TL Photo/JOSIE BURKHART: Kirke Porterfield celebrates its 32nd anniversary and feeding the community with ice cream.
ST. CLAIRSVILLE – Kirke’s Homemade Ice Cream is celebrating its 32nd birthday this week and is marking the occasion Monday with a $1 ice cream cone.
Kirke Porterfield opened the store in 1992 and said the store was “flooded” at its opening.
“This is a great achievement…”, said Porterfield. “We were very lucky and the community supported us very well. Life is good.”
Porterfield said he helped his grandfather on the farm when he made his own ice cream, and later decided to do the same. Porterfield set the price at $1 per cone when the store opened, which led to $1 cones being available to celebrate the anniversary.
Just as many customers were ready for an ice cream 32 years ago, ice cream lovers lined up on US 40 on Monday to take advantage of the offer.
Porterfield noted that his five favorite ice cream flavors over the years have been Black Raspberry, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Whitehouse (with maraschino cherries), Butter Pecan and Cat Dog (with a mix of cookies and Oreos). And after 32 years in the ice cream business, he has decided that his favorite ice cream flavor is Butterscotch.
Porterfield mentioned that his wife, Judy, plays a big role in the business. She handles catering, offering treats like meat and cheese platters and cookie platters for small events of up to 100 people.
“We are simply grateful for the community that has supported us all these years,” Said Kirke Porterfield. “And you put a smile on people’s faces.”
Porterfield described his store as “Home of the 15-minute vacation”, because people have time to stop, get an ice cream and relax a bit before continuing with their day.
He attributes his success to the fact that he produces the best possible product without making any compromises.
Porterfield said his family has lived on the same farm in the St. Clairsville area since 1809. When his aunt and uncle, who made ice cream, grew older and talked about closing their store, Porterfield built his own store on the property.
Porterfield said the proximity to Interstate 70 makes it easy to find for people entering “Ice cream parlors near me”, which is another reason for their success.
“Almost everyone likes ice cream,” he said. “When you come here, you can choose from 45 varieties, so there’s something for everyone. We have some dairy-free and some with no added sugar.”
Fall is coming and everyone is asking for pumpkin flavored ice cream, so the store has created pumpkin and pumpkin pie ice cream, which is available now.
In the coming weeks, the shop will be making caramel apple and pumpkin cheesecake ice cream.
Mark, Porterfield’s youngest son, plans to open an ice cream shop in Shadyside this fall.
Customers Jocelyn Leighton and her children said Tuesday that Kirke’s is their favorite ice cream shop because it offers samples and the staff is friendly, she said.
“My children love it because they can try everything,” she said.
Chazz Harding, an employee at Kirke’s Homemade Ice Cream, called the store the best place to work.
“It’s the best job you can have,” she said. “You always come in here and don’t want to smile. Kirke is always in a good mood, and even if you’re not in a good mood, he knows how to brighten your mood. It’s so much fun. He teaches me new things every day.”
The store is located at 50525 Rehm Road, St. Clairsville, near the Ohio Valley Plaza.
