Hometown Specialty: Strathroy's Cool Cucumber a summer staple

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In Strathroy, summer isn’t complete without a stop at Cool Cucumber, the ice cream shop locals love to visit and travellers make a point of finding.

The shop has been part of the town’s summer rhythm since 1980, when the Strybosch family built it so their daughters could trade farm work for serving cones.

“They built it because the six daughters who picked cucumbers wanted to have a summer job that wasn’t picking cucumbers,” current owner Bonnie Bahro said.

According to Bahro, the eldest daughter, Maria, once did a school project and the dad saw she wrote about having an ice cream shop named the Cool Cucumber. He took the idea seriously, and with the help of his brothers in the construction business, built the shop that has since become a community staple.

Bahro has run Cool Cucumber since 2006, when she and her husband bought it went up for sale.

“Next year will be 20 years I’ve owned it,” she said. “Every year, it progresses. Every year, it’s slightly busier.”

Cool Cucumber doesn’t make its own ice cream, but it sources its soft and hard ice cream from London Ice Cream Co. That hasn’t stopped the shop from developing its own specialties over time.

“There’s some signature sundaes. There’s the Candyman … A local girl who worked here, when she was young, she came up with it. She comes all the time with her children. So, Candyman was probably a really traditional Strathroy one.”

Bahro said weekly feature flavours keep regulars coming back, but the classics remain top sellers.

“Probably the most popular is moose tracks and chocolate peanut butter, the older crowd likes strawberry and maple walnut, and mint chip, they really like.”

It’s not just Strathroy residents who show up in the drive-thru line or gather at the picnic tables. Bahro said customers come from across Ontario and even the United States. She recalled a family which stopped by once to go to the bathroom years ago, and now make it a point to stop for ice cream at Cool Cucumber every time they’re near the area.

Bahro said the shop’s busiest months run from May through August, when it’s open daily from noon to 10 p.m. Cool Cucumber typically closes for the season on Thanksgiving weekend.

For Bahro, the sweetest part of the business isn’t the menu, it’s the people working behind the counter.

“I really like the girls. They just mean a lot to me. They just made me a birthday card,” she said. “They’re really good to me and they work really hard. All the old staff from 15 years ago, they still come back. It’s just really rewarding.”

After nearly 20 years of ownership, Bahro still finds joy in the community Cool Cucumber brings together.

“It’s been pleasurable working with the public. There’s so many good people that I get to see coming for ice cream.”

asathiaseelan@postmedia.com

We are highlighting the places and people that make our community worth celebrating in a 10-week series called How Canada Wins: Love Where We Live.

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