Handel’s Ice Cream via Facebook (Click on image to enlarge)
Handel’s Ice Cream in Pasadena is giving away copies of Paul Carafotes’ “The Adventures of Charlie Bubbles” on Sunday, Aug. 7. The author will be signing copies of the book – and his son, Charlie – the inspiration behind the series – will be there as well!
“We just thought it would be fun in an afternoon,” Lisa Hall, co-owner of the Handel’s Ice Cream franchise in Pasadena, said. “Often, we have face painters that come for the kids and we just thought it would be fun to try something like this. We haven’t done it before. And I really like Paul and his wife, Tony. They’re great and their kids are great – so that’s how it began.”
A former teacher and professor, Hall said she just loves “getting books into kids’ hands” and would like to see kids from the community coming over on Sunday to savor some ice cream while they’re reading and enjoying an afternoon of storytelling.
The author, who’s also a movie actor and director, happens to be one of Handel’s Ice Cream best customers, Hall said.
He will be reading from the book on Sunday, and Charlie, his son, will be singing songs from a new CD, “Sing with Charlie Bubbles.”
Handel’s Ice Cream Pasadena opened just a year ago and is part of a historic ice cream franchise that began in 1945 in Youngstown, Ohio, where Alice Handel made her own ice cream recipes and sold them out of her husband’s gas station. Handel’s Pasadena is the first of five stores that Hall and the other co-owners are building in the Los Angeles area. A store in La Cañada broke ground recently, Hall said, and should be opening in September.
“We’re just so excited,” Hall said. “Our heart is to just bring people together, bring the community together. You come on a weekend night, and we are packed in the front and in the back. We have seating for about 72 under the café lights. And it’s just been a real sweet, a sweet place to bring the community together.”
Handel’s Ice Cream boasts of a secret mix that all of the recipes are made from. Hall said this has not changed from Alice Handel’s original recipe in 1945.
“We have added flavors over the years, but it takes a long process through corporate to approve it,” she said. “For example, green tea in Southern California, people were asking for it. So they developed a special green tea recipe for us to use. They just did a limited time only with Taro as well.”
Hall said they have been doing fundraisers with schools and host different events in the Pasadena area. Giving away books on Sunday and having the author and his son Charlie in the shop is just one other way to give back to the community.
“We just have been so welcome and the community’s been so good to us,” she said. “I think this is going to be a really special day.”
Handel’s Ice Cream is at 3405 E. Foothill Blvd. The book giveaway starts at 4:30 p.m.
For more information about Handel’s Ice Cream, visit www.handelsicecream.com.
