Weldon's Hall of Fame
Remembrances
Sit back, relax and read the stories that Weldon’s has spawned throughout the years
Many have spent their summer days at Buckeye Lake. For some, their day would not be complete until they made their way to Sunfish Bay. There, they would anchor and head over to the factory for a taste of real homemade ice cream.
You too may have fond memories of your times at Weldon’s Ice Cream Factory. If you have a memory that you would like to share, email us at memories@weldons.com.
We would love to have your memories for us and others to share!
"I remember working with Jim (James Pierce) (otherwise known as "Swingin Jim). We called him that because he was always swinging his arms back and forth. When his hands came in front he would clap and start the swing all over again. I started working at Weldon's when I was 16 (God what a long time ago). Of course I had an "in" with the owners and since I lived in their back yard everyone thought it was a good idea for me to go to work. I also was on call since I was so close. Anyway, getting back to Jim. I remember one Sunday morning when the church people were here and we were swamped. About 6 people came in and sat in the big back booth and guess who got to wait on them? Yep, me. I took their orders like a good waitress and went back behind the counter. I sat up the orders and Jim helped me dip. Of course they all had something different. They had Factory Specials, Banana Splits, Hot Fudge Sundaes, etc. Well we got the order ready and off I went to the booth. Everyone at the booth remarked how great everything looked. Then guess what? One of the customers decided he was going to help me unload my tray. (Little did they know that it was loaded for removal by ME). Yep you guessed what happened next. The WHOLE tray of ice cream landed in this man's lap. I was so embarrassed I could have cried. But Jim came to the rescue. While I was cleaning up the mess he started dipping everything all over again. Saved my butt! The customers were great considering. They even left me a tip. Ahhhh the great memories. Love to you all"
Laura (Trigg, Hiles) Pienta
"I remember when I would go with your father ( Rudy Weldon ) and Percy Snyder to the railroad siding next to the depot. Opening a box car door and looking into the car, one end of the car was full of bags of rock salt. We unloaded the bags on the truck and drove back to the factory and unloaded them into the salt room next to the back door of the factory. Then back to get another load over and over again till the box car was empty and the salt room was overflowing. Next morning go to the ice factory and load ice on the truck, return to the ice cream factory and unload most of the ice into the hardening room. The rest we would start the ice crusher and put those 50 lb. chunks of ice into the crusher and then scoop the crushed ice into those old wooden barrels. Then load them on the truck with two or three bags of salt, then off to each stop where there was a cooler full of ice cream. We would lift the cans of salt water and ice out of the coolers, drain the water from the can and pack them with fresh ice and salt. then replace them into the cooler and off to the next stop. You had to be careful where you emptied the salt water because grass wouldn't grow there for a year most of the time. They would ask you to empty it on the driveway which was gravel and the grass wouldn't grow there anyway. Edith says that is what they say about old age, your thoughts revert back to the days when you were having fun but you didn't know it then. Stay tuned for the next episode of another day in the life of a country boy and in the 1930's and 40's and how much fun it was to dip ice cream at a country church ice cream social. There are so many tales like making ice cream, dipping bars and making sandwiches from blocks of ice cream. I still remember how to make simple syrup and mix dopes for the fountain."
"Hi, my name is Susy Beard and my e-mail address is sbeard@spamnotwoh.rr.com and of course you may share my Weldon's memory. My parents kept a boat at Buckeye Lake during the '60's first at the Lehman Marina and then at the Millersport Marina. I spent a lot of time at Weldon's not only eating ice cream but also playing upstairs with the kids. One day I went in for a double dip chocolate which I dropped on the sidewalk in front of the parlor on my way back to the boat. When I went back in, Marilyn gave me a new one without charge! Approximately 20 years later, I went over to Millersport for the Corn Festival. When I stopped in at Weldon's, Marilyn recognized me before I said a word to her. Thanks for the memory!"
Susy Beard