Ice cream shops reopen for spring season
Mar. 29—Many seasonal local ice cream shops have reopened their doors this month, welcoming the springtime and readying for the long days of summertime.
Friday was opening day at Polar Bear Homemade Ice Cream, 5212 state Highway 28 South in Franklin, just south of Oneonta where the business was founded in 1949.
"The vibe is good, the sun is shine, the ice creams is flying," manager Jessica Ross-Buel said Friday. "This will mark 75 years, so that's really cool."
A family business, Ross-Buel's parents, Heather and Michael Ross, are the owners. The Rosses are the eighth owners of the Polar Bear brand.
Heather Ross said Friday that a special event is in the works to celebrate Polar Bear's 75th anniversary this summer.
The Rosses took over the Polar Bear trademark in 2015 from Janet Powers and Jamie Potter, who served ice cream from the original recipes at Otego country store Pie in the Sky for 18 years.
"We purchased the original recipes, the brand and the original batch machines which are still in operation today," Heather Ross said. "My husband and son built this facility here. This used to be our hay field."
The building took the family about 36 months to build and opened in 2018.
Every year, they do a little something to improve, Heather Ross said.
"This year, I was lucky that February was so beautiful," she said. "I was staining and painting outside, I've never been able to do that."
Polar Bear also serves Americana food: burgers, hot dogs, pizza, fresh-cut french fries, homemade baked goods, hand-packed ice cream and seasonal farm products.
The shop sits next to a large field with a pond, which customers can picnic around.
"Sometimes they'll bring their own blankets, sit by the pond and relax," Ross-Buel said.
Linda Pinner, of Downsville, was in Oneonta Friday. She knew that it was opening day and decided to stop for lunch.
"I always get the blueberry cheesecake [ice cream]," she said, "and today I'm going to get the custard that is the raspberry cheesecake twist."
Walton resident Duncan Thompson, 10, and his family kept their tradition of coming every year on opening day.
"My favorite thing about this place is the great service, and the great view of the pond," Duncan said.
He said he didn't have one favorite ice cream — he liked them all.
Current shop hours are noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday, noon to 7 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday, closed Monday.
Golden Guernsey Ice Cream, 15 Main St. in Oneonta, reopened March 19 after being closed for about three months.
Business has been brisk, owner Darlene Patten said during the lunch rush Friday.
"We're bringing in the spring," she said.
The restaurant plans to roll out more varieties of custard and a new item this year — ice cream nachos, made with ice cream and toppings, and served with homemade waffle chips to dip and scoop the ice cream.
Current restaurant hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.
At Adaline Ice Cream, 478 Main St. in Oneonta, remained open throughout the winter for one day per week.
Co-owner Larry Shultis said Friday that the plan is to open the store two days a week, Friday and Saturday, in April and then open for a couple more days in May, working up to five days a week in the middle of the summer.
The shop has been open Friday nights consistently since opening for business in 2020.
Shultis — who, decades ago, owned Polar Bear Ice Cream — said that for many customers, stopping by Adaline on Friday nights has become part of their routine.
"In the wintertime, they come in to get their pints, so they can take it home and eat it," he said, "and then even after we started opening more days, a lot of people still just come in on Friday."
Current shop hours are 3 to 9 p.m. Friday.
