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COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy
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| Claremont High School junior Loraine Ong smiles through a frosted window at Cold Stone Creamery in the Village Expansion where the teenager’s personal ice cream creation, “Heath Wave,” is being sold. |
‘Heath Wave’ is a Claremont original flavor
Claremont High School’s Loraine Ong found out a couple months ago that just a few clicks on the Internet could be a life changing experience.
Two months later after a night in which she was merely Web surfing, the soon-to-be CHS junior is now entered into a national contest that has her very own created flavor “Heath Wave,” being sold at the Cold Stone Creamery in Village West.
“This is the most exciting thing to happen all summer,” said Loraine enthusiastically. “Sometimes I still can’t believe it.”
According to the 16-year-old, she was logged in on the Facebook social website when she saw an online advertisement about Cold Stone Creamery’s iMix America Contest in which the grand prize was a prize package that was worth $30,000. One click led to the next and soon Loraine was signed up for the contest.
“When I found out that I was selected, I jumped up and screamed,” Loraine recalled. “Then that night, I was thinking of different ice cream combinations and I ended up with 15 different creations by the end of the night. The next day was the last day of summer school and I took my list of creations and found out what other students and my friends thought about them. I even got feedback from strangers.”
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COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy
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| Loraine Ong’s ice cream invention, “Heath Wave,” is a combination of vanilla ice cream, Heath bars, brownies and fudge. The CHS senior created the flavor for Cold Stone Creamery’s iMix America Contest. |
“It’s smooth, crunch and chewy,” she explained.
Among the first of Loraine’s friends to find out about her selection, fellow CHS student Eli Emigh was surprised to hear the news and was delighted that Loraine had joined the other contestants from around the country as candidates for the grand prize.
“Within a week of finding out that she was in the contest, then I find out that she had been selected,” Eli said. “She called and was screaming on the phone when she told me. I think it’s cool.”
When she was selected within the first bracket of the contest, Loraine then headed to the local Cold Stone Creamery and began to work with the ice cream shop in order to bring her creation to life. The location recently came under new ownership back in June, with Tim and Marianne Cintron now at the helm of the local shop.
The new flavor “Heath Wave” went on sale at the Claremont location starting on Monday and will continue being served until early September. Ms. Cintron is happy to assist Loraine in her bid for the national crown and strongly believes in the local Cold Stone Creamery being a contributor to the community. The shop has already contributed to disaster relief and children with dyslexia since its grand opening back in June and also set to promote the Make-A-Wish Foundation in September.
“I saw my daughter win ‘Little Miss San Dimas’ so I know how exciting it can be for Loraine,” Ms. Cintron said. “It’s cute to see and I hope that she wins [the whole contest].”
The next bracket of 125 winners will be selected starting in September, followed by 20 winners being named around Halloween and then the grand prize and runner-up winners being announced toward the end of the year. Second bracket winners receive a $50 Cold Stone Creamery gift card, 3rd bracket winners are awarded a $250 music download gift card and a $4000 value pack will be given to the runner-up winner.
Claremont High School students will receive 20 percent off the regular price of a “Heath Wave” purchase at the Claremont Cold Stone Creamery and all customers who purchase a “Heath Wave” related item will be given a sticker on their receipts and directions on how to cast a vote for Loraine’s creation.
“It’s amazing,” Loraine said. “And thinking that I have a chance to win $30,000 worth of prizes—that’s even more amazing.”
—Landus Rigsby
