Martha Elson

LCJ

The "OPEN" sign was lit at the Dairy Del in Schnitzelburg recently, signaling the chilly start to another "Del-icious" season at the popular Shelby Street spot — which its new owners say has been in business since 1951.

Fans of the Dairy D's orange sherbet, made from a secret recipe, and other ice-cream treats and state fair-type foods, including corn dogs and funnel fries, had a scare recently when the business went up for sale, after closing for the season in October.

Wayne and Brenda Madison, both 56, scooped up the property for about $175,000 immediately after looking at it.

They reopened it March 17 — the same day they closed on the sale — after the former owner decided to retire, the Madisons said.

Wayne Madison was setting out bright, gem-toned umbrellas at new tables out front one morning last week when a couple of workers called out from down the street to see if the Del was open yet.

"No, we open at 11!" he called back. It's open until 8 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and until 10 Fridays and Saturdays.

"Everybody thought it wasn't going to open back up," he said.

The Madisons, who live in the Belknap neighborhood and are semi-retired after working for nearly 25 years each in the food business, are resuming a family tradition at the treatery, 1516 S. Shelby St., across from Oscar's Hardware store.

Brenda Madison worked there as a teenager in the 1970s, along with her mother, an aunt and three of her sisters, when her family lived on nearby Burnett Avenue.

"The place does not look much different than in the '70s," she said. "The ice-cream business is a fun business. People are happy to get ice cream."

She also worked for a year at the nearby Dairy Kastle, 575 Eastern Parkway, which opened in the 1970s in a former gas station.

The Kastle opened this year a couple of weeks before Dairy Del. While it might look like a potential dueling Dairies scenario, Kastle owner Katherine Smith said "there's plenty of ice-cream eaters to go around."

Smith, who lives in Highlands-Douglass, is in her third year as owner, after buying the business from George Hayden, whom she knew, without an advertised sale. She said people come for the whole experience of eating, talking and standing outside.

Wayne Madison's first job was at a Burger Queen restaurant not far away on Eastern Parkway. He and his wife went to Manual High School and were married 32 years ago at the nearby St. Elizabeth Catholic Church on East Burnett.

The Del's original owner was the late Sherman Shouse, known as "Mr. Sherman," Brenda Madison said. The Madisons bought it from Gina Rutledge, who had operated it since 1991 after taking over for her mother.

Among the other menu items are "flurries," soft-serve ice cream mixed in a blender with candy pieces; banana splits; waffle cones; shakes; malts; hamburgers; soft pretzels; and nachos. "People like the food," Wayne Madison said. "Everything's made to order."

For now, he's running the show most of the time at the Del, while his wife works at the Work the Metal gift shop in Butchertown. She's helping out on weekends.

While the couple plan a few more improvements — such as a new paint job, awning and neon lighting on the main sign above the order windows — they're not doing anything that would spoil the vintage ambience or appearance.

"I just love old stuff," Wayne Madison said. "We just want it to be what it used to be.

Reporter Martha Elson can be reached at (502) 582-7061. Follow her on Twitter at @MarthaElson_cj.