Gypsy Joe's Ice Cream replaced by Whit's Frozen Custard's truck for Lancaster Festival

LANCASTER − For the second year in a row a local business will apparently not be part of the downtown events during the Lancaster Festival this summer.

Gypsy Joe's Ice Cream will not be among the food trucks parked at Main and Broad streets downtown. Last year, the city did not allow Madison Bar and Grill owner Mike Thomas to sell his fish sandwiches from his food truck after the city said he must remedy some health code violations.

"This is a huge disappointment," Gypsy Joe's co-owner Joe Bellmer said.

Destination Downtown Lancaster is in charge of contracting the downtown food vendors during the festival week. The Lancaster Festival board has nothing to do with it. The festival will run from July 18 to July 27 this year.

DDL Executive Director Amanda Everitt said Gypsy Joe's is not invited this year because it did not stay open during the required amount of hours during festival week last year. It will be replaced instead by Whit's Frozen Custard's truck.

Bellmer said Everitt is retaliating against him because of his support last year for Thomas. He said this would have been the 21st year the business has been at the festival.

But Everitt disagreed.

"We've had consistent challenges getting Gypsy Joe's to remain open during the performances that are required," she said. "We've had a lot of community feedback regarding them not being open. People want to have their frozen treats when they're down on the square. We voiced these concerns to them last year and they still were not open during the required times. And we need to be able to provide a consistent experience for the attendees of the concerts."

Bellmer said it is difficult to find employees to work the contracted hours. But he said the business has done a good job each year.

"I see this as just a straight-up vindictive move," Bellmer said. "I think all of us when that article (Eagle-Gazette story) came out were kind of thinking, 'Well, what's going to be her next punch.' And I think she threw it."

Everitt said Gypsy Joe's is welcome to work at the ArtWalk that precedes the festival, which she called "enormously lucrative" for vendors. But she said Bellmer refused that offer. But Bellmer said he's not 100% sure about ArtWalk and did not want to speak on it.

Bellmer said there have been times when his business did not meet specified operating times in the contract with DDL.

"I'm not going to say that there wasn't," he said. "But all the other vendors are the same, as well. So I feel like it's not a very good excuse."

Bellmer said he wishes festival would take over the downtown operations during festival week. He said it feels like a "self-serving thing" with Everitt and DDL in charge of them.

jbarron@gannett.com

740-681-4340

Twitter/X: @JeffDBarron

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Whit's Frozen Custard's replaces Gypsy Joe's for Lancaster Festival