Nostalgic ice cream

VERGAS, Minn. — The putt-putt sound of a John Deere 1.5 horsepower engine and the creamy taste of homemade ice cream are well known to Denny Pausch.

Pausch owns and operates Olde Tyme Ice Cream, a traveling ice cream food stand that uses a 1937 John Deere engine to crank out its ice cream.

“Most people that make homemade ice cream have to turn a crank by hand,” Pausch said. “Because we make 5 gallons at a time, we use the John Deere engine to crank the ice cream.”

The nostalgia of the John Deere engine and old-fashioned ice cream brings back distant memories for many of Pausch’s customers.

“It’s so fun to have someone walk up, try the ice cream, take that first bite, and you can see the look on their face that the memories come flooding back,” Pausch said. “They’ll say ‘I remember cranking that as a kid or watching Grandpa turn the crank and make homemade ice cream.’”

Pausch said when younger generations stop by, they are often surprised by how soft and rich the ice cream is.

“Most of them have never had homemade ice cream before,” Pausch said. “It’s nothing like the stuff you buy in the store.”

Since Pausch has a background in the dairy industry and in retail, purchasing the ice cream trailer last year seemed a good fit. Pausch grew up on a dairy farm, worked as an A.I. technician for many years and then worked in retail small business. He purchased the enclosed trailer, complete with the ice cream machine and John Deere engine. The ice cream machine is specially made to work with the engine.

When Pausch’s children were younger, they worked in Pausch’s retail business to gain experience. Now his grandchildren work alongside him. Of his 12 grandchildren, three help Pausch with the mobile business on a regular basis.

“It is important to me to teach the grandkids some of the things that most kids don’t get to learn,” Pausch said. “Figuring out all these things helps them understand what it takes to run a business, such as learning to make change for customers, set the cash drawer up and interact with customers. It’s fun to watch them learn.”

The crew with Olde Tyme Ice Cream generally stay within an hour of Vergas but has traveled as far as New Rockford, North Dakota.

“The biggest surprise was finding events that are big enough to make it worthwhile to drive to,” Pausch said. “We like going to the threshing shows but also do some town festivals.”

According to Pausch, having a John Deere-powered ice cream machine is part of their attraction and is especially popular at threshing shows.

“The old farmers walk up and they have a big smile on their face from all the memories they had on the farm,” Pausch said. “Most of them had an engine like that growing up.”

Back then, the 1.5 horsepower engine was considered an advancement on the farm Pausch said, considering most rural areas did not have a power supply.

“Originally, this engine was commonly used to pump water for the cows or run the grain auger,” Pausch said.

The engine, which most would consider an antique, still fires up most weekends throughout the summer. In a year, Olde Tyme Ice Cream appears at 10-12 events. When Pausch is not attending an event, he sometimes sets up in the town of Vergas for the day. 

Depending on the day, Pausch makes one to eight batches of ice cream with the John Deere-powered ice cream machine.

“We use all real dairy products in our recipes,” Pausch said. “That’s the best way to make it authentic.”

No matter what type of event Olde Tyme Ice Cream attends, Pausch said his favorite part is spending time with his grandchildren and teaching them the how to work in a retail setting.

“It teaches the grandkids a lot of lessons,” Pausch said. “And it’s a way they can earn some extra cash.”