MOREHEAD, MINNESOTA — It’s still winter in Minnesota, but for people lined up Sunday in the freezing cold at a Morehead Dairy Queen, spring is on the horizon.
The 77-year-old ice cream shop’s annual March 1 opening is a tradition, no matter the weather. Heavy snow and sub-zero cold – people will face a blizzard for the sake of a blizzard.
“It just indicates that we are strong, and that there are things that are really important to us,” said Jerry Protextor, a retired pastor standing in line for a buttermilk milkshake and a chocolate blizzard. “It’s just part of the community.”
March is largely a winter month in the upper Midwest, although the weather can vary greatly. Owners Troy and Diane DeLeon said the annual opening of Dairy Queen’s “heritage store” brings hope of spring and a familiar promise to people who need something to look forward to, especially with the turmoil the world is seeing.
“It’s a lonely feeling. It’s a tradition for a lot of families,” Diane DeLeon said.
An average of 1,200 customers stop by on opening day. Some arrive early and wait in their cars. Being first in class brings bragging rights for a year.
Julie Bergside arrived just before 7am to be first in line after two years in a row finishing second.
“There’s usually a little line a little later, so you have to get here before they start,” she said. “It’s important that this is the beginning of spring, no matter the temperature. It’s the beginning, of going to Dairy Queen, and getting your first ice cream of the season.”
Wearing snow pants, long underwear, wool socks and gloves, she planned to sit at a patio table and enjoy barbecue, a peanut butter parfait and a frozen deli dessert.
“It won’t melt. That’s the nice thing,” Bergside said.
Customers can choose from a range of sweets found almost nowhere else. Favorites include Mr. Malty, which is frozen salted chocolate on a stick; Curly shake, shake on the bottom and ice cream on top; Monkey Tail, a frozen banana dipped in chocolate on a stick; and a variety of discontinued Blizzard flavors.
“It’s just that we’ve always had these special foods and made them over the years. Even though they’re no longer in production, we still have them because we have the ingredients and why wouldn’t we make them?” Troy DeLeon said. “If you still have the ingredients, ‘give the customer what they want’ is our sentiment.”
He said the store is somewhat dated due to its age and focuses on customer service and having unique merchandise.
He said the buttermilkshake Protextor ordered for his wife couldn’t be found at any other DQ in the area.
“We have to go to the right dairy queen to do what she wants,” he said.
Customers wearing coats, hats and gloves stood near the street while others took their turns to go up to the windows to place their orders. There are no apps or ordering kiosks here; Just a knack for customer service,” DeLeons said.
People brought dogs and small children and took photos under the towering deli bar — a beloved chocolate-covered ice cream cone created in the 1950s in Morehead DQ. It looked like a summer’s day. barely.
“This is beautiful today. I mean it’s a little cold, but the sun is shining, and it’s going to get a little warmer,” Troy DeLeon said. “It’s usually snowing or maybe close to zero or below zero, so this is a beautiful day.”