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Favorites among the flavors the Frys make include espresso crunch, mint chocolate chip, and cookie dough. Their unique Grape Nuts flavor includes a sprinkling of the cereal in vanilla ice cream and it is quite popular as well.
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Chuck and his son Rick milk 200 cows who produce the key ingredient used to make the Rocky Point Creamery’s frozen treats.
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The Fry Family
discovering the sweet side of the dairy business story and photos by SUSAN WALKER
The dairy business is a tough one these days and many dairy farmers are looking for ways to keep their operations viable. Chuck and Paula Fry, owners of Rocky Point Dairy in Tuscarora, Maryland, not only milk 200 cows, most of them Holsteins, they also farm 1,500 acres of corn, soybeans, and cover crops. From 1996 to 2009, they raised turkeys to supplement the farm’s income, but when they decided to leave the turkey business, they began to look for a new enterprise to replace it. “My family has been farming for as long as anyone can remember,” explains Chuck. “One of our ancestors travelled from his farm in Virginia to Point of Rocks by horse looking for a new farm and came upon the sale of this property, which was already in progress. He bought the farm, which was then called Hobson’s Choice, in 1883 and over the years raised crops, sheep, horses, and beef cows. My parents started dairy farming in 1952 with 10 cows and I grew up living and working on the farm. The dairy business has changed a great deal since those days, with price volatility, strict environmental regulations, and other issues that make it more difficult to make a living as a dairy farmer. That’s why we were looking for a business that would supplement the income from our dairy operation.” While considering their options, Chuck and Paula attended a Farm Bureau convention. The president of Connecticut’s Farm Bureau suggested opening an ice cream parlor as a new revenue source for dairy
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farms. Chuck and Paula were intrigued, and did further research on the costs, potential revenue, and nuts and bolts of making and selling ice cream. Next, they went to a three-day conference hosted by the National Ice Cream Retailers Association in Nashville. After meeting and talking with a number of ice cream producers and retailers and attending conference sessions, Chuck came to a decision.
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The creamery is truly a family affair. Gail’s older kids lend a hand with the ice cream making, crushing cookies and other ingredients.
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“We designed our creamery to look like a red barn, the kind a child might draw, so when you see it, you associate the ice cream with the farm needed to make it,” says Chuck.
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The Fry’s creamery also offers delicious milkshakes, soft ice cream, custom ice cream cakes, and ice cream sandwiches.
After the conference, the Frys also visited Ken Smith’s Moo Thru in Virginia, an ice cream shop that features ice cream made with milk from the Smith’s nearby dairy farm. They also met with the owner of Advanced Gourmet, an ice cream equipment and store design/build firm in Greensboro, North Carolina. There they sampled ice cream from recipes created by the firm’s staff chef. “It was without a doubt the best ice cream I had ever tasted,” says Chuck. “I woke up in the middle of the night thinking, ‘I have to get more of that ice cream!’ That was the defining moment when I thought, ‘We can do this!’”
Check out Rocky Point Creamery on Facebook.