The weather is warming, school calendars are drawing to a close, and the sounds of summer soon will permeate the air.
One sound that hearkens back to yesteryear is the mesmerizing melody emitting from the neighborhood ice cream truck. Its tones sent children and adults scrambling for pocket change, hoping to return back to the street, money in hand before the truck passed by.
A nostalgic feeling to be sure, but it’s not one that has to be left in the past with all the other memories of summers gone by.
That’s because St. Clairsville Jack Elerick will soon be coming to your town. One only has to check his Facebook page for the day’s “schedule” and, if he’s coming through your neighborhood that day, wait for the song.
The owner of Jack’s Snacks LLC, Elerick has been operating his ice cream truck locally since August 2020. A neighborhood ice cream truck is an integral part of the summertime experience for both youth and adults alike. And that sense of connecting with the past is one of Elerick’s favorite parts.
“Oh yeah, it’s good to see that old-school aspect of it,” Elerick admitted. “It’s refreshing to see the kids outside in some of these neighborhoods.
“People talk about kids staring at tablets and funs, but I’ll be riding around and see them riding bikes, tossing footballs or baseballs, and generally be outside, being kids.”
Given that the idea of an ice cream truck is nothing new to the summertime lexicon, it’s no surprise that more than just children hurry to find money when Elerick rolls up and down the streets, bringing his truck full of delicious, sugary frozen goodness.
In short? Adults love ice cream, too.
“Frankly, a lot of times the parents are just as excited as the kids,” Elerick said. “That’s one of the reasons I started. I’m 31 and never really saw or heard one cruising through any of my neighborhoods.
“I wanted to fill that void.”
Foreshadowing
Elerick still has a small collection of old Matchbox cars he enjoyed as a youth. In May of 2022, he was going through his old collection when he came upon an old Good Humor truck.
Fitting that all those years since he first played with the truck, he too is driving an ice cream truck.
Prior to August 2020, Elerick was looking to get into business for himself when he had the chance to meet and talk with former Ohio County Assessor Greg Kloeppner.
Kloeppner, who moved to Pittsburgh in 2015 and expanded his business, was the owner and operator of the Brynn E. Bear’s Ice Cream truck that patrolled the streets of Wheeling for many a year.
After six years of retail, Elerick was ready for a change. Kloeppner’s advice, and one of his old trucks, helped facilitate that change.
“It was something that I wanted to get into and I met Greg, who had been in business locally before he moved to Pittsburgh,” Elerick said. “I wanted to get into business for myself and I met him at the right time. He had a bus for sale, and I shadowed him and learned what the business is about.
“Now I’ve been doing it the last three years.”
Elerick’s schedule has him splitting his time between special events and festivals, and hitting up Ohio Valley neighborhoods. There’s no set schedule.
If Jack’s Snacks is working a special event or festival in Barnesville or Martins Ferry, for example, he may hit up the streets before or after the festival since he’s already in town.
He spent Friday night in Barnesville, hitting the streets before closing out the evening set up inside Memorial Park. Saturday he spent the day at the Wheeling Food Truck Festival at Heritage Port.
He’s primarily sticking with evening hours presently with school still in session. But when that bell rings for the last time this school year, signaling the start of summer vacation, that’s when the real fun and work begins.
“My days are certainly longer once school lets out,” Elerick admitted. “Right now, you have to wait until 4-5 p.m. for kids to get home and parents to get done with work.
“But once school gets out, my days get longer and we start out a little earlier and spend more time out.”
Tasty Treats
Elerick tries to keep his truck stocked full of tasty summertime frozen treats, including all of the traditional favorites.
Ice cream sandwiches? Check. Bomb Pops? Check. Push pops, character treats, even screwballs, and snow cones? All there.
“I’ve had pretty standard, ice-cream truck classics like Bomb Pops, chocolate chip sandwiches, cookies and cream,” Elerick said. “Typically, there are about 20 different things, from snow cones and face popsicles like Sonic, the Ninja Turtles, Powerpuff Girls.”
But what about SpongeBob? What kid didn’t love racing to the ice cream truck to enjoy a frozen SpongeBob SquarePants treat?
Elerick admits he’s been asked about that very popsicle, but admits he likes offering what isn’t available elsewhere.
“People have asked about that but I’ve never had him on the truck,” Elerick said. “I feel like you see that in gas stations all the time and I like offering more of the stuff you don’t normally see in stores.”
Elerick is a one-man, one-truck operation now and he’ll go where he’s needed, whether that’s a birthday part, a food truck festival, a community event, or just cruising the neighborhood.
During the winter, the call for neighborhood stops is non-existent in the winter but will hit up an event here and there.
Someone commented to him once that they wished a “food truck” would roll up and down the streets, offering savory meals. Might that be in his future? Potentially adding additional vehicles, or even a different menu, to the streets?
“That’s something that is potentially in the 5-year-plan,” Elerick said. “I’d like to expand, But for now, I like the headache of having no boss, no employees, no liability other than me, myself, and I.”
That’s mostly true, but for the children who eagerly await the sound of Elereick’s ice cream truck ringing in their respective neighborhoods, he is certainly beholden to others in some fashion.
So keep your eyes fixated on Jack’s Snacks’ Facebook page and see when he might be heading your way and remember, have those dollar bills at the ready.
