Beloved resident scoops up smiles for kids, community

By Sheryl Coonan

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    BAY CITY, Michigan (WJRT) — A beloved ice cream shop and its owner is bringing nostalgia and kindness to a business district in Bay City.

Buddy’s Columbus Cone is owned and operated by 81-year-old Dale Johnson, a lifelong Bay City resident.

You may think that at 81 years young, Dale Johnson would want to be out fishing or on the golf course…which he loves.

Instead, he spends his days at his ice cream shop, Buddy’s Columbus Cone, in the Columbus Avenue Business District of Bay City as the owner and the only employee — scooping up smiles for his beloved customers.

“Scoop ice cream, do the cash register, credit card, wash dishes, mop the floors.

Johnson grew up just down the road and started the business four years ago after the area’s only ice cream shop closed down.

“There’s no place for kids to go,” Johnson said.

He said he wanted to provide a place where kids and families could come and get a reasonably priced treat.

“You can’t give a kid a dollar and expect them to go down the street and buy something for a dollar — we’re in a low to moderate-income area,” he said.

Which is why he keeps his prices low. Many times, he said, kids come in with just a couple of coins.

“I was in here yesterday and a kid came in and he had 35 or 40 cents. Even I don’t have that price. So, I gave him a slurpee which is a buck,” he said.

Johnson has a charitable heart devoting time and resources to area causes, in addition to running a garbage truck company and cooking barbecue for events on the side.

And he’ll never let a kid go hungry.

“If a kid comes in and he wants something to eat and ain’t got enough I take it out of the tip jar and by them an ice cream cone,” he said.

Annette Jeske works right next door as the director of the ARC of Bay County, an organization that helps people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

They’re teaming up with Buddy’s Columbus Cone for a fundraiser Friday evening from 4 – 7 p.m.

“We love the fact that he’s here and that he’s done buddies for the community, because he’s right. It is about the neighborhood; it is about the kids. It’s about keeping the spirit going here,” Jeske said.

But for Johnson, who says he’s not looking to become a millionaire but rather make an impact on people, says the best part is seeing people smile.

“You will not go out of this place with a long face. If you do, I did something wrong,” he said.

Johnson said he works seven days a week – the shop is open from 4 – 9 p.m. daily.

And he may look to hire another reliable person in the future.

In the next few years, he says he may consider selling the shop to enjoy semi-retirement.

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