Rita's Rings in the Start of Spring

Kat Picciotti was the first one in line.

Standing ahead of about 40 people outside on the William Penn Highway in , Picciotti wanted to be the first to get a free Italian ice on the first day of spring Tuesday.

"I never had Rita's on the first day of spring before," said the 18-year-old resident of the Poconos, who was on her lunch break from classes at Northampton Community College. "This feels awesome. We waited for an hour before they opened. We were so excited."

Each year, Rita's offers a special promotion of a free Italian ice on the first day of spring. The store opened at noon Tuesday. The promotion draws lots of  patrons.

Crowds were similar at the site on Sullivan Trail.

Tori Pursell of Wilson brought her sons Joey, 4, and Jonathan, 8 months, to the Forks Rita's after taking the day off from work.

"I bring them here a lot," she said. "It's very nice out today. As soon as Joey got out of school, he said 'let's go to Rita's.'"

For Allie Rodriguez, an Easton resident who has worked at the Rita's site in Palmer for three years, the promotion accounts for a busy day.

"It's stressful," she said. "I'm not surprised to see this many people. The lines will stay this way the whole day. We'll even be open a half hour after we close at 9 p.m. because of the crowd. It's a little overwhelming, but everyone is happy."

Brandi Gulick, 18, of Easton, was thrilled to be so close to the front when Rita's opened. She went with her "go to" flavor of Cookies 'n' Cream. "I was really looking forward to this," she said. "I'm really excited. I actually feel really special. This is a personal victory for me."

Ryan Walsh, 18, of Forks Township, and Alexis Donaldson, 17, of Palmer Township, couldn't wait to skip lunch at Easton Area High School and head to Rita's.

Walsh went for the iced coffee flavor while Donaldson opted for mango.

"This is a good way to start off the spring," Donaldson said. "It doesn't get any better than this."