Mrs Spoonover's Ice Cream Parlor

and Sandwich Shoppe
Mrs Spoonover by Fonner

Judy Scallen a.k.a Mrs. Spoonover

“I love kids. And they almost never give me trouble.”

Stepping into Mrs. Spoonover's is like stepping back into time and into your favorite aunt's kitchen. She's there to greet you with a smile and something sweet—a scoop of your favorite ice cream, a cup of hot chocolate, or, if you need nourishment more than the need to satiate a sweet tooth, how about a bowl of hot, homemade soup? There's another kind of nourishment, too—conversation. Your favorite aunt is always there to hear how your day went, to kindly tease you a bit and force a smile onto your face. It's a good place to be. And at Mrs. Spoonover's, you won't find your favorite aunt, but just as good—Mrs. Spoonover (a.k.a Judy Scallen) is always there to greet, to serve, and to offer a smile. Her clientele is largely made up of kids who come in after school to hang out and indulge, or kids visiting Whitefish during the summer who pull their parents and grandparents in off the sidewalk to enjoy a special treat. Judy Scallen has run the popular ice cream parlour on Whitefish's Central Avenue for eleven years. Almost all of her employees have been kids, most of them working their first real job. She grew up in northern Minnesota in a tiny mining town where her mother ran a saloon. She met her husband, Joel in 1965 at her mother's saloon. He was working in a local taganite plant. He'd grown up in Bozeman and in 1967, Judy Scallen found herself living with her new husband in Montana. The couple raised two sons, Michael and Matthew and traveled all over the US. Scallen developed an excellent sense of geography during the family's travels. The Scallen's settled down in the Columbia Falls area in 1992. In addition to supporting area dentist's by selling scrumptious sweets to kids and kids-at-heart in Whitefish, Judy Scallen is an active community volunteer. She supports theater, symphony, and every child-oriented project she can find time for. She's raised funds for the Abbey Shelter for battered women and suppoorts the North Valley Music School. “I don't say 'no' to anybody,” she admits with a laugh.
reprinted with permission from Laira Fonner's Portrait of Whitefish
www.portraitofwhitefish.com