MILLERSPORT − It’s not a stretch to say that Weldon’s Ice Cream Factory is part of the Millersport fabric. Rudy Weldon started the business in 1930 at 2887 Canal Drive and it is still going strong.
It has remained in the family all these decades and his grandsons, David and Steve Pierce, now own the business. Steve Pierce drives Weldon’s ice cream truck that can be found at many local events, such as drag racing at the National Trail Raceway in Hebron.
David Pierce runs the ice cream parlor and still makes ice cream on site as his grandfather did in the 1930s. He uses the same vintage equipment from the 1940s to do this. He said he has made about 150 to 190 different flavors over the years.
“We make a lot of the flavors that are probably long and lost,” says David Pierce. “Like a regular blueberry or regular strawberry or peach. Sometimes we get a little crazy with it. We make a blueberry into a blueberry cobbler or a peach cobbler. The salty turtle is my favorite. It’s vanilla with some salted caramel, fudge and pecans. “
Then there’s the dirty turtle with chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla. Weldon’s also has the regular flavors like mint chocolate chip, butter pecan and more.
“Of course the recipes have evolved,” David Pierce said. ‘Some yes, others not over the years. But we’ve stayed pretty much the same as he (Weldon) made it.”
The building once served as a hotel and David Pierce was born and raised there and still lives there.
“Along with four other siblings,” he said. “They grew up here. And my mother’s family, grandparents, lived here and raised my aunts and uncles here, as well as my mother.”
While some of the ice cream recipes may have changed over the years, the inside of the building has not. David Pierce said his mother wouldn’t allow it.
“She would never make me change anything,” he said. “And I understand that now that I’m getting older. It’s like taking a step back in time. So most of the inside is still original. It’s quite a job to keep the restoration going. It just happens every year Through.”
David Pierce said he enjoys his job.
“Yes,” he said. “It’s fun. The people we see here year after year are pretty traditional. And God willing, we’ll stick around here and see if we can get to 100 (by 2030).”
Weldon’s Ice Cream Factory is open from March 1 to October 31 each year, weather permitting. It remains open until November, weather permitting.
The business is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., including public holidays.
jbarron@gannett.com
740-681-4340
Twitter/X: @JeffDBarron
This article originally appeared in Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Aces of Trades: Weldon’s Ice Cream is part of Millersport fabric
