Lezley Brown, CEO of the Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce and Director of the Texas State Championship Ice Cream Freeze-off and the World Champion Hopkins County Stew Cook-Off
Lezley Brown is VERY EXCITED about the response and numbers of entries in this year’s Chamber of Commerce Ice Cream Freeze-off. During the KSST Morning Show interview on Friday June 8, just one day before the contest, she revealed that her office is expecting several more entries to come in, putting the total way over 50 competitors. And although the contest is called a competition and the contenders are called “cooks”, there’s no cooking during the contest, and the competition is definitely the sweetest and friendliest imaginable. So, who wouldn’t want a State Championship title to go on the wall?
There’s still time to enter your best homemade ice cream recipe in a category. It can be Classic (vanilla or chocolate), or it can be in Fruit (any ice cream using fruit), or it can fall into the Novelty category (basically everything else) In age groups, there’s Big Dips (for ages 12 and up), Little Dips (under age 12) and Super Scoops (open to previous champions only). This year’s First-Timer’s category, for first-time contestants only , is the largest it has ever been! That’s encouraging to Lezley, who loves the fact that Hopkins County takes such pride in it’s food contests, and that the Freeze-Off is for everyone and every age, involving kids to adults, and newcomers to veteran ice cream-makers.
This contest has very few rules, according to Lezley, although she offers a couple of tips. You have up until 5pm Saturday June 9 to enter. For those entering last-minute, there will be sign-up sheets at the contest site on the rear lawn of Shannon Oaks Church along I-30 on East Shannon Road in Sulphur Springs, Texas. There is no cost to enter your prepared ice cream! Just make sure it’s well frozen, then transport it to the contest site where you will be settled at a serving table under the trees. TIP 1: Servers, don’t forget your ice cream scoop! There will be lines of people ready for dips of your ice cream. They will already be getting in line by 5pm to purchase their bowl and spoon for just $3, all you can eat. The starting gun will be heard at 5:30, and that’s when ice cream lovers will rush to sample all the different flavors. TIP 2: Don’t get there late! Because, in a very short time, all the ice cream is gone! But do plan to stick around at beautiful Shannon Oaks for live music and a “tether and glow” event where the 30-plus hot air balloons will light their burners and at dark, will glow with all the amazingly beautiful colors of the balloons. There will be balloon flights by some of the pilots, weather permitting. It is truly a memory-making part of Dairy Festival.
Along with cash prizes that the Ice Cream contenders will win are custom wooden trophies created by Mr. Frank Sears, a Hopkins County woodworking artist, who also creates trophies for winners of the World-Champion Hopkins County Stew Contest each October.
