Saturday, March 11, 2017

The Legendary Milky Way

The Milky Way Ice Cream Store has been a seasonal fixture on Victoria Avenue in Regina for over 60 years, 37 under current ownership. It opened yesterday, March 10, in -20C weather to a line up waiting for ice cream.

Not only does opening day make front page news in the local daily; it also makes the local TV news

Carole Boldt said Milky Way Ice Cream picks a date each spring to open and sticks by it — despite the weather. (Matt Howard/CBC)


Regina freaking out over Milky Way Ice Cream's 'spring' opening on –20 C day



The lineup yesterday didn't quite stretch down the block in both directions as it does on hot summer weekends.  All three windows go full blast then, with Lord only knows how many people inside rotating past the three windows taking and filling orders.  They serve "four hunnert and eleventy three " varieties of hard ice cream and at least two kinds of soft, a couple dozen sundae flavours, specialties, and even burgers and hot dogs if you are willing to wait.  There is no place to sit other than three benches along one side or the parking lot/sidewalk by the strip mall next door. And parking is not a problem if you walk a block.

My eldest, years back, would walk there with her black lab Dezi, buy a soft ice cream cone, sit and share it with the dog just to mess with people's minds. But she was not alone. The sidewalk swarmed with dogs and kids. You could always find friends and  neighbours somewhere in the line.

The Milky Way usually closes after the Thanksgiving weekend in October but may stay open longer this year.  

I miss the Milky Way.  Someone go and have a maple walnut sundae for me please.

12 comments:

  1. Sorry BF, the Regina Milky Way is just a bit too far to go for me, but there's a yummy ice cream shop here that opened a couple of years ago, and I'll gladly enjoy a cappucino chocolate chip cone for you when it opens.... all boarded up now. I guess the people here are not as hardy as Reginians. (or whatever they are called)

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    1. Thank you for that. It will taste delicious as I enjoy it vicariously.

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  2. Next time I'm in Regina, I'll go there and tell them YOU sent me!

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  3. Looks like a delicious place! In my hometown it was Avondale Dairy ice cream. Luckily we could buy some of the flavours in their corner stores.
    Have a good week!

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    1. I think initially Milky Way sourced its ice cream from Palm Dairy but there have been so many amalgamations I have no idea who supplies it now.

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    2. Our version here in Maine is Giffords, and they open on the 17th.
      If I have to trek through a snow storm I will be there.
      the Ol'Buzzard

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    3. A man who understands ice cream!

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  4. Yummy! I live for ice cream! If we don't have at least three kinds in our freezer at all times I start to get twitchy. One year our teenage niece travelled from Calgary to Manitoba with us, and by the time we got back she was sick of stopping for ice cream every day. There's something wrong with that kid... ;-)

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    1. Agree. Ice cream every day is how it should be! Ice cream here comes pre-coined in various flavours, available in almost any shop large or small. The best is from Belarus.

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  5. ice cream is better in winter than in summer...

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  6. Maybe not at -40C with a wind chill but at +40C, it does tend to run down your arm and drip off your elbow.

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