The Bigelow Tea Community Challenge, 2009

It’s that time of year again when summer fun begins to come to an end, fall begins, and there’s nothing like a nice hot cup of Bigelow Tea … after running a 5K road race!? Yes, actually! Bigelow Tea is excited to announce our 23^rd annual Bigelow Tea Community Challenge, taking place on September 26^th in Southport, Connecticut at Wakeman Boys and Girls Club.

The event is always a crowd pleaser attracting hundreds of men, women and children each year. It challenges our community to donate to a good cause, while still having a lot fun. Proceeds from the Community Challenge go to local charities, such as the Connecticut Food Bank, the Bridgeport Rescue Mission, and the Mercy Learning Center among others. Giving back to the community is something Bigelow Tea is always proud to do, and we’re thrilled for the opportunity!

Participants in the Community Challenge have choices: the 5K run, the two-mile fitness walk, or the Kids’ Fun Run. And they are welcome to enjoy the complimentary food and drink and the other activities that are offered! In addition to donating to a good cause and getting your morning exercise,  the grand prize raffle winner this year will win two round trip tickets to anywhere in the United States, even Bermuda or the Caribbean!

So grab the kids and the whole family, and head down to Wakeman Boys and Girls Club this September 26^th. Have some real fun while helping those who really need it!  And in the meantime, get inspired with this video from one of our previous Community Challenges:

This year’s 4^th annual First Flush FesTEAval was amazing!!!…

The weather was perfect, in the mid 80’s and sunny…We could not have asked for a better day!  Excitement filled the air as we opened the gates at 10:00am on Sunday morning, but little did we know that by 3:30 that afternoon we would be announcing that we were closed to all guests without pre-purchased tickets.  Yes, that is right!…At 3:30 The Bridge at 105.5 announced to all of its listeners that the First Flush FesTEAval was SOLD OUT!  We had reached our maximum count of 5,000 plus attendees!  What an amazing site to see!  People and cars covering every inch of the farm… with the exception of the tea fields, of course!

People danced to the music, soaked in the sun, and enjoyed over 7,000 cups of iced American Classic Tea we had prepared for them!  We thought 7,000 cups would be plenty, but much to our surprise this tea loving group wiped out our entire supply by 1:00 that afternoon.  We found ourselves scrambling to brew enough tea to satisfy their demands!  We did it though!…Thanks to the hard work of our Charleston Tea Plantation staff and event volunteers, we were able to keep the tea flowing!

This year’s First Flush offered more entertainment than year’s past.  Not only did guests get to enjoy the music of well known performers like Crowfield, Cory Chisel and headliner Robert Randolph and The Family Band, but they were also treated to sounds of local artists presented by Mark Bryan’s (Grammy award winning guitarist/songwriter for Hootie & The Blowfish) Chucktown Music Group.  This included Amber Caparas, John Wesley Satterfield, Mac Leaphart and Mark Bryan himself.  However, to no one’s surprise, it was Robert Randolph that brought the house down with his unique style of music!  Even people who weren’t familiar with the sounds of a his famous pedal steel guitar danced and grooved to the beat!

Guests also enjoyed local cuisine and shopped the wares of Charleston artists.  Needless to say, there was something for everyone, even the kids!  The Spider Jump was a huge hit again this year and children and parents loved the new additions to the kids’ area: face painting, pony rides and Beaufort the Rescue Mule!

We can’t say it enough, this year’s First Flush FesTEAval was AMAZING!!!

A big THANKS to everyone involved in making this the best First Flush FesTEAval to date!!! Our entire Plantation staff plus over 35 event volunteers were the true heart and soul of it all!  THANK YOU again for your support, and we look forward to next year!

Cara Valentine, Charleston Tea Plantation.

Photos provided by Mark Snowberger

On April 26, Bigelow Tea joined in the Kentucky Derby celebration by taking part in the local 2010 Kentucky Derby Festival, held in Louisville, KY. The Derby Festival takes place for two weeks up to the running of the famed Kentucky Derby.  With all proceeds benefiting the community, the fun and merriment features a variety of great events –like the zany Great Bed Races! The Great Bed Race is easily our favorite, and we have entered it for 6 years now!

Why are the Great Bed Races so exciting? Well, it’s quite the sight: Bigelow Tea, along with 52 other companies constructed beds with four runners and one driver, designed to race around a 600 ft. track. Talk about your spectacle! Not only that, but racers also dress in wild and crazy pajamas, head to bed.

This year’s theme for the Great Bed Races was “Spring Fever Reliever,” and fittingly, we named our Bigelow Tea bed “Island Teatime.” The tropical bed was designed as a tiki hut, and of course, we could not pass up such an excellent opportunity to serve several flavors of our delicious freshly brewed teas.

So what were the Great Bed Race results? Well, out of 40 teams that managed to keep their beds intact throughout the race, Bigelow Tea placed 15th in the Fun Division, with a tea-fueled time of 30.9 seconds! Not bad considering the pressure of thousands of Great Bed Races enthusiasts watching and televised coverage by the local NBC affiliate WAVE 3.

We are excitingly awaiting next year’s Great Bed Races.  We can’t guarantee a Win, Place or Show, but we can guarantee a fun time for all!

Constant Comment Story Winner Debora Dickinson (left) and dear friend, Helen (right)

“As far back as I can remember, my mother bought Bigelow’s Constant Comment Tea…
We would sometimes sit out on our outside front porch in the summer when everything was rich and green and the morning doves were cooing, crickets were noisy and read a good book savoring our CC tea…”

~ Debora Dickinson

A mother and daughter…tea and tenderness…they were the inspiration for Debora Dickinson’s poignant Constant Comment® story, which won her a special trip for two to the exquisite home of American Classic Tea – the Charleston Tea Plantation, on historic Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina. Debora brought along her dear friend, Helen, and they enjoyed a three-night stay at the charming French Quarter Inn, in the heart of downtown Charleston. They sampled local restaurants and shops and soaked up the sites of historic Charleston. The icing on the cake was their personalized tour of the Charleston Tea Plantation, led by world-renowned tea taster and tea maker, Bill Hall.

The enchanting tea garden is so beautiful in the springtime, such an ideal venue for weddings, anniversaries or Mother’s Day. For Debora, the trip was a celebration of her mother and the memories of moments they shared over cups of Constant Comment®. Her lovely story resonated with all of us at Bigelow Tea because Constant Comment® was created by Ruth Campbell Bigelow and her legacy has been passed down now for generations.

As a family owned company we proudly commemorate our 65^th anniversary in business, and most especially, Bigelow Tea’s founding mother. We remember all the times that we too, as a family, shared life and love over cups of Constant Comment®.  We’re proud to provide a product that satisfies all of our customer’s expectations, and plays such an important part in their lives.

This year, to commemorate January being Hot Tea Month, the Bigelow Tea company celebrated throughout the month with a variety of fun activities, culminating with Bigelow’s annual afternoon tea parties.

Throughout the month my Customer Service and Call Center staffs in Fairfield, CT hosted a variety of events to celebrate Hot Tea Month and our facilities in Boise, ID and Louisville, KY also held afternoon tea parties.

In Fairfield we held raffles, giving employees an opportunity to win some wonderful items from Bigelow’s gift catalog. We also shared fun and interesting tea related facts and trivia with all employees to promote tea education.

On January 27 Fairfield held its afternoon tea party for the entire company. This year, in addition to serving wonderful Bigelow teas and delicious menu choices (which included cucumber sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches, chocolate raspberry truffles, puff pastry with ham and gruyere cheese and scones with Devonshire cream and lemon curd) we also incorporated the celebrating of Bigelow Tea’s 65^th anniversary.

To mark the event we served pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, presented in the shape of the numbers “65.” A great time was had by all and my team and I certainly had a wonderful time hosting this event once again.

We are already looking forward to celebrating Hot Tea Month next January and sharing with you all the details and fun!

J David Silva, Sr.
Customer Service Manager
Bigelow Tea

It’s hard to stay in any one place for 25 years without overcoming a roadblock or two along the way. At a recent celebration for my own 25 year anniversary, I was reminded of my own roadblock on the way to 25 years at R.C. Bigelow.

After my 3^rd year of employment, I was offered a job at a manufacturing company much closer to home. It was a national company and the pay was very good. After thinking it over, I gave R.C. Bigelow notice that I would be leaving. Little did I expect that my decision would reach the owners and that I would find myself sitting across from a table with Mr. and Mrs. Bigelow.  They let me know that they cared that I was leaving and that they wanted me to stay. Mr. Bigelow took time to write out on a whiteboard regarding the company’s future and what he was going to do to keep good people, which I guess included me. As he was speaking I informed Mr. Bigelow that I would stay.

Some years later an employee asked me, Dave how did you last so long here at Bigelow. My reply was this; you have to like what you do, you have to click with the people you work with and you have to click with the company.  All in all I like what I do, I click with the people I work with and I click with the Bigelow family and the Company. I feel it’s important to know that we share the same work ethics, that we take pride in what we do and that we work with an honorable and compassionate family. These ideals inspire and define the character of our company.  I’m proud of the quality product we make and I’m proud of the people here at Bigelow. We are a true American Company. I feel both honored and grateful to contribute to the success of Bigelow Tea.

Dave Marsh

25 Year Bigelow Tea Employee

Just had my first Bigelow Tea social in New York City (an event to which we invited bloggers along with followers on Twitter and Facebook fans) and I have to tell you, I could not have been more happy with how it turned out! Everyone who came was so gracious and kind and interested in learning about tea. They love tea! It was such a wonderful audience for me to be around and very energizing.

I was quite apprehensive going into the event because we had never invited our online friends to an offline event before, but I just could not feel any better about how the tea party turned out. And I really hope to remain friends with the people who came, including Karen from TheNibble, Jessica from FoodMayhem, Stephanie from The Tea Scoop, Grace from Grace Notes NYC, Cherie from World of Cherie, Jackie Gordon, Tanya from Twitter, Annette from Facebook and Kennedy, Rohit and Victoria from Ask a New Yorker. I was hoping to give them something they enjoyed and felt good about…I know they did that for me for sure!

Yeah!!

From my perspective, the first Bigelow Tea Social was a fantastic event!

Cindi Bigelow

It’s announcement time!

As we mentioned last week, it’s not often that we add another voice to our chorus of spokespeople at Bigelow Tea; this news is worth celebrating.  All week long, we posted daily clues on Twitter to help you guess this person’s identity.

Many of you took part in the contest, and the grand prize winner, twitter.com/dkcholo (our winner preferred to use their twitter name only), won a Classic Tea Chest stocked with our favorite flavors.  Congratulations!

And now, on to the grand unveiling: just who IS drinking Bigelow Tea these days?

None other than The Great One himself… Wayne Gretzky!(If you’re wondering how Wayne earned the name “The Great One,” it has a lot to do with winning 4 National Hockey League championships, 9 Hart Trophies (hockey’s MVP award), 3 NHL All-Star Game MVPs and holding 60 different NHL records — including a record for holding the most records!)

A note from Cindi Bigelow about a recent visit from Wayne Gretzky:

What a day, Wayne Gretzky was here at Bigelow visiting all of us with his agent Darren Blake.  We are launching a line of Gretzky Green Teas in Canada and he called to see if he could come by for a visit.  “NO PROBLEM” we said.

All I can say, now that our visit is complete, Wayne Gretzky is the nicest person and so was Darren.  He is so humble, gentle, kind and thoughtful.  He could not have been more gracious to the employees.  I was worried about inundating him with requests for photos and autographs and had told the employees to hold back.  Well, their enthusiasm got the better of them (one of our guys was actually shaking when he came up to Wayne) and of course I had to say yes (how can you turn down a request for a photo when you see it means the world to them).  Well once I said yes to one, I had to allow all our employees to do the same.  Wayne could not have been nicer about the whole affair, like when the camera didn’t work and we had to retake the photo several times for just one employee.

I did my best to walk him around to almost everyone so they could say hi.  We did a lovely tour of our facility and then a lunch.  He made us feel like he had all the time in the world.  What a wonderful human being, a true champ.  No wonder they call him the Great One.

Cindi Bigelow, President, Wayne Gretzky, and Eunice and David C. Bigelow, Co-Chairs Bigelow Tea

And our VP of Sales & Marketing, Bob Kelly, has been saying all week:

Isn’t this a great time for sports enthusiasts? The New York Yankees are World Champions for the 27th time, college and pro football are in full swing, college and pro hoops are underway and ice hockey is skating full-speed ahead. And now, to top it all off, The Great One…Wayne Gretzky is an avid drinker of Bigelow Green Tea!

So much so, in fact, that Wayne is now a spokesman for the Bigelow brand — along with Joe Torre, Terry Francona and Phil Simms. I spent a delightful day with Wayne in Westlake Village, CA, as our advertising team produced a brand new print ad and radio commercial that we’ll be premiering shortly. It’s been a remarkable journey with Joe, Phil, Terry, and now Wayne, as we’ve attracted sports enthusiasts across the continent and around the world to become loyal drinkers of Bigelow Green Tea. And the REALLY cold weather isn’t even here yet!!

So thanks again to twitter.com/dkcholo and everyone else who took a guess in our contest. We’re excited, and now we hope you are too. And just think that when the worst of winter arrives, now you can stay cozy knowing that you’re drinking the same tea that’s keeping The Great One warm and toasty all year long.

The 22^nd annual Bigelow Tea Community Challenge, the annual 5k Road Race, Fitness Walk and Kids’ Fun Run that raises funds for local charities, took place in September and raised over $80,000.  So strong is the following, the fun-filled, family event attracted hundreds despite the rain that poured down on that day.

The real satisfaction for Bigelow Tea comes now, as 100% of the money is distributed over the next several months to fifteen Fairfield County based charities.  One of the first checks was awarded to the Connecticut Food Bank, just in time for the holidays.

“It’s all about coming together to make a positive difference within our community,” says Cindi Bigelow, President, Bigelow Tea. “We consider ourselves fortunate to be able to partner with the Connecticut Food Bank in such a meaningful way!”

The following charities will also benefit from the Bigelow Tea Community Challenge:

Bridgeport Rescue Mission

Burroughs Community Center

Cardinal Shehan Center

Caroline House

Center for Women & Families

Connecticut Food Bank

Fairfield Senior Center

Grasmere Eldercare Center

Janus House

Mercy Learning Center

Music and Art for the Humanity

Operation Hope

Sandcastle Playground

Wakeman Boys & Girls Club

YMCA of Fairfield

Every industry has its giants, standard bearers who blaze trails by following best business practices and in so doing, earn the high regard of consumers, colleagues and the people they employ.

This past September, approximately 150 long-standing Bigelow Tea employees gathered to honor not only their own longevity with the company, but the lifetime achievements of its Chairman and own “gentle giant,” David C. Bigelow, who this year celebrates his 50-year anniversary at the helm.

While the company can attribute its beginnings to David’s mother who, with the advent of “Constant Comment”® in 1945, pioneered the explosion in the variety teas that Americans enjoy today, it is David, with the unwavering support of his wife Eunice, who lead it with integrity, passion, intelligence, kindness and a spirit of determination to prominence as the country’s #1 specialty tea company.

Genuine and unpretentious, David’s vision, enthusiasm for the tea business, for life and people is contagious. Never compromising…on product, the consumer or the people that make up his amazing organization, his accomplishments are many.

He can deservedly take pride in guiding Bigelow Tea to a level far beyond his mother’s wildest dreams. The launch of specialty tea to the mass market through grocery channels in the 1970’s changed the company’s direction in profound ways and paved the way for others that followed.

Other notable milestones in David’s luminous career include the development of the flavor-protecting pouch that has become the accepted industry standard for protecting tea’s freshness and flavor from ambient influences.

More recently, David and Eunice made a considerable investment in the preservation of the Charleston Tea Plantation, saving it from the developer’s wrecking ball and restoring it to its former grandeur as America’s only commercial tea farm. Today, a newly-constructed visitor’s center documents the tea growing, harvesting and withering processes and gives tens of thousands of people who visit annually a new-found appreciation for our remarkable industry.

For David, the ideas keep flowing. Having recently penned and published My Mother Loved Tea, a book that chronicles the Bigelow story, he can now add author to his long list of endeavors.

Perhaps the singular accomplishment for which he is most proud are the long-standing relationships he enjoys with his wife and company co-chair Eunice Bigelow, daughters Lori Bigelow, president of the Charleston Tea Plantation, Cindi Bigelow, president of Bigelow Tea, and devoted grandchildren. And they are equally proud of him.

Anyone involved in a family business that spans three-going-on four generations, will certainly appreciate just what an accomplishment this is.

Congratulations, David Bigelow, for giving Bigelow Tea and the tea industry your all for the past 50 years and on your lifetime of achievements!

Elaine Gavoli

Communications Manager, Bigelow Tea