HAMPTON, Iowa — Fairs across the state are mostly cancelled this year because of COVID-19, but that isn’t stopping the Franklin County Fair from churning up a summer staple for their community, homemade ice cream.
They make it the good old fashioned way, using a 1948 Formal Super C tractor running a belt drive to mix the ice cream. The board is selling it “drive-thru”style this weekend at the Pleasant Hill 1800s village in Hampton.
“It’s not only the taste I mean, you taste the vanilla, you taste the cream. I mean, it the texture of. It’s just velvety smooth,” Board Representative for the Franklin Count Fair, Marcus Kofoot said. “And the way we make it you know the hand mix in back. We use an old tractor that turns, nice and slow. It can take anywhere from an hour to an hour to turn out a batch. We’re using all whole ingredients, you know, we’re not using any fillers, any byproducts, no preservatives. It’s just a really, really, really good ice cream.”
The Franklin County Fair Board has been making and selling their homemade ice cream at the fair since the 1990s and say it’s a hot commodity. That’s why they are still making it this year, not able to imagine a summer without.
“We just decided to do this because we’re still having the 4H and FFA shows that are family only and we thought, this is an item that we’re kind of famous for. Everybody that comes to the fair gets a gets an ice cream, whenever they come through here a lot of people they come every day just for the ice cream and we figured we’d get back to the community by doing a drive thru style and still keep it safe for everybody during this time. So not only is it a fundraiser for the fair board, but it’s just a way to kind of, you know, bring back the taste of what a summer should be like,” Kofoot said.
They use pure vanilla extract to make the ice cream. One gallon costs about $300 and they typically go through about three a year.
The proceeds from the ice cream go back to the Franklin County Fair Board to help maintain the fairgrounds and prepare for next year’s fair.
They are serving the ice cream on Friday from 4-9 p.m., Saturday from 1-9 p.m. and on Sunday from 1-6 p.m.
“This year since we’re doing a drive-thru we decided to do three different sizes [of ice cream]. So you’re able to get the normal six ounce portion or you can get a pint or court this year,” Kofoot said.