Hundreds celebrate National Ice Cream Day

Posted by Rich Schwartzman on July 16, 2017

Woodside Farm Creamery was the center of the local ice cream universe Sunday as hundreds of people from Pennsylvania and Delaware celebrated National Ice Cream Day.

The sunny sky and warm temperatures made for the ideal ambiance at the Hockessin farm on Little Baltimore Road, a farm that’s been in the Mitchell Family since 1796.

William Ellis, of Newark, and his daughter Fae Dixon, of Middletown, share a moment in the shade.

There were free samples of new flavors being tested, chocolate caramallow crunch, cucumber lemon grass and one called kitty litter. Visitors also had the opportunity to tour the ice cream making room — where they make 500 gallons per day of the summer treat during June, July and August — learn about composting and take part in an ice cream eating contest.

National Ice Cream Day is the third Sunday in July, as established by former President Ronald Reagan in 1984. He also established July as National Ice Cream Month.

An ice cream factoid courtesy of the website holidayinsights.com: Charles E. Minches of St. Louis, Missouri is credited with inventing the ice cream cone. On July 23, 1904, at the World's Fair in St. Louis, he filled a pastry cone with two scoops of ice cream to make the first ice cream cone. There is some controversy over this claim. Italo Marchiony of New York City filed a patent for the ice cream cone months before the fair opened. And, he was selling lemon ice in cones as early as 1896.

And according to International Dairy Foods Association, “The first official account of ice cream in the New World comes from a letter written in 1744 by a guest of Maryland Governor William Bladen.”

People aren’t the only ones who like ice cream.

Additionally, “President George Washington spent approximately $200 for ice cream during the summer of 1790. Inventory records of Mount Vernon taken after Washington's death revealed "two pewter ice cream pots." President Thomas Jefferson was said to have a favorite 18-step recipe for an ice cream delicacy that resembled a modern-day Baked Alaska. Check out President Jefferson's vanilla ice cream recipe here. In 1813, Dolley Madison served a magnificent strawberry ice cream creation at President Madison's second inaugural banquet at the White House,” the IDFA website said.

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.