From running after ice cream trucks in the summer to eating whole pints in one sitting in the winter, ice cream has been a popular frozen treat during any season. “I eat ice cream every day, no matter what season it is” junior Catherine Johnson said.

With pumpkin, eggnog, peppermint, hot chocolate, pie, fruity ice cream and more, this cold delight adapts to any season. The myriad of flavors allows each student to choose their favorite. Due to the constant change in season and flavors, ice cream shops including Grand Ole Creamery, Izzy’s Ice Cream and Menchies now have live online feeds of the flavors currently in store.

The popular go around question of one’s favorite ice cream flavor is usually met with excitement and a variety of unique answers.  Freshman Val Hart has a different favorite flavor dependent on the season. “In the summer, my favorite is birthday cake because that’s the season of my birthday, in the Fall it’s pumpkin and in the Winter it’s peppermint bon bon to go with those season’s vibes, and in the spring it’s cookie dough,” Hart said.

When students aren’t having the soft serve ice cream from the machines at school, local ice cream shops serve as a home for cold cravings with popular original flavors.

One of the closest shops to school is Izzy’s Ice Cream, located on Marshall Ave. and Cleveland Ave. 2 miles away. Here, Salted Caramel with hints of sea salt serves as the most popular flavor. The rotation of flavors includes Best in Show winners such as Pomegranate Pizzazz, Chubby Bunny and Irish Moxie. This award comes from a contest held every other summer at Izzy’s on customer submitted ice cream flavors. Midnight Snack, the 2009 winner, is junior Ora Hammel’s personal favorite.

Grand Ole Creamery on Grand Avenue, 3 miles from school, offers a multitude of unique flavors as well, Black Hills Gold made with their award winning vanilla ice cream mixed with caramelized pecans and Oreos, being the most popular. “When I don’t get ice cream from the store, I like to get any vanilla ice cream from Grand Ole Creamery” senior Brian Heilig said. To add their own signature touch, Grand Ole Creamery adds a malted milk ball to the top of each cone.

Menchies in Highland, along with many other trendy frozen yogurt shops, jazzes up frozen treats with the opportunity to make your own combination of frozen yogurt and toppings. Whether you’re feeling fruity, chocolaty, or both, Menchies has options for everyone’s taste buds. “I love menchies because they have so many unique flavors like Cinnayumm, cheesecake, and the tart flavors. I also love all the toppings available” Sophomore Neeti Kulkarni said.

Lactose intolerant? Have no fear of missing out on this treat because local ice cream shops have made efforts to provide dairy-free options. Grand Ole Creamery has raspberry lemon sorbet, a frozen treat based off of water rather than dairy products. At Izzy’s Ice Cream, there are currently strawberry, passion fruit, cherry-pomegranate and mango sorbets as well. Izzy’s also provides soy based chocolate and blueberry ice cream as another alternative. Even Menchie’s frozen yogurt provides unique fruity flavors of sorbet such as honeydew, mango, grape, pomegranate, strawberry kiwi, watermelon, pink lemonade, tangerine, and more to cater to all different dietary needs.

“Ice cream is my favorite” Johnson said. “I don’t know what I’d do without it.”