Last scream for ice cream
By SUSAN MARSHALL
News editor
A Peabody landmark was razed on a recent dreary, rainy day, bringing to an end a long history of soft service ice cream cones, snackburgers, french fries, limeades, and cherry cokes.
Middlecreek Mining, Inc. of Peabody purchased the tract to expand its Ninth Street property and pulled the building down in less than five minutes.
The Dari Creme had operated as an ice cream shop/restaurant for decades providing cool treats to high school students, U.S.-50 travelers, and Peabody residents for as long as most people can remember.
Esther Brooks said she remembers when Gladys Hart opened the Dari Creme.
"I can remember when it was built and everyone was so excited because we finally had a Dari Creme right here in town," she said. "First we thought it would be just ice cream and cold drinks, but then we got Gladys' snackburgers. Mmmm, they were the best!"
Becky Ediger, former Dari Creme employee in the 1960s passed on the recipe for Hart's well-loved snackburgers.
"Brown a pound of ground beef and drain the fat. Add one can of chicken gumbo soup and a small amount of flour to thicken," said Ediger. "Add a tablespoon of ketchup and a tablespoon of mustard, let it simmer and serve hot on a bun.
"This seems to be one of those dishes that gets better the longer it simmers," she said. "Gladys cooked it in a covered electric skillet."
Community historian Marilyn Jones said the building was there and the Dari Creme in operation when her husband took a position with the school as vocational agriculture instructor and they moved to Peabody.
"That was the only place I ever heard of that served frozen bananas dipped in chocolate," said Jones. "I guess I never knew if they froze the bananas first and dipped them in chocolate before they served them or if they froze them with the chocolate on them.
"She also made wonderful limeades," Jones said. "It's too bad the building had to come down."
The building was most recently owned by Dennis and Kathy Wilson who operated it for about a year as Kathy's Diner.
