Earlier this spring, I was excited to spot the turquoise and white Classic Cones ice cream truck as it cruised through my neighborhood in Spring Township.
The truck was on its way up the street by the time I noticed it, and I’m beyond the age of running after anything – even ice cream. But it sure was cool to see, and it brought back memories.
Neighborhood ice cream trucks are few and far between these days, but they used to be a regular highlight of a kid’s summer day.
Eddie Murphy brilliantly captured this excitement years ago in a hilarious (and earthy) stand-up comedy bit. “Ice cream! The ice cream man is coming!!”
You can find it on YouTube.
My family lived on a corner when I was a kid, which worked out nicely, because that’s where the ice cream man liked to stop. I’ll take a strawberry crunch ice cream bar, please.
Check out Karen Walker’s profile, with photos by Darren Andrew Weimert, of Centre County’s own ice cream man, Eric Stoner.
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One of the best parts of this job is telling stories about some of the people living in our midst who are renowned in their fields, but may not be household names.
This month, Teresa Mull and Darren give us a look at one such person, Richard Sleigh. He is a true master of the harmonica, in more ways than one.
You’ll also find a feature from staff writer Vincent Corso, with photos from Darren, on the Allebach family, which runs Windermere Farms in Spring Mills. The Allebachs are known throughout the horse world for their work in breeding and training champion Percherons.
Sleigh and the Allebachs have remarkable stories to tell. I hope you’ll enjoy reading about them as much as I did.
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Typically, I don’t view the What’s Happening calendar as one of the more compelling features of this magazine. It’s important, to be sure, as a place to highlight some of the most noteworthy public events and activities each month. In fact, we’d love to see more folks submitting calendar entries (just email them to me at the address below).
But mostly, I think of it like the box of rice in the kitchen pantry: a generally unexciting staple.
During the pandemic, however, the What’s Happening calendar has been something of a barometer of the times in which we live. In our issues last May and June there was no calendar because, well, nothing much was happening – at least in terms of public events. By July, an abbreviated calendar returned to the magazine, featuring lots of virtual events or carefully controlled, small outdoor gatherings like concerts in the park and farmers markets. It’s mostly been that way since.
Now – with more people getting vaccinated – we’re starting to see some of the big, summertime community events returning, including the Historic Bellefonte Cruise and the Summer Craft Beverage Expo in Talleyrand Park on Father’s Day Weekend.
It sure is good to see the What’s Happening calendar at least starting to look like its old self again.
Mark Brackenbury
Editorial Director
mbrackenbury@barashmedia.com
