Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

February 14, 2003

Snack alert: Feb. 21 is Rice Krispies Treat Day in Ames

by Anne Krapfl
Plan to replace your 2:30 p.m. Snickers bar with a Rice Krispies Treat on Feb. 21. That Friday has been declared Rice Krispies Treat Day in Ames by Mayor Ted Tedesco and the Ames City Council, in honor of Iowa State's entry with Guinness World Records. The distinction recognizes a spring 2001 project to assemble the world's largest cereal treat: a 2,480-pound Rice Krispies loaf.

An estimated 8,000 complimentary treats will be stocked at city hall and hotel front desks, and on various CyRide morning bus routes that day. Campus locations with treats to share include the Memorial Union front desk, the Scheman front desk at the Iowa State Center, the Student Answer Center in Beardshear, the dean's office in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, and offices of the president and three vice presidents.

In addition, the residence dining centers, Hazel's Kitchen at Reiman Gardens and the tearoom in MacKay Hall will include Rice Krispies Treats on their menus that day.

The record-setting treat was created in the Friley Hall kitchen from 818 pounds of Rice Krispies, 1,466 pounds of marshmallows and 217 pounds of butter. It took a team of students, faculty and staff eight hours to make the batter, which was spread in a Plexiglas form 12 feet long, 6 feet wide and 2 feet deep. It was loaded onto a flatbed truck, weighed, showcased in the Veishea parade and cut into pieces later in the day.

In addition to making a one-of-a-kind parade entry, the Rice Krispies Treat project honored alumna Mildred Day, a 1928 Iowa State home economics graduate who helped create the prototype for the Rice Krispies Treat while employed at Kellogg's.