Sweet treats ahead: Ice Cream Social kicks off Friday

For Dean Lee, last year’s Ice Cream Social was a bit of a trial by fire.

The 2020 event had been canceled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A year later — in April 2020 — Lee, a Berryville native, accepted a job as director of the Greater Berryville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Barely two weeks later, he was informed that the annual festival would be returning for its 35th year, putting Lee on something of a hot seat as he worked to organize his first big event in his hometown.

With the help of some experienced chamber members like Ice Cream Social committee chair and past Chamber president Ken Wingate, he was able to get everything done, even if the date for the event was moved back a month.

“Last year was a huge success in my opinion,” said Wingate, who once again headed the planning committee for this year’s Social. “We had a lot of people come out, close to a record number of vendors and certainly as many people as we’ve ever had. It was a good year.”

This year, Lee said the lessons he learned in 2021, along with a bit more warning and planning time, have made everything a bit easier.

“I went in with a lot more comfort just knowing what’s going on,” Lee said, “There was a lot of anxiety last year for me.”

Having more time to plan, along with full confidence in the committee, has made this year’s planning efforts much less stressful, Lee said, adding that, with the advent of vaccines and a general sense of familiarity, concerns over the ongoing pandemic have also lessened.

“Last year, there was still some hesitancy with COVID, with people still wearing masks,” Lee said. “Now I think everybody’s kind of eased through that and used to being out and going and doing, so I think our numbers are really going to show that.”

After holding last year’s event in July — a move made to ease planning for the event, which began later than usual because of the pandemic — this year’s event returns to a more usual schedule, taking place in mid-June, which will allow the Social to once again sync up with other annual events like the Kiwanis Club Youth Fishing Derby at George Pond –along with the return of several classic events like the Miss Royal Scoop pageant and the 5K run — and to coincide with the dedication of the newly revitalized Downtown Square.

“It’s all part of everybody getting back to some normalcy in their lives,” Wingate said. “These were things that had been going on for a long time. Putting those things off for a year or two was a real disruption.”

Berryville Mayor Tim McKinney — who first proposed the project in January 2021 — plans to dedicate the square during a ceremony beginning at 10 a.m. Friday, June 10.

Tied in with the updated landscaping and new construction on the square, this year’s Social will take place all on the west side of U.S. 62, which bisects the square.

“It is a big change,” Wingate said. “It’s primarily because the city has built a gazebo, so we were bringing the music over to that side anyway, and we just decided, ‘Let’s see if we can concentrate this event around the gazebo, around the courthouse, incorporate the Carroll County Historical Society into the event and see if we can’t keep people from having to cross the road as much.”

Much of this year’s focus will be on the Downtown Square, both its history and the new upgrades, something McKinney said previously he’d been working on for three decades.

“I think it’s fantastic,” Wingate said. “I think the square was long overdue for having a facelift. The vision that the city has for giving it a nostalgic look, I think it’s going to be great. They brought in all these flower gardens, and the gazebo and the lamps and the clock.

“I think when a tourist comes to Berryville now, they’re going to see something that sticks in their memory and local people will have something really to appreciate.”