Dan's Papers - August 15, 2008 - Ice Cream On The North Fork, Does It Get Better?

It's about as good as it gets. You're in your teens, you're on summer vacation, and you've landed a job in an ice cream shop. You're going to get paid for dishing up chocolate, vanilla or strawberry.

I was never so fortunate. True, I was a teen long years ago and I did work during summer vacations. In a Sears Roebuck store and in a public library. Though both were pleasant experiences, neither one came in different flavors.

I've great affection for teens and ice cream so I gave myself a delightful summer assignment. Check out North Fork ice cream shops and the young people who work in them. In so doing, I recalled a favorite ice cream shop from my teens. Dreves. On Northern Boulevard in Little Neck, it was near my grandma's Great Neck home. Dreves had real lemon ice cream. A rarity back then unless you came upon a Howard Johnson's.

But back to the North Fork. Let's start this ice capade with someone who dispelled my idea that I'd find mostly young women working in ice cream shops. Not so. At least not in Riverhead's Dariland on Route 25. That's where I met Kevin Purick, a sophomore at Riverhead High School. It was Kevin's second day on his first paying job. Indeed, it was a hot day and I arrived at Dariland at 11 a.m. when it opened. You can't get to an ice cream store early enough!

There was scooper Kevin wearing his Dariland T-shirt and looking cool as he dished out my favorite flavor, coffee. Kevin told me Rocky Road ice cream seems most popular, but then, he'd only been observing for a few hours. Kevin's favorite? Cookie Dough.

Kevin was also wearing rubber gloves. That's because he's learning how to make waffle cones. Quite an art, I imagine.

And yes, several of Kevin's friends have dropped by for a visit. It's great to have a pal in the sweetest place in town.

If you're eating ice cream at home you know how you keep going back to the freezer for just a little bit more. Well, Kaitlin Leden keeps working at Scoops Ice Cream Shoppe on Main Road in Cutchogue. Matter of fact, this is Kaitlin's fourth summer there.

Kaitlin, a Mattituck High School senior, was good enough to show me around Scoops The comfortable tables and chairs, the Boston Red Sox (ugh!) team photo on a wall, the games for little kids. Goodness, you could stay here and eat ice cream for hours.

Cappuccino Crunch is a favorite with adults, said Kaitlin, while kids favor Cotton Candy or Crazy Vanilla. Then there's Caramel Coyote, Kaitlin's addiction right now.

Kaitlin says she like her job "except for one thing." She's needed most between 5 and 10 p.m. That's just when all her friends are getting together for a night of fun. And Kaitlin reminded me of all the other work that has to be done in the shop. The sweeping, the washing of utensils and containers, the assembling of ice cream cakes. It's enough to make a young woman take time out for two scoops at Scoops.

Almost as much as Caramel Coyote, Kaitlin loves repeat customers, those who've come in several times a week for years. They've become her ice cream family.

Now meet Taylor Vibert (Greenport High School) and Elliot Shine (Southold High School). Both are eleventh-graders and both work at Ralph's Ices in Greenport.

Taylor, who's worked other jobs on the East End, loves working at Ralph's. When I met her she was eating Mint Chip ice cream. This was at lunch time, mind you. No fruit or anything else. I scolded her. Teenage girls can't live on ice cream alone.

Elliot, on the other hand, had just finished eating a chicken cutlet sandwich and a plum. Now for his favorite - Banana Fudge creme ice. Elliot maintains little boys like Blue Hawaii ice while little girls choose Malibu Bay Breeze.

Both Taylor and Elliot enjoy meeting folks from all over the country. Although Elliott can't get away from his friends. He says they "come by the store and make faces at him through the window."

Convinced? Whether you're a plumber, a farmer, a nurse, barber, you surely like ice cream. Don't waste any more time. Give two weeks notice and then join Kevin, Kaitlin, Taylor and Elliot in a job full of frozen assets.