Community members gathered on July 29 at Pavilion Park in Olton for the Chris Jones Ice Cream Social & Contest, one of the opening events of Olton’s 46th Annual Sandhills Celebration.
The annual event, hosted by the Olton Chamber of Commerce, serves as a kickoff to the multi-day celebration and draws hundreds of attendees each year.
The Chris Jones Ice Cream Social & Contest is named in honor of Chris Jones, who chaired the event for many years before his passing during COVID. Retired Olton ISD elementary principal Stacie Ramage, who now runs the Ice Cream event, said it continues to be held in Jones’ honor and remains an important part of the celebration.
“This was kind of his baby when he ran it, and he was a very dear friend of ours, and after he passed, they asked me to take over it. And so this is how we kick off Sandhills every year,” said Ramage.
Attending community members entered dozens of homemade ice creams into the contest, with the three categories up for competition being fruit, candy, and other. But it’s not just the judges who have a chance to get involved; attending families can also purchase a cup of ice cream for a dollar, which Ramage says is a nice way to help raise a little bit of money for the chamber in Olton.
A Little Scooper category was also recently added to encourage younger participants to get involved. Ramage said the addition of the youth category has helped bring more kids into the event and build community spirit.
“I added a little scooper category, which is for kids to get the kids involved and to build community spirit from a really young age, and so we have lots of kids who make ice cream now, and they enter it into the contest,” said Ramage.
After judges and families had time to pick out their favorite flavors, entries were judged by a group of local community members who voted to decide this year’s Chris Jones Ice Cream Contest winners.
Winners of this year’s contest included Bethany DeBerry with her cake batter ice cream, Paula Allcorn in the strawberry category and Tori Clayton with a peanut butter Butterfinger entry.
Ramage said the event consistently draws a large crowd each year and creates a lively atmosphere at the Pavilion.
“It will be crazy up here tonight; I think last year we had around 60 freezers of ice cream,” said Ramage, adding that hundreds of people show up each year to enjoy the event.
The evening also included the introduction of Sandhills Sweetheart candidates before the pageant, which was held on July 31.
The Chris Jones Ice Cream Social & Contest remains a central part of the Sandhills Celebration and will offer a chance for residents to gather, compete, and take part in a longstanding community tradition for many years to come.