We All Scream For Ice Cream (Part 3)

(This is the last post in a series on coal region ice cream eateries by guest author Frankie the K. Great job Frankie! We hope you’ll be back!)

On the main street in Danville, Pennsylvania was a place called Corrigan’s which I remember because their sundaes were topped with almonds, and I love almonds! Unfortunately, that little piece of history is now gone.

Knoebel’s Grove

No one who lives in the Coal Region can forget the ice cream that is still sold at Knoebel’s Grove Amusement Park. The ice cream stand is a semicircular building near the arcade that always has a large line in front of its take-out windows.

There’s also the Old Mill on the other side of the creek in Knoebel’s that serves the hard stuff, while a “Dippin’ Dots: The Ice Cream of the Future” stand sits close by.

Well, I’ve seen Dippin’ Dots for more than 40 years now, and the future still hasn’t arrived!

Heading from Knoebel’s in the direction of Bloomsburg you come across an ice cream and food place on the right side of the road before reaching the Southern Area schools. This is a seasonal place that features an enclosed seating area to keep away the summer bugs while you enjoy your treats.

Going through Catawissa you come to a light where you turn left to head to Bloomsburg along the river or you turned right and headed to Bloom over the twisty mountain roads. When I was young, a little way up the hill on the left was a small place that sold ice cream. Sadly it’s another victim of the march of time.

Schuylkill County

Schuylkill County has two places I am familiar with. The first is on the right side of the highway heading from Ashland to Frackville (at the bottom of the hill before the hospital). This was, and still is, the Boulevard (or Highway) Drive-In, which has take-out windows in addition to a completely closed seating area that featured a jukebox when I was in high school.

If you leave that drive-in and make a right at the bottom of the hill, you’ll eventually end up in Gordon, where there was an ice cream place that sold the most gigantic dips of cones I ever saw! I don’t know if it’s still there (please comment if you know!), but you’d really fill up with one of their double (or triple) dip cones!

Mister Softee

Before I finish, I must mention Mister Softee.

When I was a kid in Mount Carmel and saw the Mister Softee truck, it was always a welcome sight, and his ice cream and other delights were always appreciated.

When I moved to Shamokin in the mid ’70s and had children of my own, there was a friendly ol’ Mister Softee truck driving down our street and ringing his bell. This driver was exceptionally friendly, especially with kids, and after a while he got to know what everyone liked to order!

Several years after he retired he was in my office on business, and when he saw my receptionist he remembered what she would usually order and told her. To our shock and surprise, he was right!

All Good Things Must End (or, Even Ice Cream Melts)

I’m positive that I’ve missed more than a few ice cream places in our beloved Coal Region, but the ones I’ve mentioned are the ones I remember. If anyone knows of others, PLEASE LEAVE US A COMMENT and share it with all the Coal Region ice cream lovers out there (like me!).

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