June, 2010...Tops Markets takes on MARE-O-LIN's 06/28/10
This is probably the single biggest addition to our customer base since we started the business and the potential here is unbelievable. Back in January, my good friend Jim Walters (his company Action Printwear produces all the labels for our sauces by the way) said he had recently contacted Tops corporate office in Buffalo to see about possibilities of him doing work for them, now that they are returning to Central New York through the purchase of some 70 P&C stores. He thought it would be a real good opportunity for our sauces...I agreed!! I made direct contact there & wound up dealing with some real good people stressing our products are locally made and basically telling them all about the sauces, history of our business etc. It took a while but just last week final approval was given for all four of our sauces!!! Not only that they extended the approval to all stores in the Rochester & Syracuse areas under the Tops umbrella!!! June 27th was the first day any of the locations could buy our products so I made arrangements with the Camillus store manager (Scott Cronberger) to do a demo right on the 27th, which of course was yesterday. The approval for all these stores doesn't mean that instantly MARE-O-LIN's will be on the shelves...it will be left up to individual store managers which is fine with us. Once some of the Syracuse Tops/P&C stores start taking off things will spread real quick amongst the store managers. In addition, anyone reading this that shops at a Rochester/Syracuse Tops store, start asking for MARE-O-LIN's each time you go to shop. Ask customer service, ask the store manager & tell them the corporate office in Buffalo approved it June 23rd.

February, 2010...MARE-O-LIN's lands at The Peppermill 02/22/10
Through the good work of Cindy Sanders from Nelson Farms our chili sauces can now be purchased at The Peppermill. Full contact information will be in the "Where to buy" section. Welcome aboard!!

February, 2010...Making Spicy blend spicier 02/22/10
I've been meaning to do this since December and will also put this in the "Recipe" section. I had a half used jar of spicy in the fridge and were having company over & decided not to serve it cold so I poured it in a bowl and microwaved it for about 20 seconds...enough to warm it without making it boil. Everyone who tried it noticed it had more kick to it. In December I was doing a demo at the NY Wine & Culinary Center and asked a chef there if my taste buds were deceiving me. He said not at all...in warming up the sauce the natural oils in the ingredients expand and that causes the spicy-ness of it to go up. You could also warm it up in a sauce pan on the stove.

December, 2009...Hole in One!! 12/06/09
This isn't chili sauce related but definitely belongs in the "News" section. My son has been golfing for 6 years now. While he likes a lot of sports, golf is king. He has an unquenchable thirst to play and compete and for his game to continually improve. West Hill Country Club is a Par 3 course near our house...a very challenging Par 3 course I should mention, especially some of the greens. Par is 54 and he has been getting so close to breaking 60 in the last few months. December 6, 2009 is NOT the day he first broke 60 but it IS the day he records his first hole in one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The round started off a bit choppy and it should be mentioned he played and I caddied in mid-30's degree type weather with a bit of a breeze. Most of you that would ever read this probably think we should have our heads examined but this speaks of the passion my son has for this game. As long as no snow or frost is on the fairways or greens it's fair game he'll want to play. First hole he got a par, bogeyed #2 but then sent his drive on #3 out of bounds and wound up getting a 6. Needless to say he was very upset and we were both a bit chilly. I asked if he wanted to stop and play some other time. Flash back to about a month ago. We had a conversation after I thought he had given up on his round with a few holes to play after realizing his goal/dream of breaking 60 would not happen that round. He emphatically said "I may get upset when I hit bad shots but I DO NOT QUIT. I AM NOT A QUITTER". Flash forward to yesterday and my question after he hit the shot out of bounds. Without saying a word he gave me an "I'm not a quitter" look so we decided to continue the round. Hole #7 was playing about 149 yards. He took out his Striker club which is a 5 wood hybrid club. The flight of the ball looked awesome and my guess was the ball was real close to the hole, maybe a few inches out. He ran ahead and just short of getting to the green started yelling it was a hole in one!!!! Obviously I started running towards the green with golf bag in hand. The ball was on top of the hole wedged by the flag. That's why we could see it from the tee box. When I got up near the green the flag moved a little (from the breeze)and the ball went from being on top of the cup to IN the cup!!!!!!!! I yelled enough that the echo had to cover every hill in Camillus!! If I had to predict whether he would break 60 first or get a hole in one, I'd definitely have picked the breaking 60!! The beauty of this moment we shared was its pureness and its unpredictability and really life is a lot like that moment. People that know me know I have a deep sense of faith and strong belief not only in God but also that he has a master plan for all of us. The better we can start each day with open eyes, ears and heart the better the chances something special will happen in the course of the day. The lesson of this moment for all parents is...in making your children the center of your universe you can be witness to the amazing things they'll do in their lives. Make them a PRIORITY and not an OBLIGATION. Don't think that showering them with material gifts and/or throwing money at them and situations will guarantee their success, much less assure you as parents of their love. This moment yesterday cost $8, which is the fee for a round of golf at West Hill. What do we get for $8? A minimum of 2-3 hours of quality Father/Son time of which I already have a lifetime of memories built into 6 short years. We experience the highs and lows of what a round has to offer and realize, as mentioned before, that golf mirrors life a lot. For every good shot there's a couple we're not happy with. I think we're more defined (in life and sport) not by the good shots made but how we deal with the bad ones/adversity that we face. Give your children the best gift of all...your time. I'm also going to put this entry into the "Blog" entry.

November, 2009...MARE-O-LIN's officially lands in Ohio!! 11/20/09
I met Tatjana and Jason on September 26th while doing a demo at Heron Hill Winery. I had a wonderful conversation with them and they not only liked our sauces but thought they would be a good fit in their specialty shop (www.vinomeza.com is their web site & it's definitely worth a look). They will initially carry spicy and garlic blends but in time may pick up original and onion blends as well. Welcome aboard!!

November, 2009. MARE-O-LIN's lands in Elba 11/10/09
Elba is not too far away from Batavia, NY. Kelly contacted me recently wanting to add more "Made in NY" products to her store. I was (obviously) happy to oblige!! She initially will carry the garlic and onion blends but in time may carry original and spicy as well. She has sample jars of all four blends and has a good education on all the uses for our sauces. Her web site (www.elbamill.com) is definitely worth a look. Welcome aboard!!

October, 2009...MARE-O-LIN's at Wine and Roses event 10/08/09
The Wine and Roses event was put together by The Events Company of Syracuse. Rosewood Heights Foundation was the beneficiary of proceeds from the event. Rosewood Heights Health Center is a not-for-profit organization providing nursing home care to 242 residents since 1971. Along with skilled nursing care, they provide services in the areas of Hospice care, care for individuals with HIV, Alzheimer residents and other mental needs, as well as care for younger chronically ill residents. For more information, see their web site at www.rosewoodheights.org. As a personal aside, it was good to be associated with an event raising money for this cause/foundation. A very touching slide show was presented with Josh Groban's "You raise me up" playing as pictures were shown.

September, 2009...MARE-O-LIN's now an approved vendor with SMC 09/29/09
With thanks again to Scotty for the referral I'd like to now officially say that Annie's Creations is an approved vendor with SMC and all four blends of MARE-O-LIN's chili sauces are available to all members at a discounted price!! SMC stands for Student Management Corporation. They are a student owned and governed not-for-profit purchasing cooperative for the fraternities and sororities at Cornell University since 1971. We are very excited for the potential business that will come from this and the impact potential going well beyond SMC.

September, 2009...MARE-O-LIN's lands in Verona 09/23/09
Ann and the kids did their annual demo at Beak-n-Skiff on Saturday the 19th on what was a glorious fall day. Sunny skies and temp's in the 60's. The demo went extremely well as it has the last several years and in fact Candy told Ann "this was the best day of the year" for traffic flow, sales etc. One of many first time tasters of our sauces was a teacher from the Verona area who not only bought some sauce but told Ann that we have to contact Barb & Steve Allen at the 31 Express Deli. She and many, many teachers go to lunch there frequently and would love to continue buying our sauces there. I called and spoke to Steve on Monday and made an appointment for Tuesday morning. After talking to him and Barb they decided to take on all four blends of our sauces!! They vouched for the loyal following of teachers who come in for lunch and said the woman who met Ann will be in soon looking for our sauce. I asked that when she does to please get her name because I always like to thank people for referrals but, for now, I'd like to officially thank the woman who recommended we contact 31 Express Deli because they are now a customer!!

September, 2009...Harvest Festival at Six Mile Creek Winery 09/19/09
This was the second year in a row I participated at the harvest festival and I'll have some reflections in the blog section. The festival was held Saturday and Sunday (19th & 20th). I definitely plan to be there next year.

September, 2009...Deer Run Farms takes on MARE-O-LIN's 09/05/09
In 25 years of selling one thing or another there is a universal constant...I always get real excited each time I bring on a new customer. Deer Run Farms in Lafayette was referred to us by someone Ann works with (thanks Barry!!). I called Sean initially and the four of went to see him on September 5th. He will be carrying all four blends of our chili sauces and we should be doing a demo there in the near future. Welcome aboard Deer Run Farms!!

August, 2009...Price Chopper location #2 08/15/09
As of August, 2009 the Glens Falls Price Chopper becomes the second store location to take on all four blends of MARE-O-LIN's along with other "Made in NY" products. Things are pretty much on track here and hopefully that trend continues so this fall the Syracuse area stores will be next as planned!!

August, 2009...MARE-O-LIN's supports Samaritan Center 08/14/09
This is a first time venture for us. The Samaritan Center is an interfaith effort located in Syracuse. They provide a hot, nurtitious meal daily to men, women and children without questions, pre-conditions or cost. Meals are served 365 days a year to individuals and families of all ages and backgrounds. We found out about the Samaritan Center through our being parishoners at St. Joseph's Church in Camillus. A charity golf tournament was organized and held at West Hill Country Club on August 14th. We donated a mixed case of chili sauce to the event. Overall close to $1000 was raised for the Samaritan Center. ***As an aside...one of the biggest pushes for us to become involved with this is the golf side of things. My son John Michael has played since he was 5 and, at age 11, has developed a pretty complete game. It needs to be said that John Michael's motivation to participate wasn't solely the competition. He and his sister have always been moved by homelessness. As evidence of that, John Michael took $50.00 of his own money to pay the entry fee for the charity event. This becomes the second charity event he has participated in and definitely won't be the last. He gets a great deal of satisfaction being part of helping a worthy cause. His team did win the event by one shot with a 3 under score of 24 (for those who don't know it West Hill is a par 3 course...a very challenging one at that!!)and John Michael made all three birdies from lengths of about 10', 8' & just under 6'.***

May, 2009...Bad news/Good news 05/04/09
I am a big believer in the old saying "Where one door closes another opens". The key though is your attitude when the door closes. If you're negative and take the "poor me" attitude you may miss and not see when the next door opens. This works in both your work life and personal life. Back in March I received the news from Wegmans corporate that they would be discontinuing our original blend MARE-O-LIN's (door closing obviously). I certainly wasn't happy about this but when I sat back and did an honest assessment of things I think it was inevitable. Wegmans definitely was my signature account when I brought them on back in 2004 and it definitely helped open additional doors of business by having them on my resume. But despite repeated efforts to get them to carry more of my blends (especially garlic)nothing ever happened. I spent $1500 back in 2005 to have Wegmans employees do a 3 hour demo of my sauce in the 9 Syracuse area stores (including Auburn). Yes that is a lot of money!! A couple of years ago the Fairmount store manager (John Mathewson), whom I have known for over 20 years, gave my family and I the opportunity to demo the sauce ourselves during their March spring fling (where lots of vendors come in & give out samples. As a shopper it's one of my most favorite Saturday's of the year!!). In all I think we took part in 4 demos there and no fewer than (15) jars of sauce sold. I asked to be able to go to the other eight stores, even if just once a year, and do the same demo myself but nothing ever happened with that either. I've done a few demos since the official discontinuing of our sauce and have to say the reactions have been universal. People feel I'll be better off without Wegmans. They feel Wegmans is getting a bit too full of themselves and going to too much private label products. Let me say for my take on things that as much as I've liked shopping at the Fairmount store every week over the last 20+ years I am now spreading my weekly grocery store money around to places like P&C, Nojaims in Marcellus and even Walmart at times. The net result is I'm spending about 1/2 of what I used to when Wegmans carried my product. That more than anything makes the statement I feel needs to be made. As I mentioned earlier one never knows how much time elapses in the "door closing/door opening" scenario. For me in this case, it fortunately didn't take too long. Last week I received an e-mail from Cindy Sanders at Nelson Farms. Nelson of course has produced our sauces from the beginning and last year received grant money to hire a sales rep to go out and sell the products Nelson makes. Boy what a novel concept...the more Nelson sells my (and others)products the more they'll need to produce!! Cindy gave me the fantastic news that, as of June 1st, ALL FOUR of our sauces will be in the new Price Chopper in Hamilton, NY!! All four all at once...awesome. We will be part of a "Pride of NY" display that Cindy said could have as many as 40 products. I feel that given enough time this will really take off. The regular shoppers at Price Chopper will be able to count on seeing that display area each week which is much more efficient than trying to find all of our products scattered throughout the store. I have sensed a growing trend of people buying local & buying state made products whenever possible. This new display will help tremendously in that cause. After the Hamilton store Cindy said Glens Falls is the next store and then the Syracuse stores so whichever Price Chopper store you shop at start asking for MARE-O-LIN's and make mention the Hamilton store will have all four blends as of June 1st.

May, 2009...Crawfish Festival 05/04/09
The second annual Crawfish Festival was May 2nd at the Inner Harbor in Syracuse. From both a festival goer and vendor point of view the weather was awesome. 60's for temperatures, mostly sunny and a nice breeze most of the day. The festival is a fundraiser for Operation Southern Comfort. They build one home at a time for people in New Orleans that are still displaced from August, 2005 Hurricane Katrina. I'm not sure how much money was raised but I can say we donated a case (12 jars) of MARE-O-LIN's and the festival was well attended. For those considering going next year I'd highly recommend it. It's definitely family friendly and the inner harbor provides a very pleasing to the eye backdrop. I sold close to (100) jars of sauce and met some wonderful people. On two separate occasions I sampled and then sold some sauce to people who initially were not going to stop by my booth. Glad as ever that they did they later brought their friends over, who also sampled and bought sauce!! Some may think the sole purpose of vendors is to sell product and make money. For me it's always been much more than that. Meeting new people, talking about our sauces and the story behind our whole venture is a big part of it. What makes it extra special though is being there helps raise money for a good cause. I think we could all benefit from being part of something larger than ourselves.

May, 2009...Carol M Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund of CNY 05/04/09
We are donating all four blends of MARE-O-LIN's chili sauce to Carol Baldwin's organization for use in the upcoming Turning Stone gala event in May, the motorcycle ride on June 13th and the Beach Days at Gillie Lake fundraiser in late June. We are very happy and proud to continue this tradition of supporting the wonderful work Carol and her staff are doing to find a cure for breast cancer. I believe this is our fifth year supporting Carol's organization. The other thing of importance to mention is the money raised stays here in Central New York. I'd like nothing more than for a cure to be found and it would be icing on the cake if the cure was found here. Thanks to the efforts of Beth Baldwin and Jim Walters (www.actionprintwear.com)we will appear in the official program for the Turning Stone gala which will give us some quality additional exposure.

April, 2009...SavorSyracuse 04/23/09
We once again renewed our tradition/commitment to participating in the SavorSyracuse fundraiser that benefits the Food Bank of CNY. I believe this year over $50,000 was once again raised. Our friend Chef Danny (www.chefdanny.com)was with me handing out samples of all four blends of MARE-O-LIN's AND he cooked up a new recipe (soon to be added to "Receipe" section)involving linguine, orange marmalade, MARE-O-LIN's and other "yum-yums" and boy was it ever a hit!! I didn't gain any new wholesale accounts as I did last year but feel I'll be real busy this coming holiday season as a lot of people I met and talked to wanted to get mixed cases of sauce for gift giving.

January, 2009...MARE-O-LIN's lands in the 1000 Islands!! 01/26/09
I have to thank my neighbor Jim Jones for this lead and sale. He bought some sauce from me around Christmas time and asked if we had the sauce anywhere up in the 1000 Islands region. When I told him "not yet" he said I absolutely had to contact the River Rat Cheese folks. He loves their products, has been to the store and felt MARE-O-LIN's would be a good fit there. Thanks Jim!!

January, 2009...Charity of the Year selected 01/13/09
For 2009 our Charity of the Year is Operation Southern Comfort. While still a rock-n-roll fan for music I began listening to country music last June on B104.7. It was through listening to the station a lot and specifically Becky & Tom's efforts on the morning show I learned about Operation Southern Comfort. We donated some sauce to their fundraiser last fall and selecting them as our 2009 Charity we're taking our giving to them to another level. I hope someday as a family we can go down and help build a home. For more information see our Charity of the Year section on our web site.

December, 2008...MARE-O-LIN's Lands in Rochester!! 12/09/08
Talk about the power of one event. I participated in Six Mile Creek's harvest festival in September. Had a lot of fun, met a lot of wonderful people and sold a lot of sauce. The event brought me some immediate additional wholesale business and planted seeds for future business. Again I thank all the folks that recommended I pursue Ithaca Coffee Company and Red Jacket Orchards. If you look in this "News" section and the "Where to buy" section you'll see both are now customers!! Last month I was doing a demo at Red Jacket when a man came up (who I would later come to know as Ralf's Father), tried my sauces, liked them (spicy especially!!) and handed me a business card. He said he believed my sauces would be a great fit at his son's store in Rochester. Well, officially as of December 5th all four blends of MARE-O-LIN's are now for sale in Rochester at Ralf's!! I know part of a business plan with the lofty expectations ours has needs to include a network of brokers and distributors. In having this business for 5 years now I can also say the personal touch is still every bit as much needed and appreciated as it ever was. I think a business needs to have both. I brought some of Ralf's Polish brat's home and were they ever good dipped in our sauces!!

December, 2008...MARE-O-LINS's supports Homeless Prevention Council 11/18/08
On December 4th the Orleans Inn (Orleans, MA/Cape Cod) will be hosting a wine tasting and silent auction with all proceeds to benefit the Homeless Prevention Council of Orleans. There will be (3) jars each of all four blends of our sauces on display as part of the auction. We as a family are very moved by homelessness and have supported causes on multiple fronts including this event, having the Food Bank of CNY as our 2007 Charity of the Year, and recently making a donation to Operation Southern Comfort. We wish the Maas family the best of luck in making the December 4th event as successful as possible.

November, 2008...Finger Lakes Coffee House takes on MARE-O-LIN's 11/08/08
I met Heather and her husband at the Six Mile Creek harvest festival in September. They have taken on all four blends of our sauces and are very excited about the possibilities.

November, 2008...Ithaca Coffee Company takes on MARE-O-LIN's 11/01/08
For everyone who I met at the Six Mile Creek harvest festival who recommended Ithaca Coffee Company I thank you. They initially will stock original and garlic blends.

October, 2008...MARE-O-LIN's teams up with Syracuse Gift Basket Company 10/20/08
Julie Briggs has carried our original blend chili sauce for several years now and recently John asked if there would be a theme she could create using all four blends. Julie and I are proud to announce her "MARE-O-LIN's Chilly Night Chili Pack"!! This basket contains (1) jar each of original, spicy, garlic and onion blends and a bag of Terrell's tortilla chips. To see this basket go to www.syracusegiftbasket.com click "Shop on line", click "Syracuse Gift baskets" and you'll find us on page 2. Enjoy!!

October, 2008...Red Jacket Orchards takes on MARE-O-LIN's 10/13/08
John would like to personally thank all those who were at the Six Mile Creek harvest festival who said MARE-O-LIN's would be a good fit at Red Jacket. Red Jacket is right on Routes 5 & 20 in Geneva. They are carrying all four blends of our sauces and John will be doing a demo there November 8th from 9:30-11:30.

October, 2008...Eagle Bridge Custom Meat & Smokehouse takes on MARE-O-LIN's 10/03/08
John was at Harmony House in Cohoes (Albany area) on October 3rd participating in the weekly Farmer's Market when he met the folks from Eagle Bridge. Eagle Bridge is in the north eastern part of NY State near the Vermont border. We're real excited about the possibilities because our sauces go REAL well with their meat products. John can personally vouch for original and spicy blends with their chicken sausage!!

September, 2008...Side Hill Acres takes on MARE-O-LIN's 09/30/08
John met Rita at the Six Mile Creek harvest festival. The festival was extremely successful for both of us and, after learning more about our sauces, Rita decided to take all four blends on!! Rita is in the goat milk product business located in Candor, NY which is south of Ithaca.

June, 2008...Lamoreaux Landing Winery adds MARE-O-LIN's 06/30/08
Lamoreaux is a very high profile winery on the east side of Seneca Lake and we are very excited about finally landing them as a customer. They initially picked up garlic and onion blends and recently added original. John will be at the winery on November 8th from 12:30-5 sampling all four blends of MARE-O-LIN's. Lamoreaux puts out a number of very high quality red and white wines. If you enjoy wines on the drier side Lamoreaux is your place.

May 30, 2008...MARE-O-LIN's on the Jim Reith show!! 06/24/08
John was on the air "live" on 570/WSYR to talk to Jim about our chili sauce venture. His show, among other local radio stations, is the most listened to in the 3-6 time slot. The interview covered a lot of ground including how the name MARE-O-LIN's came about, what's involved in coming up with a new blend, where it's available, what it goes with etc. For Jim's "Snack of the Day" program the Hawaiian wrap recipe (check "Recipe" section of our web site) was presented and he told me both off air and on air how much he loved it. The time spent was extremely high quality and even allowed the charity side of our business to be discussed.

April, 2008 MARE-O-LIN's at the SavorSyracuse for fourth year in a row 04/28/08
It's an easy decision for us to participate in this each year because the proceeds go to the Food Bank of CNY, who also was our Charity of the Year in 2007. This year was even busier than normal, and normal has been pretty busy!! While we can't sell any product we usually get some good leads and this year was no exception. Laci's Cafe is now a MARE-O-LIN's customer as a result in our being in Savor. We met a lot of real good people including a young couple that tried our sauces and came back a second time to say they were the best sauces they've ever had. Not only that but the sauces were the best tasting sample they had all evening!! John Michael was able to talk about his scrambled egg recipe and we had copies to give out to people. This year Savor was held at the Hotel Syracuse, a change in venue from the Landmark of previous years. We will look forward to participating again next year.

February, 2008 MARE-O-LIN's now has a 4th blend...Onion Blend!! 03/13/08
Similar to original, spicy and garlic the onion blend is good as a dipping sauce, as a condiment and in recipes. One new and awesome use for onion (that we've never used the other three blends on) is as a sauce when making home made pizza. Our garlic blend has been well received and we've gotten a lot of feedback on how much garlic is in each jar...it's very pleasing to the eye!! For the onion lovers out there you may not be able to see the onion as easily as the garlic put one opening of a jar and the aromatics will tell you it's definitely onion!! For all our chili sauce customers/users/fans out there e-mail us your recipes/serving suggestions for the onion blend...we'd love to hear from you. In the meantime...ENJOY!!

October, 2007...MARE-O-LIN's lands in Albany!! 10/30/07
Ann & John are both SUNY Oswego alum's and last month the alumni magazine featured an article on our chili sauce business. The owner of Harmony House Market Place is also an Oswego alum and upon seeing the article contacted us!! Harmony will carry original, spicy and garlic blends and this represents our first landing in the Albany market place!!

September, 2007... MARE-O-LIN's on the shelf in Buffalo!! 10/01/07
A couple of years ago CityMade in Buffalo began buying our original blend in making the "Best of Syracuse" gift boxes for Wegmans. So technically the sauce came home to where it all began. Well now I can say MARE-O-LIN's officially is home. Premier Gourmet agreed to take on all three blends and how ironic that two days ago was my Mom's birthday. They will have original, spicy and garlic on the shelf for all Buffalonian's (and all Western New Yorker's) to buy & I'm pretty sure you'll also be able to buy it off their web site. The plan is for us to do about 3-4 demos a year there the first of which will be September 29th!!

September, 2007...some non-chili sauce related Mare-o-lin news 09/24/07
This is a first but since it involves family it's not much of a stretch!! John Michael recently competed in the national finals of the Golf Channel's Drive, Chip and Putt competition. He was 1 of 21 finalists in his age group. There were four age groups and 84 finalists altogether. He did extremely well, finishing in 6th place and narrowly missing a putt that would have landed him in 3rd place. In total, nearly 9700 kids started the journey earlier this year trying for 1 of the 84 finalists positions and John Michael was one of them. We (obviously) are very proud of his accomplishment. Results can be seen by going to www.golfchannel.com Scroll down until you see Drive, Chip & Putt.

MARE-O-LIN's hits the air waves!! 09/24/07
John made his official radio debut talking about our chili sauce and its uses along with having Kathy Rowe and Marnie Mason try all three blends. Kathy has started a new segment on the morning show featuring locally made products. The interview went quite well and they absolutely loved the sauces!! Colored brochures, front & back recipe cards and business cards were left with them along with some sauce to give away to listeners. For more information on Y94 and its programs go to www.y94fm.com

MARE-O-LIN's part of Turning Stone Pro-am 09/24/07
MARE-O-LIN's chili sauce was donated to the September 16th pro-am golf tournament. The main beneficiary of the tournament was the Carol M Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund. We have been steady supporters of fund raisers for Carol's foundation over the past three years. For more information go to www.findacure.org

MARE-O-LIN's supports high school fund raiser 04/24/07
February, 2007. For the second year in a row a one case donation was made to John's high school alma mater St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute in Kenmore, NY. The money raised will once again be put towards special projects and student financial aid.

MARE-O-LIN's participates in the SavorSyracuse 2007 04/24/07
Similar to last year's event, the SavorSyracuse 2007 event was held at the Landmark Theatre. This year's event was held on April 19th and again was well attended. It should raise at least as much as last year, if not more. Our kids were with us again this year handing out samples of original and garlic blend sauces. We enjoyed all the conversation with people and will more than likely be at the 2008 SavorSyracuse.

MARE-O-LIN's supports Mental Health Association of Onondaga County 04/24/07
April 27, 2007. A one case donation was made for the "Men who Cook" event taking place at the Hotel Syracuse. All proceeds go to the Mental Health Association which helps over 6000 consumers annually through various programs and services.

MARE-O-LIN's joins forces with Tozinello 09/05/06
June, 2006...MARE-O-LIN's joins forces with Tozinello Sales and Distribution Company. Todd Dupell (VP of Marketing) approached us in May of this year about joining their "Made in NY" concept. It's a multi-layered display concept that they're rolling out to convenience stores which is a strong niche market of Tozinello's. In 2 short months we have sold them over 500 jars (15 cases of each of the 3 blends). We're extremely excited about the long term prospects with Tozinello's.

MARE-O-LIN's supports breast cancer fund raiser 09/05/06
July 22, 2006...MARE-O-LIN's supports breast cancer fund raiser. For the second consecutive year, MARE-O-LIN's chili sauce was donated to the Carol M Baldwin foundation for their annual fund raiser. The event actually had to be rescheduled to August 19th because of a driving rain on July 22nd. The event was held at Gillie Lake in Camillus, another reason we like to support it. Organizer Beth Baldwin will take some of the chili sauce and also use it for a golf tournament fund raiser.

MARE-O-LIN's attends a book signing!! 09/05/06
July 28, 2006...MARE-O-LIN's attends a book signing!! I know that sounds strange but it's true. Art Smith, Oprah Winfrey's personal chef, was at a Syracuse Wegman's store (Taft Road location) for a cooking demo and book signing. We were on our way to Cape Cod but our friend Chef Danny Ho attended. In an envelope was a typed letter from me to Oprah, a colored brochure and our business card. MARE-O-LIN's original, spicy and new garlic blend sauces were in a cardboard display box. Danny was able to talk to Art's wife and then Art and he seemed quite happy and excited to get the chili sauce. You never know...

Garlic blend now available! 09/05/06
July, 2006...the official release of our 3rd blend which is the garlic blend. We had what we thought was a garlic blend earlier this year but upon further review and tasting, it was more onion tasting than garlic. What I'll call the onion/garlic blend has been very well received and we're getting a lot of feedback from folks that it's great as a pizza sauce. Hopefully before the end of 2006 it will be re-named onion blend and will officially be released.

New display boxes 09/05/06
August, 2006...cardboard display boxes. We are working with a couple of companies on a 3 pack and 4 pack display box. The back, top and bottom of the box are solid, the side is open and the front has slits of cardboard so the sauce blends can easily be seen. We hope to have something ready for the holiday gift giving season. These display boxes are also important in our pursuit of clients like Sam's Club.

Mare-o-lin's at the fair! 09/05/06
August, 2006...NY State Fair. Once again MARE-O-LIN's will be displayed at the Pride of NY room and will be sold at the Nelson Farm booth. In addition, Chef Danny will have 3 cooking demo's at this years Fair and all will feature our chili sauces, especially the new Garlic (which Danny developed for us). Both our sauces and Danny's newly released cook book will be sold after each demo and there will be a special combo price involving a jar of sauce and his cookbook. We are extra excited this year because Amanda will be making her cooking demo debut on the September 2nd demo. She and Danny will be doing some kid-friendly recipes using MARE-O-LIN's, including Danny's favorite Spam-o-getti!!

MARE-O-LIN's participates in the SavorSyracuse 2006 04/26/06
SavorSyracuse was held at the historic Landmark Theatre in downtown Syracuse. Attendees spent $60 on an admission ticket and for that were able to sample food and drink over a three hour period of time. This year the event raised over $35,000 for the Food Bank of Central New Your, which was an increase over last year. That will provide approximately 20,000 meals to needy people in Central New York.

The event was especially enriching because Ann, John and the kids were able to participate. Many a compliment was showered on the kids for their efforts and knowledge of the product!! It's also enriching because part of our mission involves giving a portion of proceeds of every jar sold to a charity of the year. Giving of our time for an event like this adds to that.


MARE-O-LIN's supports high school fund raiser 03/09/06
A one case donation was made for the February 11, 2006 "Hawaiian Paradise" themed fund raiser held at St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute in Kenmore, NY. St. Joe's is John's alma mater. Fours jars each of original, spicy and garlic blend were donated. They were divided up into four sets of one jar each and had a value/bid price put on them. All four sets sold for more than the asking price!! The event raised a lot of money for the high school and will be put towards special projects and student financial aid.

MARE-O-LIN's lands in Union Square Cafe 01/20/06
John and his brother in law Tom Cawley typically go out for dinner before a Syracuse Crunch hockey game. For the longest time the place of choice was the Arena Grill which is across from the War Memorial where the Crunch play. Much to their dismay, Arena Grill closed at the end of last season. Restoring their spirits was the Union Square Cafe opening in the place of Arena.
John and Tommy noticed a $4.99 appetizer that featured tostito chips and a salsa. They looked at each other and said the same thing...MARE-O-LIN's!! Tommy approached Matt when at dinner with the Crunch booster club. Matt seemed very interested and shortly after that John dropped off a sample. December 20th John stopped in on his way to the Crunch Christmas party and Matt delivered the good mareolin_news he wanted to bring the sauce on!!
Next time you go to the Union Square Cafe make sure to order that $4.99 appetizer, and make sure it comes with MARE-O-LIN's!!

Come home to Syracuse 01/20/06
MARE-O-LIN's is part of the "Come home to Syracuse" gift basket. The MDA (Metropolitan Developmental Association) teamed up with Syracuse Gift Basket Company to offer gift baskets full of food from Central New York. The baskets are for sale, ranging from $28.50 to $50. The baskets can be ordered at www.syracusegiftbasket.com A portion of the revenue goes to pay for the association's "Come Home to Syracuse" program.
It has been reported that, between 2000-2004, more than 3000 people came back to CNY than left, reversing a trend that has stretched more than a decade.

Best of Syracuse 01/20/06
MARE-O-LIN's debuts in the "Best of Syracuse" gift box. CityMade, based in Buffalo, has been developing theme gift baskets for Wegmans and other clients. Their "Best of Buffalo" gift box debuted 4 years ago and has gone from 200 units sold to 4000!! The theme boxes feature home grown products from a certain region.
The "Best of Syracuse" box will eventually be visible from the CityMade web site which is citymade.com. In the meantime, you can view the "Best of Syracuse" box by going to wegmans.com and clicking on gift boxes.

MARE-O-LIN's supports the March of Dimes 11/02/05
A donation of original blend MARE-O-LIN's was made to the March of Dimes for their upcoming Signature Chefs Auction to be held on November 14, 2005. The sauce will be assembled into gift baskets and sold throughout the evening. Funds raised during this event will support the March of Dimes programs in research, education and prenatal care. For more information on the March of Dimes, visit their web site at www.marchofdimes.com/upstatenewyork/

MARE-O-LIN's makes its television debut!! 10/29/05
John appeared on WYSR Channel 9's "Bridge Street" show. Bridge Street features Rick Gary & Julie Abbott, although on October 19th Marie Kulikowsky (the show's producer) filled in for Julie. Rick & Marie asked a lot of very appropriate questions, none of which John was exposed to before the show. Things like where did the name MARE-O-LIN's come from, where can one buy it, what is it good with etc. All the while the questions were being asked (and being answered!!), John was mixing up a meat loaf recipe using MARE-O-LIN's.
In the near future, footage of the show will be found in the "Media" section of our web site. Suffice to say, the meat loaf was a big hit with the entire production crew of Bridge Street. John was invited to come back on the show as soon as their 3rd sauce (Garlic Blend) is released. That will hopefully happen before Thanksgiving 2005. For more information on Channel 9, please visit their web site at 9wsyr.com

Mare-O-Lin's joins Chamber 09/01/05
Annie's Creations and Mare-O-Lin's have officially joined the Orleans Chamber of Commerce in Massachussetts. The Cape has always been important to our family, and it's a perfect place to be connected to, both spiritually and professionally. For more info on the chamber, visit www.capecod-orleans.com.

MARE-O-LIN's lands on Cape Cod! 08/09/05
The Cape has been a special place to Ann & I for a long, long time. We've been taking our children there since 1999 & it's always the first place they request to go each year for our one week vacation, even over Disney!! Our love for the Cape includes the hope we'll own a home of our own there someday. We stopped in to the Orleans Inn for the first time last November and had a very enjoyable dinner. We took friends there during a visit in June, 2005 & once again enjoyed a great dinner & wonderful service. After we got back from our June trip I e-mailed Ed Maas (the owner) to thank him for the pleasant experience we had & for the copy of the book he gave our two families. The book is about the history of the Orleans Inn building, which goes back to 1875!! I also told Ed about our sauce & strong desire to establish a customer base on Cape Cod & would love to start with him. He e-mailed back to say he'd like to try both blends of sauce & on our most recent trip there (August, 2005) he said he'd love to take our sauce on to sell!!
Ed is also the President of the Orleans Chamber of Commerce & will do a press release there to announce MARE-O-LIN's & also include us & our story in a new edition book of the Orleans Inn due out in 2006!!
I will list the Orleans Inn contact information in the "Where to buy" section of our web site. I know a lot of people go to the Cape, including a large contingent from Central NY. We definitely recommend the Orleans Inn as a place to go.
In addition to the Orleans Inn, we have pending customers in the towns of Chatham, Harwich & Yarmouth so stay tuned!!


MARE-O-LIN's to be featured at the 2005 New York State Fair 08/09/05
Chef Danny Ho(www.chefdanny.com) will be doing his "29 minute Mini Summer Luau".
Danny first did his luau during the 2005 Taste of Syracuse, to rave reviews. August 30th at 5:00 pm & September 1st at 2:00 pm Danny will be in the Crowley demo kitchen at the Art and Home Center (Women's Building) at the State Fair. MARE-O-LIN's will be available for sale after the demo, and Ann will be there to handle that and assist Danny with the demo.
Also look for MARE-O-LIN's at the Pride of NY exhibit at the State Fair.


MARE-O-LIN's aids breast cancer benefit 08/09/05
MARE-O-LIN's was represented at the annual breast cancer benefit at Gillie Lake in Camillus July 22nd. The benefit is organized by the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund, Inc. (www.findacure.org). A case of original blend MARE-O-LIN's was donated to be used in the various raffles held at the benefit. The sauce will also be used at a motorcycle ride benefit & golf tournament fund raiser, both to be held in August.


Sample Mare-o-lin’s at Wegmans 03/20/05
A demo of Camillus’ own Mare-o-lin’s chili sauce will take place over the coming weeks in eight area Wegmans stores, including the Auburn store. Syracuse area stores include Fairmount, Western Lights, Route 57, Great Northern, Taft Road/North Syracuse, Cicero, Dewitt and James Street. The sauce will be sampled with Tostitos Scoop chips Brochures will be available at all sites.

Mare-O-Lin's online! 03/20/05
You can now buy Mare-O-Lin's online!
Click here to place your order.