Had somewhat of a surprise visit yesterday from Terry Francona, the manager of the Red Sox. We have been working with Terry for the last several years and I have been blessed to be with him a few times. This time I was able to spend a couple hours with him at our company. He got the full tour of our plant, met all our employees, saw our manufacturing process and our blending process…he was so excited to learn how to make a teabag! He actually is a little bit of an “operations geek.” He watches programs on manufacturing and finds it fascinating (who knew!).

But besides seeing how we operate, he was so gracious and generous with his time in chatting with our employees. Our employees were smiling from ear to ear as he signed photos, notes, whatever as well as stood for pictures with anyone that wanted one (which was just about everyone!). He never gave me the feeling “he had to go” even though he was driving down to Spring Training when he left our company. He is a class act in every sense.

Yes, the Bigelow family is very fortunate in our partnerships. We could have not have found a better spokesman for our company, not only does he love our green tea but as everyone knows he is a true gentleman. A professional, a gentleman, a huge heart and a fantastic manager….we are blessed to call him part of our family!

Cindi Bigelow

In fact, we’re so thrilled, we’re spreading a little extra holiday cheer!  If you can guess who our new spokesperson is, you’ll have a chance to win this Classic Tea Chest, with enough Bigelow Tea to keep you warm and toasty all winter long.  (Details below.)

Bigelow Tea “Guess Who?” Contest Rules:

1.  Starting at 12 PM EST on Nov 30, and continuing every day of the contest (Nov 30-Dec 4), we’ll post a new clue about our new spokesperson’s identity on Twitter.  (But DON’T GUESS YET!)

2.  Between 12 PM and 1 PM EST on Friday, Dec 4 — immediately after the 5th and final clue is posted — we will accept guesses as to the new spokesperson’s identity via Twitter. (No earlier and no later!)

3.  To be eligible, a guess must meet ALL of the following critieria:

• It must be tweeted between 12 PM and 1 PM EST on Friday, Dec 4.
• It must include the hashtag #GuessWhoBigelow
• Entrant must be at least 18 years of age

4.  Entrants can guess as many times as they’d like to within that 60-minute timeframe on Friday, Dec 4.  However, multiple correct guesses from the same account will be judged as one correct guess during final prize allocation.  (For example, if user @Ziggy4576 guesses “Fred Flintstone” 40 times in 60 minutes, and Fred Flintstone happens to be the correct answer, user @Ziggy4576 will still only be entered once into the grand prize drawing.)

5.  Entrants can make as many guesses as they’d like to within the 60-minute timeframe, but each guess must be tweeted separately.  No multiple-name guesses per tweet (i.e., “Fred Flintstone, Donald Duck, Tarzan, Sleeping Beauty? #GuessWhoBigelow” would be disqualified, even if Tarzan were correct).

6.  Any guesses that fail to meet these criteria will be disqualified.  (We’ll be checking the timestamps on those tweets!)

7.  The Twitter usernames of all correct guesses will be entered into a random drawing for the grand prize.  The winner will be notified directly by Bigelow Tea.  The winner’s username, as well as the identity of the spokesperson, will be revealed in a Bigelow Tea blog post on Monday, December 7.

Got all that?  Good luck, and we look forward to tallying up all those correct guesses at 1:01 PM EST on Friday, Dec 4.

Classic Tea Chest Details:

Impress guests with your knowledge and appreciation of fine tea. Beautifully crafted with an elegant cherry finish and brass hardware, our chest contains 64 individually foil wrapped tea bags: 8 tea bags each of: Vanilla Caramel (Dairy Kosher), Earl Grey,”Constant Comment”®, English Teatime, Green Tea, Orange & Spice Herb, Mint Medley Herb, and Cozy Chamomile Herb teas (Kosher Parve). Chest can be refilled with your favorite blends. 4 1/4″H x 8 1/2″W x 13 1/4″L. Imported wood.  Retail Price:  $62.95

Look for this display at a store near you!

Don’t waste any time! Get in the game and enter to win by purchasing Bigelow Tea at Stop & Shop, using your ScanSaver card. You also can enter at the Courtesy Desk in the store or online at Bigelow Tea. This fantastic sweepstakes runs October 1^st to November 15^th.

FIVE Grand Prize Winners and a guest will be invited to “Talk Sports & Drink Bigelow Green Tea with Terry Francona” for an hour at Fenway Park in mid-January 2010. Displays are up now at Stop & Shop stores in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island – along with a coupon mailing to many Stop & Shop customers in Connecticut and Massachusetts!

So, check the mailbox and get to the store – and you and a guest could be enjoying Bigelow Tea with Terry Francona in January. What a fun and healthy way to start the New Year!

photo courtesy of SoxBlog

So fun to share with you a Boston program we are doing with Terry Francona. If you buy any box of Bigelow Tea at a Stop and Shop in the month of October, you are automatically entered into a sweepstakes. The Stop & Shop Sweepstakes winner gets to go to Fenway Park and share a cup of Bigelow tea with Terry and talk baseball for an hour.

I guess it wouldn’t be appropriate if I entered myself? Oh well.  I can at least be happy for the winner — whoever that might be…..

Cindi Bigelow

Image courtesy of NYTimes.com/Stuart Bradford

An article in The New York Times cites the 10-year Australian study showing good friends can lengthen your life, and reduce obesity. A Harvard study suggested spending time with friends promoted good brain health. Add in some Bigelow Tea Green Tea while enjoying those friends and maybe you can spend more time with friends and less time at the doctor’s office.

Green and Chamomile teas have been studied for their health benefits related to many ailments, from  diabetes to preventing bone loss in women.

Green tea has been linked to health benefits

Cindi Bigelow certainly understands the benefits of sharing tea with friends, as witnessed in this video with “the boys” — Joe Torre, Phil Simms, and Terry Francona – where they discuss tea, friendship, and more.

So, when Friendship Day rolls around on August 2^nd, there should be no guilt in relaxing with some tea and a good friend, or two, or three…for your better health and theirs!

I’ve got to tell you I wasn’t surprised to see that Joe Torre and Terry Francona are enjoying the best two records in baseball so far. I won’t say it’s because of all the Bigelow Green Tea that they drink but I’m sure it isn’t hurting.  It was really exciting to see Joe and the Dodgers playing the Mets here in New York before the All Star game.  And of course Terry and the Red Sox will be playing the Yankees several times before the season is over then it’s on to the playoffs.

Stay tuned!

Bob

The day’s events included tea education along with a Bigelow Tea tasting followed by a once in a lifetime talk with Terry Francona and concluding with a moving tour of Fenway Park.

Carrie Hammond, Marketing Manager, Terry Francona, Red Sox Manager, Sherri Luba, Marketing Administrative Assistant, Scott Ricci, Marketing Director

Red Sox Manager, Terry Francona, was a true gentleman; taking time to chat with us over his cup of Bigelow Green Tea with Pomegranate , answering questions, signing autographs and snapping pictures before going on air for his pre-game show on WEEI. We asked lots of fun questions such as:

Q: “What is your favorite memory of the game?”

A: Seeing the guys storm the field after the 2007 Series win, guys from 6 or more countries embracing in pure joy.

Q: “Who’s your favorite Yankee?”

A: Derek Jeter, great guy, amazing athlete.

Q: “Who’s first to the locker room before games?”

A: Dustin Pedroia, since day one in the majors and probably always will be, he gets everyone going!

The park tour followed with fun facts and lots of history. Did you know…

• The red seat in right field is a marker of the furthest hit ball?
• Ted Williams hit that ball 502 feet and the record stands to this day!
• The dots and dashes on the white stripes of the manual scoreboard are the initials of Mr. and Mrs. Yawkey in Morse code, former owners of the Red Sox!
• The waiting list to work behind the manual scoreboard is over 7,000 names long!!!

Our sincere thanks to the “Fenway “team” for ensuring the day went off without a hitch (or a strike) and our personal and heartfelt thanks to Terry Francona for making this day a true home run!!!

Carrie Hammond
Marketing Manager
Bigelow Tea

Image courtesy of the Bridgeport Bluefish

Bigelow Tea has many great associations with “America’s Pastime” as we have seen in several blogs over the years. From spring training news, to Joe Torre, Skipper of the LA Dodgers and Terry Francona of the Boston Red Sox chatting with Cindi Bigelow; clearly, Bigelow Tea plays in the Majors! But did you know that a little closer to home we also are a great supporter of the Bridgeport Bluefish baseball club? The Bluefish play in the Liberty Division of the Atlantic Baseball League, sporting a cool logo, and a warm association with Bigelow Tea!

Check out this brief new clip from Cindi Bigelow attending a Bluefish game. There’s just something about the smell of the grass, the crack of the bat and a great cup of tea for Cindi Bigelow; she’s clearly in her element at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where the Bluefish play their home games. Cindi again shows what a great fan is, and what a great team Bigelow Tea and the Bridgeport Bluefish make. A real Field of Dreams!

And Cindi is not the only one enjoying Bigelow Tea at the Bluefish games – the umpire is served Bigelow Tea’s Pomegranate iced tea during breaks in the games, as the park announcer broadcast’s the umpire’s refreshing bonus. Undoubtedly the stimulating iced tea helps keeps the Ump’s eyes extra sharp and his calls more accurate! Go Fish!

Life-long Pittsburgh Pirates fans and baseball enthusiasts greet spring training with conflicting emotions: sweet and sour. The Pirates, whose record has been negligible since the early 90’s, have actually had a good start to their Grapefruit League season. There’s always a sense of optimism that accompanies teams in the spring with the return of Major League Baseball.

As mentioned in this post, this will be the first season the Dodgers will not hold spring training in Vero Beach Florida.

Vero Beach Dodgers logo compliments of Wikipedia

Dodgers Manager Joe Torre played for the St. Louis Cardinals during the prime of his major league career. While his numbers do not quite match those of two-time Triple Crown winner, Hall of Fame Cardinals outfielder Rogers Hornsby, Torre was no slouch; he was a nine-time All-Star, and won the National League MVP in 1971, the year the Cardinals finished second in the NL East to the eventual World Series Champion Pittsburgh Pirates. And of course, Joe is a great fan, and friend of Bigelow Tea!

Now Torre manages the Dodgers, who have recently re-signed run-producing outfielder, Many Ramirez. Ramirez’s former team, the Boston Red Sox, are led by another great Bigelow Tea drinker, Manager Terry Francona. Come October it would come as no surprise to see a Red Sox-Dodgers World Series. It’s doubtful that the opposing players would get together for a cup of Bigelow Green Tea during this hypothetical match up, but their managers might.

Phil Simms (former quarterback for the NY Giants and TV sportscaster for CBS), Cindi Bigelow (President Bigelow Tea), Terry Francona (manager Boston Red Sox), Bob Kelly (SVP Bigelow Tea) and Joe Torre (manager LA Dodgers)

Phil Simms (former quarterback for the NY Giants and TV sportscaster for CBS), Cindi Bigelow (President Bigelow Tea), Terry Francona (manager Boston Red Sox), Bob Kelly (SVP Bigelow Tea) and Joe Torre (manager LA Dodgers)

Once again I think we captured something magical for the Bigelow brand and it was so great to see the collegiality and respect that Joe, Phil and Terry had for each other. More importantly they were true professionals toward everyone involved in the project. We even had Cindi Bigelow talking tea and other topics with Joe, Phil and Terry which was captured on video and will appear on bigelowtea.com in the near future.

It was a great way to end one year and begin the next!

Bob