There was a concert once in the 60's. It drew a fairly large crowd from the free-love generation and was called Woodstock. This concert's master of ceremonies, Wavy Gravy, was one of the most popular figures of the event. Gravy, a pig farmer, really had an impact on the crowd, but more importantly on two young dreamers, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, who noticed and remembered him.

Fast forward 25 years.

Cohen and Greenfield have built an ice cream empire from their ingenous and innovative ideas, and Wavy Gravy has built a camp for disadvantaged inner-city kids in the San Francisco area. So Cohen and Greenfield, who never forgot the Woodstock emcee, used their influence to bring a 90's sort of notoriety to Wavy Gravy.

For recognition of his involvement with the concert of a lifetime and his recent works of charity, Cohen and Greenfield created an ice cream flavor that bears Gravy's name. The mixture of cashews and brazilnut, a caramel paste and chocolate hazelnut fudge with almonds will stand as a tribute to the peace-seeking, free-love generation that begot Cohen and Greenfield.

Woodstock had an impact on American culture that will probably linger for as long as cows produce milk. The 60's era gave rise to the hippie culture that Cohen and Greenfield subscribe to and gave birth to a new trend in ice cream manufacturing.

The trend pits company against company to find the catchiest names and the funkiest flavors.

The craze began with ice cream mavens Cohen and Greenfield, but has been imitated by corporations across the country.

Wavy Gravy is only one of the many flavors that have arisen. Cohen and Greenfield have also created Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Aunt Jelena's Sweet Potatoe Pie.

Different companies have aggressively responded to the challenge, setting out to outdo each other when it comes to providing the strangest and most diverse flavors. The two most prominent in State College are The Creamery, 12 Borland Lab, and Graham's/Ben and Jerry's, 124 S. Allen St.

The Creamery has followed the trend with Cherry Quist, Apple Crisp and Peachy Paterno.

Many students may, rightfully, wonder where names like Peachy Paterno and Keeney Beany come from. And how did Ben and Jerry discover Chunky Monkey?

Ben and Jerry's "flavor maven," Peter Lind, said the names usually just come from an employee or a customer and if Ben and Jerry like it, it goes.

But there are exceptions.

Both Ben and Jerry's and The Creamery have used contests to name flavors. Cherry Garcia, obviously named after the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia, was suggested during a contest by someone from Portland, Maine. As a reward for their ingenuity they won a year's worth of Cherry Garcia ice cream.

Peachy Paterno was named the same way.

Andrew Schmidt (graduate-food science) said when The Creamery introduced its new peach flavor they were looking for a fitting title. Joe Paterno mentioned it was his favorite flavor and the food science club sponsored a contest to name it. Peachy Paterno was the winner.

But there are many ways of naming flavors.

The Creamery named Cherry Quist after John Almquist, a former professor in the dairy and animal science department at the University who proclaimed the Black Cherry namesake to be his favorite flavor.

Keeney Beany was named similarly, after Phil Keeney, a head of the food science department.

As for other methods of extracting titles, sometimes the name creates the flavor.

Lind said the idea of Chunky Monkey came from a group of kids at the University of New Hampshire music camp. They mixed up leftover banana, nuts and chocolate and called it Chunky Monkey. Their counselor wrote to Ben and Jerry's and suggested creating a flavor with the same ingredients and same name.

Then, sometimes, the name is derived from the product.

Aunt Jelena's Sweet Potato Pie ice cream was discovered when Aunt Jelena, a manufactor of sweet potato pies in Vermont, had upper level tasters at Ben and Jerry's sample her pies. They liked them so much they decided to incorporate it into an ice cream, Lind said.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, on the other hand, was created by pure coincidence.

An employee at the Ben and Jerry's scoop shop in Burlington, Vt. was making cookie dough one day and decided to try it in ice cream. It went over so well with the customers that the company decided to mass produce it.

Some flavors are so outrageous and bizzare that one may wonder what would ever possess someone to eat them.

Sarah Duttera (sophomore-leisure studies) loves trying all the different flavors offered in State College.

"I can't wait to try different flavors," she said. "It keeps it interesting."

Another flavor taster, Jenn Davis (sophomore-chemistry) agreed.

"The different flavors are what keeps me coming back," she said.

An ice cream shop regular, Davis said,"If they didn't have a varied selection, I probably wouldn't hang out there all the time."