Random Thoughts from a Random Memory

By Edward Master

With June’s arrival and warmer weather now, my thoughts turn to soft serve, that delicious treat just around the corner or the bend or up the road. We called them taste freeze or frozen custard.

I guess my go-to place growing up (and subsequently driving to) was Hartmann’s, on the eastern side of Knox before Elk City. There, I became an aficionado of the half-and-half—half vanilla, half chocolate ice cream cone strictly soft serve. I don’t know the current owner nor name of the establishment today. Anyhow, my driving days are behind me.I think at one time there was even horseshoes or shuffleboard tourneys in place on a small hill behind the eatery.

Today, I have to be satisfied with Holy Sundae, the icreamatorium in the old Catholic church in Parker. Take my word that it more than fills the bill.

I’m guessing that Hartmann’s was sort of a hangout for the folks from and around Knox. I used to run into some Keystone friends at times.

When I was a youngster, on a shopping trip to Clarion, my mother’s stopover on the Clarion Hill, west of the county seat, was Dairy Queen. Especially in her later years a vanilla or chocolate cone was sufficient to satisfy her craving, but I recall her introducing me to something called a Black Magic. I think it had chocolate cake as an ingredient. I guess my greatest splurge, however, and remained so even to New Jersey, was the ever-so popular banana split. That was my mother’s treat to herself and I suppose her son picked up on that also.

There was something special about the split. That divided banana with the different toppings finished with whipped cream was truly a sight to injest, anytime, anywhere, any Queen.

I’m guessing that there’s way more than one name for soft serve ice cream shops. For instance, on trips north to Oil City, I remember a stop around the old Cranberry High School that served a “gorilla milkshake.” I think it was about a quart of soft serve in a milkshake offering. I have had more than one, but only one per stop.

I don’t remember many soft serves around the vicinity of Oil City or Franklin. On route 322 the I-C stands were few and far between. One sat on a turn about halfway between the turn to Nickleville, at the dip, and Knox. Another was located near what was known as Oak Grove. I never patronized them much at all.

On ventures south toward Butler, there was a must-stop near the reservoir, but really nothing else.

Locally, after the Julie-Ann (original name) in Mariasville, you could travel to Sligo and then onto Rimersburg. Midway tween those two municipalities was a pulloff for a treat. Heading from New Bethlehem to Kittaning, you could chill down in Distant, on the hill climbing up from the valley in NB. The names escape me now, but back then it was probably a chocolate medium or large cone. I don’t think I was addicted to half-and-half yet.

After relocating to Grove City, Bea’s Dairy Wheel in Clintonville became a haunt on trips to and from Turkey City and east. That business stirred a few memories of trips westward. Bea’s was a classic in more than one way. For the price, cone size was fantastic; the amount of ice cream was superb. Bea’s also served as a great way to start the day with breakfast, continue with lunch, or top off with supper. It continues this day as an all-inclusive eatery.

The only real specialty concoction at any of the I-C stops was the gorilla shake in Seneca. Nothing else stands out. I’d intake the occasional rootbeer or orange float and that really carried over to my years in Jersey and out east. There was usually a Dairy Queen around. In Indiana (PA) and eventually Clarion was the Meadows, but it also featured hard ice cream. Of all the taste freezes/shoppes I’ve been in, there was nothing like the gorilla shake nor a banana split.