By Jack Shirts
Jim and Kina Adams?s teenage daughter sat on a high seat facing a rainbow of ice cream buckets behind the counter glass at the Creamery on Ninth.
?This is a traditional way of having fun,? Kina said with a smile on her face. ?It just makes the trip complete.?
Jim and his daughter, Selina, agreed with a smile.
?I just love the ice cream,? Jim said.
Jim and Kina Adams live in Yucaipa, Calif. But whenever they come to Provo to visit family they also stop by the Creamery on Ninth, a place they said is special to them.
?We always come to the Creamery when we come to town,? Kina said as she licked a spoonful of Bishop?s Bash ice cream.
Now everyone can enjoy the dessert and the atmosphere of the Creamery.
The BYU Creamery is celebrating National Ice Cream Month by offering discounted cones on July 13.
President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month in 1984. He also slated the third Sunday in July as National Ice Cream Day.
Reagan said ice cream is a fun and nutritious food that is enjoyed by 90 percent of the nation?s population. In the proclamation designating the holiday, Reagan said he hoped Americans would observe the events with ?appropriate ceremonies and activities.?
To commemorate the day and the dessert, BYU Creameries will offer 50-cent, single-scoop ice cream cones on July 13 to any one with a BYU ID.
?It is an event to celebrate the month, and this gives students something to celebrate it with,? said Ralph Johnson, creameries general manager.
People can purchase 50-cent cones at any of the four BYU Creamery locations, but they are limited to only one cone per BYU ID.
The BYU Creamery opened in 1949, providing milk for the campus community. It began production of ice cream soon after that.
Although the creamery has been making ice cream for more than 50 years, Johnson said recent studies and focus groups found that many students do not realize the Creamery makes its own ice cream on campus.
?We like our ice cream,? Johnson said. ?We want people to know we?re here and what?s available.?
Johnson said the creamery produces 3,000 gallons of the dessert per week and made more than 200,000 gallons in 2004.
?We hope students will give us a try ? we feel we give an excellent product for the price,? Johnson said.
The creameries use modern equipment to produce ice cream over a days-long process.
Johnson described this process. He said workers mix flavors with other ingredients and then send the mixes to tanks for cooling and ?aging? overnight.
Workers pump the mix into continuous freezers, which can cool 300 gallons per hour before fruits, nuts, or additional ingredients are mixed in.
After packaging and an overnight stay in rooms kept at minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the ice cream is ready for sale and consumption.
?Vanilla and chocolate are still our most popular flavors,? Johnson said.
He said cookies ?n cream, roasted almond fudge and pralines & caramel also rank high on the list.
While the creameries are planning to introduce some new flavors and packaging in the near future, they will continue making the staple flavors, as well as BYU specials.
Some flavors that are unique to BYU include Bishop?s Bash, Earnestly Chocolate (named after Earnest L. Wilkinson), LaVell?s Vanilla, and Merrill?s ABC?s (named after Merrill J. Bateman).