In this week’s paper, you will notice that we celebrate National Ice Cream Month (see page A8).

With the recent triple digit days, you don’t even have to explain this one to me. I’ve lived it.

My son and I found ourself on a road trip. It was hot, and as we pulled into Ellsworth, I told him we could get ice cream. He cheered. He’s also 12. On our way into town, he quizzed me. He thought I was making up the name of The Sugar Shack. Poor kid just didn’t know. Of course, poor mom was a goof and didn’t realize operating hours didn’t start until 4 p.m. It was a rough afternoon for us both. With ice cream on the brain and miles left on our road trip, we snagged the sweet treat at another eatery, but my son absolutely has his eye on the Sugar Shack.

In fact, this weekend offered another road trip for us. We dripped our way through Fort Harker Days in Kanopolis. After a quick stop in Ellsworth (again at 2 p.m. ... my timing is impressively bad with the Sugar Shack’s hours!), we headed to Wilson for yet some more errands. To my immense relief, The Snack Shack was open and serving ice cream. It saved me the chewing out I would rightly have deserved on a hot day from my son.

It seems impossible to think about the dog days of summer and surviving them without an ice cream treat. I remember after photographing a night of ball games, almost crawling to the window at the Sugar Shack, demanding ice cream from anyone who would listen. It’s possible you will laugh at my childish fixation on ice cream, but it’s been a defining reality of the summer of 2024 in our house.

The Sugar Shack opened this summer, but its future isn’t clear. The destination ice cream eatery has operated under the guidance of Mary Jo Jundt for eight years. It is now time for her to pass the torch. The Sugar Shack is officially for sale. This summer, the business was living on borrowed time, and that time is now up. When it closes at the end of this season, it will close until new owners are found.

And we hope they are. It’s hard to imagine a night after ball games without the option of an ice cream. It’s sad to think that a mainstay of summer nights and memories could close, taking all of those memories with it.

We’ve seen some amazing business transitions in the last year or so, and encourage people to put on their thinking hats. Maybe a family wishes to purchase it. Maybe our creative homeschooling group could make a go of a small business. There are more possibilities than I could actively imagine.

I encourage you to sit back, grab a frozen treat and dream of the possibilities. We want to see the Sugar Shack continue its legacy in Ellsworth, and need someone — or multiple someones —to leap on this opportunity.

Karen Bonar Publisher