On a Hot Summer Day, Ice Cream Emergency Is Just What the Doctor Ordered
The 32-foot, mobile ice cream parlor looks like an ambulance.
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
Matt and Micheline Barkley aren’t doctors, but they’ve got a cure for the summertime blues.
The couple operate Ice Cream Emergency, a 32-foot-long bus that looks like an ambulance. When the mercury rises, it’s time to catch a cold.
It was already 88 degrees at 10 a.m. when the mobile, full-service parlor pulled up outside of Pittsburgh Magazine’s headquarters on Washington’s Landing. We hired the company to give us the scoop because nothing boosts morale like a mid-morning sundae bar.
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
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The vehicle is stocked with a toppings bar and 22 three-gallon tubs of premium ice cream in various flavors, including gluten- and dairy-free options. Before boarding, you can fill out a prescription slip detailing your order. I housed a cup of vanilla piled high with waffle cone bits, peanut butter sauce, hot fudge, whipped cream and cherries.
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
Matt and Micheline wear scrubs and carry “stethoscoops,” but they cannot cure brain freezes.
The Barkleys cater corporate and private events in Allegheny, Beaver and Butler counties. They try to stay close to their New Brighton home because the bus only gets 8 miles per gallon. Pigging out on a gas hog is just what the doctor ordered.
Nine years ago, a Connecticut family launched Ice Cream Emergency. Today, there are 16 franchisees in seven states. The Barkleys own the first one in Pennsylvania.
After raising four kids and selling their business (Matt, an Army veteran, served as CEO of Plastikoil of PA, Inc. for more than 25 years), they wanted to chill out but stay active.
They researched brick-and-mortar ice cream shops, but once they discovered Ice Cream Emergency online the lights and sirens went off in their heads. They decided to hit the road — STAT!
The retrofitted bus arrived in March, around the time I reported on another mobile merry-maker, The Pub on Wheels!
The Barkleys’ first event was on April 8 at a solar eclipse watch party in Sharpsburg, a fitting way to usher in a new career that’s synonymous with sunshine. The ICE season runs from April through October, but they hope to cater some winter weddings and parties.
“Everybody’s happy when it’s ice cream,” Micheline says. “There’s no doubt in my mind that this is what we were meant to do.”
