The coronavirus pandemic has delayed Dairy Queen’s Miracle Treat Day, the ice creamery’s fundraiser for Children’s Miracle Network, from July to October. The greatest Dairy Queen operator in the world, DeLon Mork of Madison, attributes the delay to pandemic workforce issues, not contagion concerns:
This year, Miracle Treat Day will be held on Oct. 28. This date was selected, according to Mork, because some stores are not fully staffed as a result of the pandemic.
“I would much rather have it in July,” he noted, but quickly focused on the silver linings in the delay.
He is happy to see the event become a nationwide event again. Last year, only South Dakota DQ restaurants hosted the event, which had to be renamed to avoid confusion [Mary Gales Askren, “Miracle Treat Day Delayed Until October,” Madison Daily Leader, 2021.08.02].
Some DQs went renegade and held their Miracle Treat Day last week, but Mork looks forward to following the corporate plan and offering Miracle (Trick or?) Treat Day in October when a couple thousand Dakota State University students will be around to help boost fundraising for Children’s Miracle Network.
You know my daughter had to hire an almost full staff in a month in Brooklyn at a new bar eating place, luckily very upscale but even that was tough because most have moved out of the city or died,or decided a career change was in order. 43 people was tough but she got it done along with training. Rents haven’t gone down because of ” warehousing” but thats just another reason Brooklyn is so liberal, all the unfairness is done upfront in front of everyone. Money talks as they say, but it’s also reported on. This blog is very needed.
In October there is a good chance DQ will deliver a real Blizzard.somewhere in South Dakota.
There is plenty of teenage staff at our local DQ now however I predict more of a shortage in October when the kids return to school and the effects all the fishing tournaments and the rally hit us with an abundance of infections from the virus.
Good news! Sanford employees, who refuse to be vaccinated, can fill the gaps at DQ. Starting with Vanden Dumb, they now can be free.
M, I do wonder about the youth labor situation. I’d think it would be easier to find student help during the summer who could work full shifts on that busy day than during the school year. But in Madison and other college towns, maybe the presence of the full fall student bodies will help alleviate the labor crunch.
Mike you make a good point. Much as I’d like to think a real blizzard would provide all sorts of fun marketing tie-ins, DQ won’t sell any ice cream if the roads are iced over.