Vintage van hits the road again, serving frozen treats to State College-area residents, pups

If you’ve noticed an adorable, turquoise and white, classic 1961 International Metro van driving around Centre County this summer, you may have spotted the “Classic Cones” logo blazoned across the side. This unique take on an old-fashioned ice cream truck is the passion project of business owners Eric and Karen Stoner, who purchased the former government Air Force vehicle — which they believe served as a laundry truck during the Vietnam era — to “continue the tradition of bringing ice cream to the doorsteps of the community.”

The ice cream truck became a passion during the pandemic, Eric said.

“We were able to take it out and bring a sense of normalcy to the community during this time,” he said. “Many local residents appreciated seeing us, because, for many, we were the only outside contact they would see.”

Originally designed to offer soft-serve ice cream, the truck now makes better use of its small footprint serving hand-dipped and pre-packaged sweet treats, including crowd favorites like Bomb Pops, sundae cones and ice cream sandwiches. Of course, a Centre County ice cream truck would hardly be complete without hand-dipped ice cream from the Penn State Berkey Creamery, so Classic Cones offers rotating options from the Happy Valley institute as well.

“We know the area enjoys Penn State Creamery ice cream, but it is difficult for many to get to campus and you have to pay to park every time,” Eric said. “We bring the fun right to your driveway. We rotate different flavors. So far, the most popular flavors are Death by Chocolate and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.”

To help customers find their vintage van, the Stoners post their driving routes to Facebook and Instagram each day they’re on the road, along with a handy online tracker. The route is weather-dependent and seasonal, but, typically, includes driving around State College and surrounding neighborhoods, 4-7 p.m. Recent routes have taken Classic Cones to Lemont, Houserville and Park Forest.

“The weather hasn’t been great so far this year, but we hope to get more consistent as the weather warms up and hopefully the rain holds off long enough for everyone to enjoy a cool treat this summer. Our truck plays the classic tune ‘The Big Rock Candy Mountain.’ It’s a unique jingle … and, if you hear this, you know we are close by,” Eric said.

In addition to finding the ice cream van around town, lucky customers can also find Classic Cones at special events and local businesses. So far, the Stoners have found Classic Cones to be popular at birthday parties, weddings and graduations, as well as at businesses that want to give their employees a little morale boost during the lunch hour.

But even with all the Classic Cones fans around town, Eric noted the business’s most loyal customers are the area’s friendly pups.

“They can hear us coming and they let their families know. We also carry dog ice cream that is dairy-free and allows the pups to get a treat on hot days as well,” he said.

The pups aren’t the only ones who benefit from dairy-free offerings, though. Classic Cones offers dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free and dye-free options for everyone in the family.

Don’t make the mistake of assuming that running a business like Classic Cones is all fun and games, though. Eric admitted it did come with its challenges.

“People think running an ice cream truck is easy, but it’s a lot of work. Have you ever tried to drive your car at 3 mph? It isn’t easy,” he said. “It also gets very hot on the truck even though our ice cream stays cool. The truck has no air conditioning.”

And just like many other businesses, they are also experiencing supply chain issues.

“Some weeks our distributors can’t fill the orders, but we do our best to keep our freezers fully stocked each day,” Eric said.

Regardless of the challenges, however, they don’t detract from the best parts of the job.

“Our favorite part of the job is seeing the smiling faces when they hear us coming,” Eric said. “Nobody is too old to get ice cream and, now with the creamery option, we see lots of adults grabbing ice cream as well.”

To find Classic Cones in your neck of the woods, visit the brand’s website, classiccones.com, or follow the brand on Facebook, at www.facebook.com/classicconesicecreamtruck, or on Instagram, at www.instagram.com/classicconesicecream.