Ethan Stockman wanted to do something big the summer after he graduated from Concord High School. After spending the previous summer vacation weed-whacking and doing grounds work at St. Paul’s School, he was in need of a change.
And then, in April, he found a well-used 1973 Chevy ice cream truck on Craigslist. After saving money and getting help from his family, he purchased it for $3,000.
When the teen first bought the truck, it was in need of some serious aesthetic repair. Although it still ran well, it was covered in rust, and decay had caused holes to form near the roof. Stockman’s stepgrandfather, Gary Byers, who has experience with body and mechanical work, saw the truck as an opportunity to teach his grandson a thing or two.
Stockman went to Byers’s house in Warner to work on the truck after school most days and on weekends. There, the pair welded sheet metal to cover the truck’s holes and rusted areas. After the truck had been renovated, Stockman obtained insurance and vendor’s and peddler’s licenses from the city. He entered into a contract with Sysco and created a menu, which consists of ice cream bars, chips and soda.
The whole process took 3½ months, from early April until three weeks ago, when Ethan’s Ice Cream truck tooled the streets of Concord for the first time.
Stockman said he tries to cover at least one section of the city every day. He splits his work into several routes: the South End, East Concord, Northwest Concord and the Main Street area. Depending on the day, each route can take up to three hours, he said.
Some of the treats that Ethan’s Ice Cream offers are Klondike’s Choco Tacos, orange cream bars, Nestle Toll House cookie sandwiches and, his favorite, chocolate éclairs. He said the most popular item on his menu are the sour “Lick-A-Color” Popsicles.
But the 18-year-old is not the only ice cream truck vendor in town. Miss Polly’s Traveling Treats, owned by Paulette Jaques, has been cruising the area for the past two years and sells a wide array of ice cream and doughnuts.
But Jaques said a little competition isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Both vendors said they do their best to alternate schedules.
“I always let her know where I’m going and when I’m going,” Stockman said. “That way we don’t run into each other, or I don’t do the same street she did an hour before.”
The teen plans to keep going out in his truck through September, when he’ll start studying environmental science at NHTI.
“I just wanted to see if it was doable,” he said. “My plan was if I didn’t make money selling ice cream, I could make money selling the truck because we did a lot of work on it. I’ll probably sell it for more than twice what I paid for it.”
But Stockman said he doesn’t think he’ll be selling his truck anytime soon. “I’m definitely going to be (selling ice cream) next summer, and maybe the following summer while I’m at NHTI. I still don’t know what I’m going to do after my two-year associate degree, but I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.”
The entrepreneur has made custom T-shirts for his business and set up his own Ethan’s Ice Cream Facebook page. On his page, prospective customers can find his contact information if they want to hire him for an event or private party.
The job is a little out of the ordinary, but Stockman said that’s part of what he likes about it.
“I like the hours,” he said, smiling. “And everyone’s always happy to see me.”
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