Dairy Treat owners witness city's changing harbor scene

Fri, May 2, 2008    to del.icio.us

For Kim Goldman, springtime and summertime are sweet times at the Dairy Treat ice cream shop. Like her mother, she enjoys people.

This is Kim's eighth year as owner of the business her parents purchased in 1970. They have seen amazing changes along Harbor Drive. Condos have been built for blocks around.

It was always considered a family business for the Hortons, who enjoy being next-door neighbors at their home with Kim and her husband, Jim. Marilyn Horton started managing the ice cream shop 38 years ago. Her husband, Dave Horton, was service manager at Barrett Boat Works when he retired. Through the years, he has been and still is a ready helper at the shop.

Dave isn't an ice cream scooper, and neither is his son-in-law, Jim Goldman. Keeping the shop in peak running condition and painting are Dave's challenges. Public health regulations are stringently kept in daily cleaning by the owners and staff. Even the floor is painted every year.

Norm Engleright opened the shop in 1948 after a house was razed at the corner lot that has off-street parking. The Hortons purchased the business from Richard Prucker.

Deciding not to continue the shop as a Dairy Queen franchise in 1970, the Hortons went on their own and renamed it Dairy Treat — as it is known by a host of customers from the area and out of town. At rush times, day or night, there are lines of people waiting their turn at two serving windows.

Kim sells hard and soft ice cream with a wide variety of sundaes, and soft is most popular. She is also a dental hygienist who keeps up with the skill requirements. During colder months, her former employers, Dr. Kennard Creason and Dr. Walt Weber, occasionally call her in for part-time work when clients request her for teeth-cleaning appointments.

Nearly 20 teen employees appreciate the concern of the Dairy Treat family in their lives. Many return year after year while in high school and some continue as college students.

Family means much to Marilyn, who lost both of her parents, Helen and Edward DeHaan, in a 1968 auto crash, and she was an only child. Marilyn has been married 53 years and especially enjoys her six grandchildren.

The changes she has seen on Harbor Drive have been fascinating for Marilyn. There was the old gas plant across the street with the huge tank, and now that property has been packed with new homes. A block away was the old Sam Garvin plant, now site of condos along the hillside and below overlooking the Grand River and Lake Michigan. There was the house of Mrs. Morse across the street near the Army Corps of Engineers drive, where she sold fishermen minnows from a large tank.

Along the river, the commercial fishing tug, H.J. Dornbos, tied up. Fresh-netted trout were sold from the vessel. Nets were dried on high reels before they were repaired by Dornbos crew members.

Marilyn could also see the huge slide in operation for a short time on the former Barn outdoor roller skating rink, where stores are now open during summer months. The Wessel gas station at Harbor and Franklin was moved from the north to the side of Harbor where it is now operating.

The Dairy Treat shop is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily in full warm weather operations, seven days a week. It closes each year on the first Sunday after Labor Day.