Sunset Ice Cream celebrates 40th anniversary

Sunset Ice Cream, a staple at Grange Fair, is celebrating 40 years of sweetness.

The key to making the delicious summer treat?

It’s 14 percent butter fat in the cream, said John Fritz, who founded the Williamsport-based business.

“You can’t beat it,” he said.

Jane Pennington runs the Sunset Ice Cream Parlor at the Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair, and has been doing so for 18 years — though the ice cream has had a presence at the weeklong end-of-summer event for decades.

It’s the classic flavors that keep people coming to the parlor year after year, Pennington said.

“Some people come twice a day, and I’m not exaggerating — twice a day,” she said.

Sunset sells a lot of ice cream at the fair, Fritz said.

Reflecting on what the 40th anniversary means to him, Fritz said the business put two daughters through college.

“I’m really proud of what we’ve built here,” he said.

Each year, Pennington decorates the parlor at Grange Fair with a different theme. This year’s theme is the ’70s,in honor of the opening of Sunset in October 1977.

Grange Fair continues through Saturday at the Grange fairgrounds, 169 Homan Lane, Centre Hall.

This story was originally published August 23, 2017 at 12:16 AM with the headline "Sunset Ice Cream celebrates 40th anniversary."