What’s the Scoop? block party brings together families, students and community members for the beginning of spring

A view of bouncy castles at the block party with the Seward County Courthouse in the background, taken from in front of What’s the Scoop?

Photo credit: Natalie Guske

By Natalie Guske

Downtown Seward was abuzz with music and laughter as people gathered in the street outside of What’s the Scoop? for a block party on the first Sunday in April.

A scoop of What’s the Scoop? ice cream. Photo: Natalie Guske

Since the ice cream store’s opening in October, What’s the Scoop? has hosted two block parties, with the first one in November introducing the novel idea of temporarily transforming a section of Seward Street into a bouncy house-filled wonderland.

“We had [a block party] in the fall right before it got really cold, and then now as it’s warming up, [we decided it was] a beautiful day for [another],” What’s the Scoop? owner Mollee Harman said. “We just wanted a day where people could come out with their families and kids, have a good time, get ice cream, and maybe visit some other local businesses near us.”

Although it has only been six months since What’s the Scoop? arrived on the scene, the ice cream shop has already made itself a Seward staple with its diverse array of flavors and heavy involvement in the community.

A giant ice cream inflatable located outside of What’s the Scoop? during the block party. Photo: Natalie Guske

“My husband and I were always looking for business opportunities, and [because] ice cream is fun, we decided on ice cream,” Harman said. “We wanted to make the place very family-friendly and generally fun [by doing] different events here and there. It was actually [my husband’s] idea to close down the block and do the bounce block party.”

The block party attracted families with kids as well as some Concordia students, as it provided the perfect excuse for venturing out in the mild spring weather to get some ice cream.

“I loved the ice cream,” freshman Kelsey Heinmann said. “It was so rich and creamy and amazing.”

Aside from the bouncy houses, the block party also featured the debut of the What’s the Scoop? food truck, cleverly dubbed Where’s the Scoop?

Where’s the Scoop? food truck parked in front of the downtown Seward location. Photo: Natalie Guske

“We have our food trailer [here] which will be doing events like graduation parties and community things [like] the fall movie night for Concordia,” Harman said. “We’re kind of testing it right now with a limited number of flavors, just to make sure [we have] what we need. We actually just finished assembling it yesterday.”

By initiating this tradition of block parties, What’s the Scoop? has not only brought premium ice cream to Seward but also a fun new way of bringing the community together.

“It’s nice to see [families] get together for the beginning of spring, especially for fun things like bouncy houses and ice cream,” freshman Harper Boche said.