Bridge City, Texas, Dairy Queen Prepares to Reopen
By Rachel Stone, The Beaumont Enterprise, Texas
Jan. 30–Texans have a saying, “You’ll know you’re in town when you see the Dairy Queen.”
Several Southeast Texas towns lost that red-and-white landmark after Hurricane Rita.
Dairy Queen stores in Bridge City, Groves, Orange, Silsbee and Beaumont haven’t yet reopened because of damage.
In small towns, the so-called “Texas Stop Sign” is more than just the place to get a Blizzard and a steak finger basket.
Sometimes, Dairy Queen is about the only business in town and it serves as an unofficial social center.
“This is the hub of Bridge City,” said Beverly Perry, a receptionist at ReMax Realty Service, who can see the DQ from her desk.
When clients call her for directions, “I always tell them it’s right next to Dairy Queen. That way, they can’t miss it,” Perry said.
The Bridge City Dairy Queen appears to be getting ready to open. On Thursday, a sign announced, “Taking Applications Today!” Reached at his Pasadena office, store operator Wesley Howard declined to comment.
Bridge City had an ice cream parlor in the 1950s, called Dippo, Perry said.
And Hopper’s Drug Store had a soda fountain.
“When Dairy Queen came, we knew they were here to stay,” she said.
The Queen has played a big civic role there, too, she said. The owners helped with a blood drive last summer, handing out coupons good for a free ice cream cone to donors, she said.
“We really miss having Dairy Queen here,” she said.
The Dairy Queen in Groves still was smashed up last week.
“There aren’t many eating places over here,” said Janetta Young, the groomer at Sunshine’s Pet Grooming Salon on Lincoln Ave.
The town only has about three other options, including Sonic Drive-In.
“I was practically raised on Dairy Queen. My nonna used to take me there,” said 16-year-old Phala Young.
Edgar LaBleu remembers getting soft-serve ice cream at Dairy Queen when he was “just about this high,” he said.
“That used to be one of my favorite places to go on Sunday after church,” he said.
It’s also the place for little league sports teams to celebrate.
“In the summer time, this parking lot will get full of little league ball players and their parents,” Perry said.
The Dairy Queen in Sour Lake had “absolutely no damage whatsoever,” general manager Rhonda Modzelewski said.
The store was closed for two weeks while the electricity was out, but when it reopened around Oct. 5, woo doggies, was it busy.
“We were just swamped to the hilt,” Modzelewski said.
Dairy Queen entered the Texas market in the late 1940s and now has 581 stores statewide.
“In just about every small town in Texas, Dairy Queen is the gathering place. People know it and love it,” said American Dairy Queen Corp. spokesman Dean Peters, in a telephone interview from Minneapolis.
“We were in those small towns long before McDonalds or Wendy’s or anyone else.”
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