Dr. Suess' Birthday at The Hop; A Book Exchange

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We love Dr. Seuss. Seriously. The worlds he created for children (and their parents), the simple portrayals of positive living, the beautifully unique characters and images which perfectly embrace the youthful spirit is beyond what can be blogged. Given that, please join us as we, The Hop, celebrate Dr. Suess' coming birthday in the physical realm. Here is what we have planned...



Wednesday, March 2nd, from 4-7pm: A Free Children's Book Exchange!
Have some children's books that could use a new home (donations are welcome any time prior to the event)? Have some children that are looking for something new to read? In honor of Dr. Seuss' Birfday, we invite you all to a "Give a Book, Take a Book" event for kids and families at The Hop on Merrimon. In addition, all remaining books will be donated to Helpmate, a very worthy domestic violence agency/shelter in Asheville.

(If you are interested in further donations, like paper towels and toilet paper, to Helpmate, online is their Wish List.)

Also, from 6-7pm, we will open up the space in our store for a Dr. Seuss themed open-mic session. Anything Seuss-related goes! Prepare a reading, costumes, skits created by your family, et cetera. This will be an occasion for all Seuss lovers to shine! Hosted by Barbie Angell!


David Novak video from last year's Dr. Seuss Birthday Celebration!

Hope to see you there!
Much Love,
Greg and Ashley Garrison
Owners
The Hop Ice Cream Cafe
hopicecreamcafe@yahoo.com
640 Merrimon Ave
828 254 2224
AND
The Hop West
721 Haywood Rd
828 252 5155

January Events at The Hop!

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We have a ton of fantastic events coming up at both locations and around town for the remainder of January! Despite some snowy weather, The Hop's 2011 is kicking off right :)

Here's the skinny....



Tuesday 1/18 6-7pm: Curtain Call Collective & Aesop's Fables.
Curtain Call Collective presents Aesop's Fables Night featuring puppetry and dramatic performances of the classic fables, including Mouse and Lion, Tortoise and Hare, The Crow and The Pitcher, Fox and The Grapes and more! Directed by Chris Martin :)



Friday 1/21 6:30-7:30pm at THE HOP WEST: Bloodroot Orkaestarr
Local Accordion and Fiddle duet/partition of Sirius.B, will bring their wonderful, funky and family-friendly style to The Hop in West Asheville, 721 Haywood Rd. Bloodroot Orkaestarr are great fun!



Tuesday 1/25 5-8pm: Ice Cream Party to benefit Asheville Grown!
Asheville Grown Business Alliance is a grassroots, volunteer based organization dedicated to supporting independently owned businesses in the community. Their Love Asheville – Buy Local campaign is raising awareness of the importance of thinking locally first when considering the impact of national and global chains. Come have a cup or cone (or Hot Chocolate Float) with The Hop's homemade Ice Cream and spread the local love with Asheville Grown! Bring your friends, family, and neighbors by for this great opportunity to network with the people who keep Asheville's unique independent spirit alive and thriving! 50% of sales during the event with be donated to AGBA.

Hope to see you soon!!!

Much Love,
Greg and Ashley Garrison
Owners
The Hop Ice Cream Cafe
hopicecreamcafe@yahoo.com
640 Merrimon Ave
828 254 2224
AND
The Hop West
721 Haywood Rd
828 252 5155

In Spite of The Cold

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Tuesday 12/14 6-7pm: Sirius B Family-Friendly Show.
Asheville's super fun and fabulously energetic gypsy rock band, Sirius B, will be performing a Free show! A perfect event for families looking to have some good clean fun and avoid cabin fever :) Here's a Sirius B video from Asheville Vaudeville's Halloween Show.



Friday 12/17 7-9pm: Asheville Tweet-up/Toy Drive.
This Holiday season we are reaching out to all of you in the Asheville Social Media world in an effort to make a better Christmas for WNC children and families. Friday 12/17 from 7-9pm we are hosting a Asheville Tweet-Up, as part of the National Tweet Drive, to benefit Toys For Tots. Suggested toy donation valued at around $10 (must be new and packaged, please donate what you can)! All details are at this website, thanks to Gary of G Social Media.



Saturday 12/18 6:30-7:30pm: PANDA WITH COOKIE Monster Art Show *At The Hop West*.
Panda With Cookie, AKA Lisa Coulson will be at The Hop West on Saturday evening selling a plethora of plush toys for your perusal. Tote bags! Baby onesies! Holiday ornaments! Bring the family out for some delectable ice cream and delightful toys. Great Holiday shopping event! Check out Panda With Cookie's ETSY Shop here. <-- Did you see the "Pirate Squid Onesie" :)?



Tuesday 12/21 6-7pm: Polar Express Night presented by Curtain Call Coillective.
Be part of the magic of the classic children's holiday story, The Polar Express, which is celebrating it's 25th Birthday!, by Chris Van Allsburgh. Kids any age can be a part of the story by being one of the characters as we dramatize the book or be in the audience. We invite folks to wear their fun, festive pajamas on this night and enjoy hot chocolate, cookies, and ice cream along with a very special surprise!!! Ho, Ho,Ho! Directed By Chris Martin.


Click here for the story about the above picture :)

Much Love, Asheville.
Greg and Ashley Garrison
Owners
The Hop Ice Cream Cafe
hopicecreamcafe@yahoo.com
640 Merrimon Ave
828 254 2224
AND
The Hop West
721 Haywood Rd
828 252 5155

Gearing Up For Halloween

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All shows herein will be at The Hop located at 640 Merrimon Ave.

*The Runaway Circus will perform music, juggling, and their all out hilarity Tuesday October 26th at 6:30pm*

It's nearly Halloween. Nature's shift in color confirms it to be true. And so we group together and gather around small fires with our friends, we somehow slow our pace and inch a little closer to family and loved ones to eat ice cream :). Our eyes are in awe of and minds aflame with the pallor of a changing season...
*Curtain Call Collective, Directed by Christopher Martin, will perform scenes from "Revenna" by Asheville's Stacy Curnow, Wednesday October 27th at 6:30pm*

Then, as if it could not get any better, we playfully prepare for grey days in down coats by outfitting ourselves in winsomely rediculous costumes. We parade around in them on bustling steets or in our favorite haunts. We play pranks and jokes on one another. We laugh. Just the thought of it sheds years from our demeanors, and thus we stop taking ourselves too seriously. There it is, a chance for the kid to reemerge.
*Asheville magician and balloon artist, Mark Deverges, will entice the mind with an exceptionally large balloon creation Saturday October 30th at 3pm*

For a day, a week, a full month even, we pull out all the stops to give our youthful spirit its moment in the crisp Autumn light. We create and interact in a completely different, yet not foreign way. We are seven, or ten, or twenty years old again. Just imagine how much enjoyable entertainment results as a product of adults letting go. We at The Hop hope to inspire such youthful Halloween enthusiasm in all of you in our own ice-cream-store way!

Much Love and Happy Halloween!
Greg and Ashley
*Me with Luminescent Orchestrii in front of The Hop Mobile, outside of our new location, The Hop West, 721 Haywood Rd*

Fantastic Week Ahead!!

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Alright, folks, here's a friendly, if lengthy, update...


First, The Hop West is officially open and running smoothly in West Asheville (721 Haywood Rd, in the former location of Two Spoons Ice Cream). It's so fun and rewarding for Ashley and I to serve you all in our new space, meet new faces (and their dogs!) and have wonderfully rich interactions with a somewhat different Asheville demographic. Already, we've made some awesome connections with other West Asheville business owners and plan to quickly become part of the Haywood Rd culture, as long as they'll have us. In our opinion, it's all about community and enriching the thriving scene which Ashevillians have created. Three days in... so far so good :).


Second, The Hop on Merrimon is as bubbly as ever being a hang out for families, UNC Asheville students and, we are so fortunate to say, many others. Last weekend Ashley took care of two Birthday Parties and we have two more scheduled for this weekend! A youth rock band, Double Take, proved their name to be a perfect fit as Merrimon Square patrons totally double-taked during the show on Tuesday (videos here). Also, we had excellent support for Health Adventure Day (20% of Saturday's sales were donated to this worthy non-profit)!

Now we look forward to the coming week. Here's the skinny...


Thursday, October 21st, 6:30-7:30pm, Curtain Call Collective, local children's acting troupe, will be celebrating the works of Lewis Carrol at The Hop with scenes from Alice In Wonderland, Jr (coming soon to Asheville Community Theater!), plus much more. Director Christopher Martin is so great at inspiring ability from his students and gives them a platform on which they can truly shine. All are invited to participate. This will be a blast! (Need proof? Here's some videos from previous Curtain Call Collective performances.)


Wednesday, October 20th, ALL DAY, is Autism Society Day. 20% of sales at The Hop AND The Hop West will be donated to yet another extremely worthy cause. In addition, the fundraiser hopes to raise awareness for this Saturday's Run/Walk For Autism. Stop by either location and feel good about being a part of people helping people :).

As ever and always, thank you all so much for being the best customers for which any entrepreneurs could ask.
Much Love,
Greg and Ashley

Curtain Call Collective Recap

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Thanks to everyone who attended the Curtain Call Collective show, Directed by Chris Martin, at The Hop Ice Cream Cafe! It was great crowd full of delightful silliness, best shown here with this video! The Asheville children's acting troupe will return for an encore performance July 20th from 6:30-7:30pm to celebrate the works of children's author, Judy Blume. Click here for the full list of Free Family Friendly events happening this Summer at The Hop!

Interested in your child(ren) becoming a part of Curtain Call Collective? Email Chris directly cwaremartin@yahoo.com.

Let's build this Asheville family-friendly community together!

Curtain Call Collective

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Tuesday June 8th, 7-7:30pm at The Hop. Celebrate the works of Rudyard Kipling, author of "The Jungle Book", with acting, singing, improv, and more from Curtain Call Collective, local children's acting troupe. Directed by Chris Martin :)

Have children intersted in joining Curtain Call Collective? Contact Chris at cwaremartin@yahoo.com

As always, the event is Free to all, Kids Eat Free at Urban Burrito on Tuesdays, and bring a can if you can for MANNA Food Bank!