Friendly’s serves up a treat

By RICHARD L. BOCCIA

The tasty treat had an even tastier price.

POLAND — On a regular day, 12-year-old Todd Wilkos and his friends ride their bikes from Struthers to Poland for ice cream — but on Saturday, the treat was extra sweet when Friendly’s offered up the cold stuff for free.

“If it’s your money, it doesn’t taste as good,” said Todd, who celebrated a baseball win with his brother and friends over black cherry ice cream and orange sherbet.

Friendly’s, 3 W. McKinley Way, is a traditional after-school destination, with up to 140 students rushing to the restaurant on Friday afternoons. A few graduating Poland seniors wandered through looking surprised by the giveaway, a reminder of their own childhoods and the “kids’ rush” from Poland McKinley School.

Ryan Gill, 18, remembers a “mad dash after the bell rang,” and Shaun Serich, 19, said it was the place to be. Jason Simons, 18, said it was packed. “There was a line going out the door. Every kid was here,” he said.

restaurant

While some customers got their tried-and-true favorites, others decided that free was the right price to try something new.

Between noon and 5 p.m., Friendly’s gave away 732 ice cream cones.

Judy Rhode-Hamel, 42, tried her first-ever cone of hunka chunka PB fudge.

She said her family, who live in North Lima, planned their day around the free ice cream, which she half-jokingly described as a big part of her diet.

“I’ve got to have some ice cream every day,” she said, trying to keep chocolate from melting onto her face with each bite in the 85-degree weather.

Her three daughters and husband sat nearby. Olivia, 6, soothed two new front teeth poking through her gums with a melting chocolate cone. Sydney, 4, attacked a cracking cone to keep it from dripping, while Tori, 3, ate a bowl of vanilla ice cream. When asked what flavor she got, Tori responded, “Ice cream!”

Art and Sue Marrie of Poland decided to cool off at Friendly’s after their air conditioner stopped working for a few days earlier in the week.

While Sue, 68, ordered her regular mint chocolate chip, Art, 70, went for something different.

“I’ve never had black cherry in my life,” he said between bites of the bold pink ice cream.

Standing in the shade of the building, Sue remarked that not many places offer a free day.

From a nearby table in the sun, Beth Carson, 45, and her daughters overheard and began listing other ice cream places.

“This is better,” said daughter Amy, 8, from behind a massive scoop of cookies ‘n’ cream. She bit into the black and white treat, getting ice cream on her upper lip and shorts before adding, “They should do this every year.”

The Carsons travel for Friendly’s, too, making stops on the trip from East Palestine to visit the children’s grandmother in Poland.

One customer was even convinced to try dairy despite the fact that it disagrees with her digestion. Joan Trgovac, 52, of Youngstown, said she saw the sign from the road.

“I guess it was meant to be,” she said, ordering nuts over caramel, a popular mix of chocolate covered nuts and caramel pieces with a caramel swirl. How was it?

“Delicious,” she said.

For the event, the managers kept the traffic out of the way by taking orders through an outside window starting at noon. By 1:30 p.m., a crowd of two dozen filled the patio to the parking lot. Passing motorists turned their heads to watch the line.

Jess Kausits, one of four managers on duty for the event, said they served 35 people in the first 10 minutes of the SDLqIcecreampalooza,” a name adapted from the music festival of the early ’90s.