The Merry Dairy is located at 102 Fairmont Avenue. Order online for pickup or home delivery. Shop hours for the holidays: Sun-Thu 12-8pm & Fri-Sat 12-9pm! Open Mon Dec 23 10am-2pm. A free cone today, Sat Dec 21 for all named: August/Augusto/Augustus, Jacy/Jaci/Jassie/Jacey, Michaela/Micaela/Michela/Mikayla/Mikaela/Makala & Ravi/Ravital/Roderick/Rhoderick/Rodrigo | Christmas Eve December 24 Closed
First – Pick up a free pumpkin at The Scary Dairy at 102 Fairmont for the Boo-Scarrry Kids (and yoooouuuuth) Pumpkin Contest! Bring back the carved pumpkin before 3pm on Sunday. For kids 10 and under, one pumpkin will be picked at random to win a free b00-scaaarrry ice cream cake. For the 11-18 category, one pumpkin will be selected by the judgy Scary Dairy and Parkdale Food Centre Staff. All entrants receive a Scary Dairy Treat!
Then second – bring some chill to your scarrry side with a Black Vanilla Frozen Custard cone, made with edible charcoal for that extra je ne sais noir … available now at The Scary Dairy.
And third … on October 31, head on down to 102 Fairmont with non-perishable food and exchange it for a Merry Dairy treat and coupon for our new online store.
So spread the word and bring your family, bring your friends and bring your in-laws for a Scary Dairy Halloween Spooktacular!
And next month … watch for our Grey Cup surprise ….
One of the most common questions about the new store is … so, what are you going to do for winter? The answer is … lots! But before we get to winter plans – a big hello to all new subscribers – many from our Fairmont Sundae Social contest held September 17. Congrats again to our winners. And thank you to all who donated to our four local charities that day as well as to Ottawa’s Triple Trouble who provided musical entertainment!
Photographer Justin van Leeuwen captured the day beautifully in a series of photographs below.
Congratulations Jane Harley – free pints for a year!
As chilling as this winter scene may seem right now, something even more chilling is just around the corner ….
That’s right … The Scary Dairy is back and bigger than ever before now at 102 Fairmont and featuring the truck’s last night before trundling off to its winter hibernation den. Bring non-perishable food on October 31 to help the Parkdale Food Centre and receive a Merry Dairy treat!
First, The Merry Dairy online store will soon be launched, where you can purchase pints (of the ice cream kind!), sandwiches, ice cream cakes and t-shirts and pick them up at the store! Look for all the details in our next blog post …
Third, corporate events! Have a team you want to treat? Spend the afternoon at The Merry Dairy and make your own ice cream as a team, and take home the outputs! Contact info@themerrydairy.com for more info and to book your group!
And finally … Store hours have also been modified a bit – The Merry Dairy will be closed Tuesdays, and will take a winter holiday in January, and open at 3pm on Mondays. And once in a while we may close early 😉
It’s been six weeks since the doors opened at 102 Fairmont.
As the last week of summer begins, please join in celebrating the history of 102 Fairmont with a throwback price of $1 for a soft serve cone from noon to 4pm on Sunday, September 17.
Enjoy Step Dancing and live music throughout the afternoon from Ottawa’s own Triple Trouble!
One dollar per regular priced non-soft serve item will also be split among each of the four charities!
And … a raffle! Anyone who has signed up to receive “The Scoop” by Sunday at 4pm has a chance to win one of three prizes – a free pint a week for a year, a gift certificate from Purewater Total Home Leisure, or a Merry Dairy Ice Cream Cake!
One thing has made the past two weeks so special, not to mention the past five years, has been all the Merry Dairy “portraits” taken by our customers.
To mark those first 14 days, here are 14 (or so!) wonderful Instagram posts from some of those customers. And stay tuned to Facebook, Twitter and our web site for details about the Fairmont Sundae Social celebration, happening September 17 at the store. And there are so many people to thank – from the amazing team at Bridgestone Construction, to Spruce Design, and Brandbot Digital Marketing, and many more.
And our biggest thanks to everyone who has taken the time and come by The Merry Dairy over the past two weeks!
After a few bike rides to check on the progress, this young guy is very happy to report @themerryderry is now open on Fairmont Ave #Ottawapic.twitter.com/W3ZRMKIfqq
This week, The Merry Dairy was being chased by bears …
And this week, our long chase for a new space nears its end as we see 102 Fairmont transformed from one neighbourhood space to another.
Perhaps it was the painting of the exterior, or the new millwork, or the installation of the front counter. All of a sudden, it seems, it has all taken shape.
While our next post will be about the many thanks yous to those who have been a part of this project, one big thank you needs to be said now, which is to our neighbours who have seen the trucks come in and out, patiently putting up with yet another (small, but vital!) construction project in our city!
Another is to our customers, who have been by to see what’s up and who have visited our pop-up frozen custard shop over the past two weeks. Some of their pics are below.
The finish line is in view … we are in the final lap …
About a month ago, I received a message from a Gary Michaels wishing me well with opening a new shop. He shared that his family had lived at 102 Fairmont from the 1930s until the 1970s when it was George’s Corner Store. I was so excited to hear from Gary because it meant I could find out more about the building and the corner store. (Little did I know that Gary was the Gary Michaels well known and loved Ottawa radio personality!)
The Tax roll book from 1930 shows an entry with McBain third line down
I only knew that the McBains were the first owners in 1923. Gary told me that his parents rented from the Davids (surely no relation?) as early as the 1930s and the Davids had purchased from the McBains. When Gary’s father George Zahab passed away in 1960, his mother, Hazel Zahab purchased the building from the Davids and changed the name to The Fairmont Confectionery. Gary said he has fond memories of living above the shop as a child and working in the grocery store.
I have some idea of what that must have been like. My husband’s parents owned a bakery (now my brother-in-law owns it) that is attached to their house, and I know from seeing my children’s excitement how exciting it is to live in a home attached to a shop. When my kids were little, visiting Oma and Opa’s house and running downstairs into a shop filled with so much activity was magical. The shelves were stocked with bread, pastries, jelly donuts, drinks and even candy. As older children, working alongside their grandparents during a summer vacation or Christmas holiday, was the best.
Helping out at the Elmvale Bakery
Making cinnamon rolls at the Elmvale Bakery
In the corner store of Gary’s childhood, his family enjoyed a very busy grocery business. The Zahabs actually grew their own produce on a fifty-acre farm in Carlsbad Springs that they purchased in the late 40s. They grew tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers and more. In front of the shop, George had a display shelf built for the fresh corn they sold. Gary remembers fondly spending two summers at the farm with his grandfather and sister. In George’s Corner Store, there was fresh produce on the south side of the store and items like popcorn and chips were on the north side of the doorway. There were two checkout registers on either side of the middle aisle. The Zahab family worked hard, growing their produce and selling it. Unfortunately, it was the supermarkets opening on Sunday and staying open late that changed the course of their business. Hazel Zahab sold the shop in 1972.
When I first saw this building, I could envision a production kitchen for The Merry Dairy in the back part of the shop. At first glance, space was quickly taken up by a freezer, ice cream equipment, and work areas. The front, however, is all about the scoop shop and people walking in from the street for a frozen treat. I have had so much help from Stefania Crilly, owner of Spruce Design in creating this space. There will be outdoor seating and a few spots to sit inside along the front window. The best part of the shop? There will be three kinds of ice cream: in addition to Midwestern style frozen custard being made in the first continuous batch ice cream machine purchased now five years ago, there will also be soft serve custard and regular hard scoop ice cream in the dipping cabinet.
Here’s what the storefront for The Merry Dairy will look like. As work continues over the next few weeks, you can see how we are building on the brand originally designed for the truck by Brandbot Digital Marketing. Inside pics coming soon! (ps – want to learn more about Kitchissippi’s history? Visit the Kitchissippi Museum blog!
So much has been happening at 102 Fairmont, with decisions about lights, flooring, awnings, tile, spacing, and ice cream flavours all happening at the same time. We are still making frozen custard too!
Here are some highlights of the changes that have been happening at the shop on Fairmont.
Last week Lloyd (he is the one who is making everything come together) leveled the floor by using a laser level. He had to cut many strips of wood, all different measurements, and nail them across the width of the floor so that when the new floor is laid, the fridges, freezers and ice cream machines will sit level.
How to level a floor
Next, and probably most important of all, we had to bring more power into this lovely, old building via a trench from the closest power pole. On Tuesday, they dug a trench and ran a line through to the basement, right where the coal chute used to be. Now there is a new electrical panel with 400 amps of power so that everything can run and we won’t trip a breaker each time we turn on more than one machine at once. Ice cream machines take a lot of power!
digging a trench to bring 400 amps – that’s not Lloyd!
While this was happening on the outside and in the basement, electricians were also busy inside the building running lines throughout the shop floor, rewiring the knob and tube wiring in the apartment upstairs, and making sure that there will be enough lighting evenly spaced throughout the shop and there are enough outlets to run all the equipment.
Wiring for everything
And remember how we discovered that the front door had been moved from the center to the right, probably sometime in the 70s? Now it is our turn in history to alter a building and we are moving the back door from the left side to the center. We are changing it to allow for a better placement of the walk-in fridge and freezer.
A new, wider door
Finally, we have been busy making mojito and strawberry rhubarb Merry Pops! And we received our shipment of the most delicious artisanal cones from The Konery in Brooklyn. Creamsicle, Salted Blue Corn, and Birthday Cake will be on the menu for Westfest next weekend June 2-4th. Hope to see you there. It’s free, it’s at Laroche Park and there is going to be a great line-up of musicians!
And now the building at the corner of Fairmont and Gladstone, that has had its home in Ottawa for the past 90+ years, begins its new journey as home base for The Merry Dairy.
It’s a journey that began in earnest over the past month – one that has uncovered history in layers.
Dave Allston, who writes about local history in his blog Kitchissippi Museum, shared a clipping from 1923 from the long-defunct Ottawa Journal, reporting how Mr. D.C. McBain received a building permit in 1923 for a brick and stucco store with residence for a cost of $5500. In today’s prices, that would be $76,822 (note to self – send to MPAC). 102 Fairmont has housed a few different owners since then, who themselves made improvements and changes to the structure. I’ll share some details about the people who lived here in a future post. For now, it’s all about construction and the discoveries it brings!
For example, outside, next to the Bell pay telephone, we found signs of a coal chute under the commercial ice freezer, pre-dating an oil furnace which was then replaced with the current gas furnace a few years ago. Coal would have been loaded into the basement through that chute to heat the building.
Not only were there layers and layers of flooring in the store, (5 in total!) there were also doors and windows behind the wood paneling. A fun discovery was finding out that the original shop entrance was in the middle of the front window and not on the right side where it is currently. If you have ever visited Thyme & Again on Wellington, 102 Fairmont once had an entrance much the same as that building has.
Unfortunately, the original wooden floor from 1923 is beyond repair.
Tearing back these layers had to be done. Many materials used to build up until the late 70s contained asbestos and this old building on Fairmont had its fair share. Floor tiles, ceiling tiles, as well as plaster – it all had it. Since we have to install a new ceiling with a fire rated barrier and level the floor for installing equipment, we needed to remove all the materials containing asbestos.
Now that this is all done, we are ready to start building! We often hear the kids outside of the shop asking when will it be open … our answer is as soon as possible! 🙂 We look forward to inviting the neighbourhood to the opening
There is more history to come and frozen custard. In the meantime, here are a few pictures of a building on its way to becoming a new home …
Just over five years ago, my family and I trundled down to southern Pennsylvania to check out a Grumman Stepvan with the intention of bringing frozen custard to Ottawa. This was after a decade of living and working in the US, and sampling frozen custard as we travelled the country.
In those five years, that truck has become The Merry Dairy. I have been overwhelmed by how this community has welcomed this plucky little truck into its neighbourhoods, community events, fundraisers, and corporate events.
I believe ice cream and all frozen treats can make people happier because it brings people together.
Keeping The Merry Dairy mobile, stocked with fresh frozen custard so that it can deliver that happiness has meant a variety of production arrangements over the years in a variety of places.
As much as we roamed, we also needed a home base.
And that base is Hintonburg – home to a wonderful, diverse and supportive community, centrally located and lots of fun. When opportunity knocked late last year in the form of the sale of the iconic Fairmont Confectionery, located at 102 Fairmont Avenue, and its beloved Sam’s Cafe, it was time.
If you’ve been by lately, you will have seen some early signs of a new beginning for this wonderful landmark of customer service and local character.
Over the next eight weeks, a lot of work will be done so that we can be open by the summer. If you’re interested in seeing how an ice cream home is made, you can follow the progress on The Merry Dairy Instagram page.
They say that life is one long journey in understanding yourself and finding your road. It’s turned out my road leads to Hintonburg, and all points beyond.
I often get asked about the cover shot on The Merry Dairy’s Facebook page and every time I do, it reminds me of one of the parts of The Merry Dairy I love the most – that instant when a group of kids rush out to the truck!
It’s an exercise in driving very slowly and deliberately just to make sure a little one’s enthusiasm doesn’t overtake the safety rules their parents have been trying to instill in them!
But that rush is such a joy for me, and I hope for the kids and their parents too – whatever the occasion or reason. Today was another such
example as the truck pulled into Parkdale Park to say hello on a beautiful sunny day 🙂
I am no kid expert, even with my own two, but thinking back when I was that age, I think what makes it so much fun is that for a kid, the truck is about surprise, randomness, and being the special ones for that moment in time.
The kids will learn over time that it is someone’s hard work that pays for an ice cream cone. (Do they learn that as teenagers? lol) But until then, it is just great to be a part of some happiness and joy and maybe even a memory or two.
And speaking of happiness and joy, if you have a Merry Dairy buy one get one free coupon, we have extended those until July 31. And if you want to spread that joy to your own friends and family, send them this email, so they can get the same deal too when they subscribe.
