICE

We say thanks to a devoted reader of DavidsonNews.net who asked why the increase in the small postal boxes at our Davidson post office. In 2012 annual box rent jumped from $40 to $52, a whopping 30 percent increase. We know the post office is looking for revenue but this increase seems a bit “supersized.” A call to our acting postmistress, Sheri Cole, led to a conversation with Monica Robbs, USPS Corporate Communications Specialist for North Carolina. According to Monica, a government ruling in the summer of 2011 approved the USPS request to make post office boxes more competitive with private postal facilities. This ruling affected 6,800 post office locations nationwide allowing rate increases. Ouch! (Seems like it was not long ago when box rents were under $10.)

Wanting to present a comparison, a call was made to PostNet near Harris Teeter in Davidson Commons. There you can rent a post box for $12/month or $144/year. By dealing with PostNet you can also get your FedEx and UPS boxes at one location and have free fax privileges. Also PostNet will make special arrangements for you to get your mail/packages after hours if needed. The postal satellite location at Ace Hardware on North Main Street in Cornelius does not offer boxes. The Cornelius Post Office on Chartwell Center Drive matches Davidson post office box rents. Well now at least we know our options.

SEND US YOUR NEWS

Have news for Around Davidson? Write to Brenda Barger at hbarger@bellsouth.net.