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HERRIMAN — A Herriman woman has made it to the Top 10 finalists in Baskin-Robbins' "Next Favorite Flavor Contest." Heather Gayler, 37, first entered the contest in August, and public voting ends Thursday night.
Gayler credits the conception of her original flavor, "Thank You Troops," to the memories of her late grandfather, a World War II and U.S. Army veteran.
She said one of her favorite memories of her grandfather was when they would go to Baskin-Robbins, where he would order vanilla ice cream with cherry or strawberry fruit toppings. She modeled her flavor after her grandfather's favorites: vanilla ice cream a blueberry ribbon with cherry or strawberry topping.
"I chose these flavors based on what he would pick, not my personal preference," Gaylor said.
Though the flavor idea came from her grandfather, she named the flavor to honor all U.S. troops, past and present.
Gayler first found out about the contest on Baskin-Robbins' Facebook page and entered the contest without thinking much of it.
First, contestants had to create and name their flavor. Then Baskin-Robbins officials judged the flavor submissions, 70 percent by scoop creation and 30 percent by scoop name. She made it through each round as the contest pool was cut to first 200 flavors, then 20, then 10. Once the judges narrowed down the pool to 10 finalists, voting became public.
Baskin-Robbins contacted Gayler in December and asked her for her "flavor inspiration" to put with her flavor on the voting page, and she was surprised she had made it so far.
"It had been so long, and I know that the process was a long process to weed out everybody," she said. "And I didn't think about it much."
With only one day left to vote, the contest is in its final stretch. Voting ends Thursday night at 11:59 a.m. Visit the Baskin-Robbins website to cast your vote. The winner will be announced at the end of January.
