|
|
|
A Day in the Life Of Mikes |
 A Day In The Life
Mike’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream Company
It’s still dark outside. The clock reads 4:30 on a Saturday in which most are still warm in their beds. Those in Mike and Shelley Pettit’s household in Norwalk, Iowa are already up and preparing for the long morning ahead. Sweatshirts are on, chill seeping in and setting in our bones as equipment and supplies are loaded into the long, white trailer bound for the Downtown Des Moines Farmer’s Market.
This is the start of the day, a normal Saturday for Mike’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream Company. The employees of this small, family business are Mike Pettit, his wife Shelley, and children Brooke, Launa, Tyler and Nate. We are yawning, but ready. Piling into cars, we head off to “Make Memories Happen.”
Getting to the market, we find out which spot will be ours this week from the organizer of the market. We wave hello to other vendors we know, and quickly find our spot. As expediently as possible, we begin to unload the trailer and get set up. The first thing to come out is the ice cream maker, then the tents, tables, and other things necessary for our stand. Conversations about the weather are struck up as we are preparing. “Do you think it will warm up?” “I hope it doesn’t rain.” “I wonder how busy we will be.” The first batch of ice cream is mixed and started, and our questions will be answered quickly.
Mike’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream Company is the brain child of Michael Pettit, a big, almost fully Irishman with a bellowing voice who is quick to laugh. Helping him with his idea, his wife Shelley. Shelley is a quieter, sweet, and also almost fully Irishwoman. She fully supported his idea from the beginning. The idea for the business was thought up when the family visited an ice cream parlor in Omaha, Nebraska where my older sister, Shannon lives. After much research, hard work, and many trials, the business was started with the family in tow. Our first event was the Fourth of July celebration in our hometown, Norwalk, where it was well received. The goal of the Pettit’s is very simple, to make a quality product, homemade, old fashioned ice cream and to bring smiles to the faces of people who remember exactly what that tastes like.
As Mike, Tyler and Nate fire up the machine, people start wandering in from all directions to see what the commotion is. The ice cream maker is a single-cylinder, John Deere “hit and miss” engine, and it is loud. It was made in 1929 at John Deere Tractor Works in Waterloo. The machine runs on gasoline and goes through a process of firing, then coasting. Many people who don’t know a lot about it say it sounds as if it is going to die. This is where it gets the name “hit and miss.” Originally, this engine was used to pump water and do similar tasks around the farm or in simpler terms do the work of a man more quickly and efficiently. Now we use it to make ice cream. The ice cream mixture, mixed up by Shelley, is poured into the five-gallon metal cans, and a dasher, the contraption used to mix and turn the ice cream, is placed inside. The metal can is then lowered inside a wooden, old-fashioned ice cream freezer. The machine has two of these. All of this rests on a flat wagon with wheels. The engine is then started. The engine is hooked up to a belt, which then turns the metal cylinder and dasher, simultaneously and in opposite directions. Around the metal cylinder is a mixture of ice and rock salt. The rock salt is key to the freezing process. With this, the ice actually begins to melt, causing the molecules to move faster, releasing gases, and actually lowering the temperature of the ice and water around the metal container. The ice cream needs to get down to six degrees, any higher and the sugar would melt and the ice cream would not be able to set. The bottom of the freezer can reach 22 or 23 degrees below zero. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to fully freeze the two, five gallon cylinders.
By about 9:00 AM, the first batch is done, pulled out of the machine, and placed into ice-packed coolers for Shelley, Brooke, and Launa to serve to waiting customers. A few early birds have found their way to us. As they pay for their bowl and decide if they want any toppings, homemade chocolate and strawberries, they take their first bite. Many experience a time warp back to their childhood. Shelley remembers back to when she was little and her family made ice cream. Her mother would cook the ice cream mixture in the kitchen. She and her father would freeze water in old milk jugs, and then cut off the jug part. Outside, they would put the ice in a burlap bag and break it apart with the blunt end of an ax. Then, along with her siblings, she would have to take turns hand-cranking the ice cream until it was done, which took almost an hour. This ended up being very tedious and back breaking. Many of our customers end up telling us similar stories of their childhoods and ice cream making. For many people, homemade ice cream was a wintertime treat. Brooke remembers helping her grandpa make ice cream when she was very young. Upon tasting it, most would agree that our ice cream is very similar to what people would have made and eaten back in the 50’s and 60’s. Mike says, “It reminds me of what I had when I was a little kid.” Hence our slogan, “We Make Memories Happen.”
Now, as with any new business, Mike’s has experienced its fair share of difficulties. Once, the ice cream freezers began to leak profusely and we quickly learned that the wood was expanding and contracting with the change in temperature, creating gaps in it. We needed to “swell” the wood by filling it with water overnight. We have dealt with machine failure, the challenge of getting into bigger events, bad weather, and trying to find time between our regular jobs to kick start this new business. Mike says, “Now that it’s in its infancy, it is crawling, and we need it to walk.” We have recently been featured at the Clay County Fair in Spencer, Iowa, which is considered the biggest county fair in the United States. We were very excited about doing this event, but it didn’t go perfectly. The magneto (the miniature generator) failed, and the machine didn’t run the whole first day. The fair lasted for nine days, and for five of them, it was rainy and cold. We were all very ready to come home!
As the morning starts to warm, more people find themselves in the mood for ice cream. Several gather at the fence in front on the machine to watch it at work. We start to get busy, and soon a line forms. Young people try homemade ice cream for the first time and marvel at how much better it is than regular ice cream, and older customers have it for maybe the 100th time, remembering when they were young. Memories are exchanged, as well as some ribbing between some of the men and Mike. A lot of them say jokingly that this method is laziness and that we should hand crank it like the old days. Everyone seems to suddenly be in a good mood when trying the ice cream. To Mike and Shelley, this is the best part of the business; the smiles and bringing happiness to lives if even for a few minutes. The Pettit’s have some rather big goals for the business, one of which is early retirement and hope that one day you will be able to visit us and try the ice cream at the Iowa State Fair and other large events. Mike has even talked of opening an ice cream parlor.
As the day closes at around noon, we start cleaning up, loading the equipment, and taking stock for the day. It has been a good one. We are all tired and ready to enjoy the rest of our Saturday as we make our way home. At the end of the day, it’s really not about making money but bringing smiles to faces both young and old. Old fashioned homemade ice cream is one of those rare treats that as I said before, can bring joy for a few moments out of our hectic, busy, stressful lives. To Mike’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream Company that‘s what it’s all about.
|
|
|
| |
|
