Michigan's Hudsonville Ice Cream & Historic Grand Hotel Welcome the Return of Seasonal Pecan Ball Ice Cream (and announce an Amazing Contest)

When it comes to developing unique flavors honoring Michigan’s most noted attractions, Hudsonville Ice Cream is a scoop above the rest. During the summer of 2014, Hudsonville added a new seasonal favorite to its portfolio when it partnered with Grand Hotel, America’s Summer Place, for the creation of Grand Hotel Pecan Ball. This flavor is now available again, for your summer enjoyment.

Hudsonville Ice Cream and Grand Hotel are also offering a chance to win a fabulous prize, including a two night stay at the iconic Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, free ice cream for a year, and one round of golf at the Jewel Mackinac. You can enter by simply going to http://hudsonvilleicecream.com/grandhotel/ (Hurry, the contest ends on August 15, 2015).

Opened in 1887, Grand Hotel is the world’s largest summer hotel. With 385 rooms, it is a member of Historic Hotels of America, is listed on the National Register of Historic Sites, and holds countless other distinctions for its time-honored hospitality.

The esteemed property is known for many things – such as having the “world’s largest front porch” (at 660 feet), its multitude of geraniums (2,500 plants in flower boxes on the front porch alone, with more than 5,200 total plants around the property) and its pecan ball dessert (with more than 50,000 served to hotel guests each season).

Crafted with creamy Hudsonville vanilla ice cream, swirls of genuine Grand Hotel fudge and premium pecan pieces, Grand Hotel Pecan Ball ice cream is a nod to the hotel’s signature dessert. Find Grand Hotel Pecan Ball at your local grocer, or even better yet, enjoy it on Mackinac Island with a visit to Sadie’s Ice Cream Parlor at Grand Hotel.

Sadie’s exclusively features 24 Hudsonville Ice Cream flavors including Grand Hotel Pecan Ball, which are served up in dishes, cones, shakes and sundaes. Those looking to share a traditional ice cream experience will enjoy the Grand Sundae. With eight scoops, it is proudly served in a dog bone shaped bowl, and is a crowd pleaser.

Sadie’s is the classic American ice cream parlor – with its white marble topped café tables and twisted iron chairs – was decorated by none other than the hotel’s noted interior designer Carleton Varney of Dorothy Draper & Company in New York. Outside, visitors can sit on benches designed of the same twisted iron, with aqua blue oval backs and 3D ice cream cones painted in the Neapolitan colors of chocolate brown, vanilla and pink.

Located outside the hotel’s east entrance, off of Cadotte Avenue, the parlor is open to all Mackinac Island visitors with no hotel admission fee.

“We are extremely excited to continue our partnership with Grand Hotel in 2015. Their team has been amazing to work with, and the partnership fits so naturally – summer, family and relaxation,” says CJ Ellens from Hudsonville Ice Cream. “A visit to Grand Hotel is an incredible experience and we are so excited to bring a scoop of that experience into families' homes. This is an ice cream flavor that can only be matched by your own visit to Grand Hotel and Sadie's Ice Cream Parlor!”

Hudsonville Ice Cream Dishes Up Patriotic "Summer Celebration" - Just in Time for Independence Day & National Ice Cream Month

Three cheers for the Red, White & Blue – as Michigan-based Hudsonville Ice Cream introduces its latest Limited Edition seasonal flavor, just in time for National Ice Cream Month (July).

Summer Celebration is an explosion of three delicious flavors – swirls of creamy vanilla ice cream, raspberry sherbet and blueberry sherbet – blended in a patriotic color scheme that even Uncle Sam would be proud to savor.

“We are excited to release our newest summer Limited Edition flavor, and this one certainly pays tribute to the red, white and blue,” says Caryn Beatty, from Hudsonville Ice Cream. “Summer Celebration is the perfect treat to scoop up on those lazy summer days spent with family and friends, when it just seems like everything deserves to be celebrated. A sweet mix of our Original Vanilla ice cream, with raspberry and blueberry sherbet, it is certain to be a hit with the whole family.”

In addition to Summer Celebration, Hudsonville is serving up three other Limited Edition summer seasonals, including:

• Grand Hotel Pecan Ball – Since 1887, the stately Grand Hotel has graced Mackinac Island with its signature sweeping porches and air of elegance. This new flavor replicates all the deliciousness of the hotel’s signature pecan ball dessert – made with vanilla ice cream, genuine Grand Hotel fudge and premium pecan pieces. *New for 2014.

• Tiger Traxx – Bring the taste of the ballpark home with you! Your family will stand up and cheer for creamy vanilla ice cream loaded with chocolate covered pretzel baseballs and a thick fudge swirl. This flavor is a grand slam favorite at Comerica Park and is the OFFICIAL Ice Cream of the Detroit Tigers!

• Strawberry Shortcake – Featuring a ribbon of strawberries swirled into vanilla ice cream with bite size pieces of pound cake, this sweet flavor takes the traditional summer dessert to new heights!

These, and countless other Hudsonville Ice Cream flavors can be found in grocery stores and ice cream parlors in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois. In addition to its “All Season” flavors, which are available year round, several “Seasonal Flavors” are offered on a limited basis throughout the year.

Started in 1895 as a farmers’ cooperative, the Holland-based Hudsonville Creamery & Ice Cream is the largest manufacturer of branded ice cream in Michigan. For more than 80 years, this Midwest company has been producing its creamy, delicious ice cream – using many of its original flavors, while at the same time creating refreshing new recipes inspired by the Great Lakes.