Butler County shaved ice stand serves up deliciously cool treats
PORTERSVILLE, Pa. (KDKA) -- On a sunny day, the Snowman shaved ice stand is a cool beacon of icy hope, proudly along Route 488 in Butler County.
Co-owner Brain LaChance said that the idea to open this little refreshment spot came to him while he cut the grass on his property, and watched all the cars go by with people heading to nearby parks.
"The origin of it was, what would be the thing to put here?" LaChance said. "What's the thing? What's the missing thing, then it kind of dawned on me that there are ice cream places nearby or close enough, but no one was doing shaved ice at the time."
Once LaChance knew what he wanted to serve up, he started looking into building a brick-and-mortar shaved ice shop, but after a trip to Ohio, he settled on buying a giant, 13-foot fiberglass snowman on top of a trailer.
"So, it is a roadside attraction, and the color scheme was off from when we looked at it," said LaChance. "It had black motorcycle gloves on, it had a hunter green snow cone, which is a weird color for shaved ice, and the hat was blue."
Quickly, the colors were fixed, and the Snowman opened in Portersville in 2013. It has been doing a steady summertime trade ever since. They have even expanded the business to have a mobile trailer that they take on the road to local fairs, festivals, and events.
The Snowman not only serves shaved ice with many different flavors, but they also serve ice cream, sundaes, and milkshakes. Anything to help people beat the heat of the summer sun.
"I got the Yeti Sundae," said patron Lindsey Gasparovich. "Chocolate ice cream with the red shaved ice. It's absolutely wonderful. And my pup got the pup cup!"
"This place is great because where else can you go, stop by a giant snowman, and get the best ice cream on a hot summer day," said Abby Boucher, who brought her kids out for a cool treat. "It's Instagram-able!"
The Snowman is open every day except Mondays in Portersville from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
For more information, click here.