Mandarin Dreamsicle Wins Downieville Ice Cream Social

DOWNIEVILLE — On Saturday, August 2, the Sierra County Arts Council hosted its annual Ice Cream Social event and fundraiser. The event pitted nine unique homemade ice cream flavors against each other: Peanut Butter Surprise, Butter Pecan Crunch, Key Lime, The Best Dubai Chocolate, Oreo, Mandarin Dreamsicle, Summer Berry Peach, Chocolate Movie Night, and Peanut Butter Honey.

On top this year were Tessa and Rudy Jackson, whose Mandarin Dreamsicle received the most votes from tasters. The ice cream perfectly captured its name, with a refreshing and creamy flavor and pleasing texture. Though not quite as unique as the duo’s corn-flavored entry last year, it was still the most creative of the day.

Second place was captured by Earlene Folsom with Peanut Butter Surprise, in which the surprise was miniature chocolate chips. Third place went to Theresa and Euan Haddow with their Oreo ice cream, an enjoyable classic.

Although participation was not as high as in some previous years, likely because this year did not have the benefit of another event in town driving tourist interest, the North Yuba River Hall still experienced a good turnout. Notable visitors included Selena, Alia, Chitra, and Cooper, a group of recent UC Davis graduates who took tasting notes on the ice creams and reported back to local Lynn Fillo, who was working at the Sierra City Mercantile in Sierra City and wasn’t able to attend herself. They promised Lynn that they would be back next year with an entry of their own –an ice cream dedicated to their alma mater.

Furthering the effort to fundraise for the Sierra County Arts Council and North Yuba River Hall was a raffle. The coveted Mr. Blueberry Bear, a homemade teddy bear donated by Ingrid Larsen, was won by third-place ice cream winner Euan Haddow.