Hempfield ice cream stand adds drive-thru, plans to open year-round

The owners at Tastyland in Hempfield are looking to keep the taste going year-round.

They’re building a drive-thru at the ice cream and food stand, which has operated in the past on a seasonal basis.

“We’ve owned it now for about three years and have had a lot of crazy growth,” said Ryan Gunniers of Penn Township, whose mother, Jill Gunniers, owns the stand. “But one of our biggest problems is that when we close, we can lose a lot of inventory, equipment doesn’t always start back up the same way — so we worked with Hempfield to get the drive-thru approved.”

Gunniers said he’s hoping construction will be complete in late February or early March.

“There’s room for eight cars’ worth of stacking,” he said. “The zoning officials worked with our architect and really got a good plan together.”

Tastyland opened in 1950, and is one of the county’s few ice cream stands still in its original location. Jill purchased it when former owner Bill Kuhns put it up for sale.

“I was a stay-at-home mom, my three adult sons were moving on with their lives, and I was trying to find something to do,” she said. “We didn’t have any prior experience, but it’s been a lot of fun.”

Ryan initially got involved just to help out.

“My brothers and I were all in college and kind of starting our own careers,” he said. “But I started helping and loved it, and we kind of all did. We ended up quitting our jobs to start doing it together.”

And they aren’t stopping at the drive-thru, Gunniers said.

“We’d like to put in a deck and expand the parking,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of customers the past couple seasons, and sometimes people will park in places that can be a little dangerous.”

Opening full time will also offer some employment stability.

“We’ve been really blessed with amazing staff and managers, but most people don’t want to work for six months and then be laid off,” Gunniers said. “But having an older staff with more experience will let us be open year-round, and also offer full-time employment with better pay, time off, things like that.”

Jill Gunniers said getting to know the community over the past few years has been a lot of fun.

“It’s great to see how much people enjoy being here,” she said. “And of course, working with my husband and three sons is wonderful.”

For more, including announcements about this year’s opening date, see Tastyland66.com.