Beverly Fogg (standing, left) chats with Brenda Connors (golf cart, left) and Phyllis Hart as Connors and Hart go around Liberty Manor handing out free ice cream. (PHOTO SUBMITTED BY WALTER FOGG)
WESTFIELD — For most adults, long gone are the days of chasing after the ice cream truck as it plays repetitive music throughout the neighborhood.
On Sept. 13, some residents of Liberty Manor, a 55-and-older community in Westfield, were going about their day when a familiar jingle became audible from the street.
“We ran to the door to see what it was, and were surprised to see our neighbors, Phyllis Hart and Brenda Connors, aboard their ice cream golf cart,” said Walter K. Fogg, a resident of Liberty Manor.
For no reason other than to have a bit of fun and brighten some days, Hart and Connors had outfitted a golf cart with ice cream truck signage and a speaker to play the attention-grabbing music.
“It was just a fun thing. I like to have a good time,” said Hart. “I just thought it would be something to cheer people up.”
Hart and Connors had been talking about how there needs to be an ice cream truck route through Liberty Manor, and they decided to take matters into their own hands.
“I found somebody as crazy as I am,” said Hart.
The pair made signs and mounted them on the golf cart, then drove around their neighborhood to hand out free ice cream to anybody who came outside. They dubbed their cart “The Good Times Ice Cream Truck.”
Connors and Hart decorated the cart with ice cream truck signage and kept different ice creams and popsicles in the cooler on the back of the cart. (PHOTO SUBMITTED BY WALTER FOGG)
Their equipment was limited, given that it was only a golf cart, and they were only able to remain outside for so long before the ice keeping their ice cream cold began to melt. That restricted the number of residents they could reach with a cool treat.
“The next day, some people said they heard the music but they didn’t think to look,” said Hart.
Hart said she and Connors will try to bring the cart out again within the next week or two, hopefully catching any of the residents they may have missed the first time, so long as the weather remains favorable.
One popular item the pair gave out was vodka popsicles, which Hart referred to as “the Senior Special.”
