Taste testers select sesquicentennial ice cream

UW-Madison Chancellor David Ward (top photo, right) was among the panelists who picked “Praise to Thee, Our Almond Mocha” as the winner Monday, March 29 in a taste test of 10 flavors vying for the ice cream that will help mark the university’s 150th anniversary. The winning flavor was proposed by Allen Ruplinger, bottom, of Waukesha. He is a 1993 alumnus who works as a manufacturing engineer for Harley Davidson in Milwaukee. Ruplinger’s entry was one of nearly 800 in a statewide contest to create a new sesquicentennial flavor. His entry will now be produced by the Babcock Dairy Plant on campus for serving at sesquicentennial events and through Babcock outlets. “I came up with the name first, and the flavor followed,” said Ruplinger, a native of Campbellsport, Wis. The name is a play on “Varsity,” a traditional UW–Madison song that includes the words, “Praise to thee, our Alma Mater.” The ice cream is a mocha-flavored vanilla with almonds. Runner-up honors went to “Sesquiberry,” a strawberry ripple suggested by Frank Cook of Madison.

Ruplinger will receive four tickets to the Oct. 16 homecoming football game against Indiana; brunch before the game at Olin House, the home of Chancellor Ward and his wife, Judith; a copy of the book titled “The University of Wisconsin, A Pictorial History” by Art Hove; and five gallons of Ruplinger’s winning flavor.