A Little Bit Of Dick's Rubs Off On Molly Moon

It was a huge deal, driving thousands upon thousands of Dick's loyalists to vote, stuff the (virtual) ballot boxes and, in at least one case, use their elected office to try and get the first new Dick's location in decades to open in their 'hoods.

Well, this massive outpouring of love (there were around 100,000 votes cast over the course of the Dick's election cycle) seems to have had something of an effect on Molly Moon Neitzel, owner of Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream, because when she decided that it was time for her to expand her nascent ice cream empire from two locations (plus one truck) to three locations (plus one truck), she, too, decided to turn to the people to help her decide.

"Unsure of what Seattle neighborhood to call home," says the release that went out yesterday from Molly Moon headquarters, "Neitzel will be parking Leo, the Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream Truck, in three locations over the next three months to see where the most ice cream-lovin' Seattleites reside."

The three locations that Neitzel chose?

Starting today, Leo the Ice Cream Truck will be parked in Madrona at 1435 34th Avenue. They'll be slingin' scoops from 5 to 10pm, and any rugrats who drop by today between 6 and 8 will receive a free kid-sized scoop. Nice, right?

The truck will hold position in Madrona for all of December, and be open on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5-10pm and Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 10pm. Then, come January, it'll move to Queen Anne. February will see it parked somewhere in Ballard. And the way you get the new store into your neighborhood (provided you call either Madrona, Queen Anne or Ballard home)? By going there, buying ice cream, and being the neighborhood that spends the most green on frozen milk in the middle of winter--which, I guess, will speak to your dedication as ice cream lovers or something.

Oh, and you can also help the cause by going on Facebook and "liking" either the official Bring Molly Moon's to Madrona, Bring Molly Moon's to Ballard and Bring Molly Moon's to Queen Anne pages. Because, as we discussed earlier this week, no restaurant can seem to do anything these days without a social networking component attached.

As of this moment, the Ballard location is far in the lead in term of likes (with 190 after just one day of voting). Queen Anne is in second with 90. And Madrona is trailing with 75.