Ann Michael Maye, the 23-year-old wife of Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, held her first-ever public meet-and-greet Friday at a Market Basket in North Andover, and the turnout overwhelmed even the organizers. Hundreds of people showed up, some arriving hours before the event began, for a chance to meet the woman who has become one of New England's most talked-about figures well beyond football.
The event, held at the chain's North Andover store, was announced by Chelsea-based produce company Olivia's Organics as part of a promotional campaign. According to The Boston Globe, more than 1,500 people RSVP'd to attend, and the store itself opened at 7 a.m. to accommodate the crowds well ahead of the 3 p.m. scheduled start. Danielle Toupin and Jamie Morse arrived at 11:15 a.m. and ended up first in line, with Toupin calling the event a dream come true, per the same report.
Some fans traveled far more than a short morning drive to get there. The Globe reports that attendees came from as far as Connecticut and Maine, with some logging more than two hours on the road for a shot at meeting Maye in person. Not everyone who showed up made it inside before the event concluded, the paper noted.
A Partnership Years in the Making for Olivia's Organics
The Chelsea-based produce brand's partnership with Maye included seasonal recipe videos through the following spring and an October promotional event, according to Boston Uncovered. The collaboration has featured Maye working packaged salad blends into quick recipes, including a high-protein chicken Caesar wrap, the outlet reported. Olivia's Organics itself has deep Massachusetts roots, tracing back more than 80 years to a stall in Boston's North End Haymarket, and it now operates under Chelsea-based parent company State Garden, per the company's own account.
Ahead of the meet-and-greet, organizers promised free goodie bags stuffed with Olivia's Organics products and branded merchandise to the first 100 fans in line, according to Patch. The goodie bags were one part of the event promotion, and fans began lining up hours before the 3 p.m. start.
Why a Grocery Store Appearance Drew a Crowd This Big
Maye's popularity didn't start with a wedding ring. She gained widespread regional attention in December 2025 through her viral “Bakemas” TikTok series, daily holiday baking videos that established her as a recognizable New England lifestyle content creator in her own right, according to her entry on Wikipedia. That series eventually spawned an NBC10 Boston television spin-off called “Beyond Bakemas,” featuring prominent New England sports figures as guests.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy helped stoke buzz ahead of the meet-and-greet, sharing the event's promotional poster on social media and jokingly dubbing Maye the queen of the North, as reported by Sportskeeda. Portnoy had previously appeared as a guest on Maye's “Beyond Bakemas” segment, the outlet noted.
The venue itself was built for volume. The North Andover Market Basket at 350 Winthrop Avenue is a 93,000-square-foot flagship store that opened in August 2025 inside a former Kohl's, nearly doubling the size of the chain's previous location next door, according to the Boston Business Journal. Tewksbury-headquartered Demoulas Super Markets, the parent company behind Market Basket, operates 90 locations across four states and generates more than $7 billion in annual revenue, per Wikipedia, giving the chain a cult-like following across New England built on its low-price model.
Maye's Charity Work Beyond the Meet-and-Greet
Once the event began, Maye fielded questions from fans about Bakemas and even her wake-up time, staying an extra 30 minutes beyond the scheduled window to accommodate the turnout before leaving the store at 4:30 p.m., per the Globe's report. Hoodline previously covered the buzzcut fundraiser and reported that Ann Michael and Drake Maye had recently launched the MayeDay Family Foundation.
That foundation's work has continued this month. The foundation donated $100,000 to Family Food Connections, a Jamaica Plain food pantry operated by Boston Children's Hospital and the Boston Housing Authority, according to the New England Patriots. Maye personally volunteered at the pantry, distributing fresh produce and groceries alongside the monetary gift, the team noted.
Ann Michael and Drake Maye married in June 2025 in Linville, North Carolina, after dating since middle school, and the couple donated all of their wedding gifts to local shelters in their home state, according to Just Jared. Drake Maye, selected third overall by the Patriots in the 2024 NFL Draft, became the second-youngest starting quarterback in Super Bowl history when he led the franchise to Super Bowl LX in February, per Sports Illustrated — a milestone that has only amplified his wife's local celebrity as she builds a brand of her own in New England.
