LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 5.16 83
Mark Beam, Barrel of Fun's owner, opened
the stand 22 years ago. He'd gotten laid off
from factory work and took a small-business
class. His mock business for an assignment was
an ice cream stand. Soon after, he eyed a big
red-and-white barrel at a car lot and bought it.
(He thinks it may have originated on the Jersey
Shore as a hot dog stand called Barrel of Buns.)
Beam invites us in to meet his mom, Toni, who
has worked the window for 22 years. At 85
years old, she moves like a woman half her age,
and I smile when she holds a hot fudge cake
beneath my nose to show off the gooey treat, a
best-seller along with butter pecan ice cream.
As we leave, a few kids stand in line, hands
in pockets, cold tickling their ears. Once the
weather warms, mobs will swarm, especially
around eight or nine at night. Beam will blaze
through 50 giant tubs of ice cream a week
during the spring and summer. (He closes up
for winter in October.) The sugar rush from
my frst sweet bite of furry makes me feel so
awake I wish cookie bits and soft serve could
shimmy down an IV drip. As we drive back to
the offce, Suki and I burst into an impromptu
brassy show tune about Barrel of Fun, com-
plete with jazz hands and bouncing shoulders.
Reluctance began our journey. But our empty
cups and good mood prove an ice cream run
is never a bad time. If you're lucky, it's a damn
barrel of fun.
— Anne Marshall
ultimateveincare.com