FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! THE COMMON MAN TEAMS UP WITH GIRL SCOUTS TO CREATE A TASTE-TEMPTING TREAT

Portion of dessert sales will benefit Girl Scouts of Swift Water Council

BEDFORD, NH – In honor of the 96th birthday of Girl Scouting, March 12, The Common Man restaurants have teamed up with America’s favorite cookie – Girl Scout Thin Mints – to create a craveable ice cream dessert that you can enjoy for a limited time only at all 13 Common Man restaurants in New Hampshire.

Girl Scouting is 96 and Girl Scouts of Swift Water Council, with nearly 14,000 girls in New Hampshire and eastern Vermont, is 50 years old. Instead of birthday cake, we’re celebrating with this decadent delight. But just as Girl Scout Cookies only come around once a year, Girl Scouts Thin Mints Avalanche Sundae is only on The Common Man menu until April 12.

If you find melt-in-your-mouth Thin Mints – the best-selling Girl Scout Cookie at 25 percent of the market – hard to resist, wait until you try this icy cold, creamy concoction of the iconic cookie favorite. Served as a sundae topped with hot fudge, whipped cream and an American flag, the one-of-a-kind ice cream features crumbled Thin Mints blended into velvety smooth Common Man-made chocolate ice cream, surrounded by swirls of snowy Marshmallow Fluff. Girl Scouts Thin Mints Avalanche Sundae costs $6; The Common Man will give $2 back to the Girl Scouts for every one sold.

This creative collaboration between the Girl Scouts and The Common Man is a natural, because community service is one of the foundations of The Common Man philosophy, and Girl Scout Cookies are great cookies for a great cause. Girl Scouts in Swift Water Council are supported by 4,200 trained and dedicated volunteers. Each year our Girl Scouts do more than 10,000 hours of service projects as part of the Council’s mission to build girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place.

Community service has been a hallmark of The Common Man since its inception in 1971. The Common Man family and owner Alex Ray have been recognized six times on a state level with the Restaurant Neighbor Award, and on a national level in 2004 by the National Restaurant Association, for the good deeds it does.

Ray's belief in "doing well by doing good" trickles down to all members of The Common Man family. Each restaurant strives to become a cornerstone of its community, allowing employees to volunteer with local organizations, organize quarterly benefit nights at each restaurant, and make in-kind donations of food and beverages for community events.

The Girl Scout Cookie program is the leading financial literacy program for girls, where they learn salesmanship, marketing, money management, and goal-setting, among other skills. Five of the top ten cookies sold in the U.S. are Girl Scout Cookies. More Girl Scout Cookies are sold in the two-and-a-half month annual sale than any other brand that sells year round, including Oreo and Chips Ahoy. Seventy-eight percent of the money from each $3.50 box sold remains locally to support programs and camps, the troop, and individual Girl Scouts, who earn “Cookie Dough” for activities and camp.

Still haven’t got your Girl Scout Cookies? Call the Cookie Hotline: 603-627-4158 ext. 201, or see www.swgirlscouts.org to find a booth sale near you. The Girl Scout Cookie sale ends later this month.

The first Common Man restaurant opened in Ashland, New Hampshire in 1971. Over the past 36 years, the family has grown to 13 restaurants, The Common Man Inn and Spa in Plymouth, and The Common Man Company Store in Ashland. Restaurants include Foster’s Boiler Room and The Italian Farmhouse in Plymouth; The Common Man restaurants in Lincoln, Ashland, Concord, Windham and Merrimack; Tilt’n Diner in Tilton; Airport Diner in Manchester; and Lago, Camp, Town Docks and Lakehouse Grille in Church Landing at Mill Falls in Meredith. For more information, please visit www.thecman.com .

CUTLINE FOR ATTACHED PHOTO: Emily Orr is shown making the limited-edition Girl Scouts Thin Mints Avalanche ice cream at The Common Man bakery in Ashland, New Hampshire. Have your dessert and eat it too while contributing to the Girl Scouts of Swift Water Council. Girl Scouts Thin Mints Avalanche Sundae will be sold at all 13 Common Man restaurants from March 12, the 96th birthday of Girl Scouting, until April 12.

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For questions about this release, contact Erica Auciello Murphy, Director of Communications and Community Relations for The Common Man at 603-641-0057; or Mary Ellen Hettinger, Public Relations Manager for the Girl Scouts of Swift Water Council, at 603-627-4158 ext. 119.

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