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Although the weather is still wintry in Maine, the days are slowly getting warmer — which means that many ice cream stands will soon be dusting off their scoops and opening sometime this spring.
As of last fall, it was unclear whether Super Scoop, a popular ice cream business along Route 3 in Belmont, would be among those, after its founder and former owner, Julie Heeter, announced in September that she was retiring and selling the operation.
But Heeter did manage to find her successors. Jason and Penny Peasley, who live in Lincolnville and already run another ice cream stand in Camden, have bought the business and are planning to reopen it this year, with some modifications.
“I just love everyone’s smiling faces. You can’t be sad with ice cream in your hands,” said Penny Peasley. “I don’t know anybody that doesn’t have a huge smile on their face when they’re in line picking out their flavors.”
The Peasleys also run River Ducks Ice Cream in Camden, which will soon reopen for its 15th season, and after meeting with Heeter, they decided to take over another shop.
The business will have a few changes. Its menu previously included hot food, but the Peasleys will only offer ice cream — retaining most of the 32 flavors that Heeter offered. They also plan to add soft serve ice cream into the rotation.
While Heeter ran the business by herself, the Peasleys anticipate hiring additional workers for their business. The hiring of on-site staff is something Penny Peasley is especially excited about, she said.
“I love being with the staff and teaching them business practices and helping them grow. That’s a huge part of this,” Peasley said. “You have people that come in when they’re 14. A lot of times they don’t leave until their junior year of college when they’re going off to an internship, so there’s a lot of development that happens in that time. We typically do keep our employees for years, so I’m very passionate about it. It’s a super fun business.”
The Peasleys’ Camden business is known for its lively, vibrant environment, and they hope to bring the same energy to spring and summer nights at their new storefront, according to Penny Peasley.
When not working at River Ducks, and during the off season, Jason Peasley is the fire chief for Rockport and Penny works as a financial consultant at an international company.
Their anticipated opening date for Super Scoop is sometime in mid- or late May, and they plan to keep going until September. During the peak summer months, the stand will be open seven days a week with the help of hired staff.
“I’m excited about it. I think that we will take the torch, take it into another decade and hopefully build on everything that the previous owners have done,” Peasley said. “The summers are incredibly requiring for us, but we’ll make it work. I mean, everybody loves ice cream, so as long as we have ice cream, we’ll be fine.”