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Sno Castle begins 22nd summer in Struthers
Photo
Christine Seman, above, pours cherry-flavored syrup over shaved ice at her Sno Castle location, right, on Youngstown Poland Road in Struthers. This season is Seman’s 22nd running the business, which is open from noon to 9 p.m. daily. It typically opens for the season not long after Easter, then closes a couple of weeks after school resumes.
Business begins 22nd summer in Struthers
By EMMALEE C. TORISK
STRUTHERS
Even in the midst of a downpour, Jen Sterling couldn’t resist the siren song of Sno Castle.
The instant she spotted the glowing lanterns on either side of the shack, their light visible from the street, her already futile resistance was further weakened. The blue and yellow hut topped with castlelike crenellation at 706 Youngstown-Poland Road — and now in its 22nd summer of operation — was a most welcome and familiar sight.
“I’m here all the time,” said Sterling, who lives in Austintown and has been a regular at Sno Castle for the past two years. “It’s the only one around, and it’s worth the drive.”
For more than two decades, Christine Seman, who lives in Struthers, has been the force behind this Sno Castle, running it from noon to 9 p.m. seven days a week. She typically opens it for the season not long after Easter Sunday, then closes it a couple of weeks into the fall, after school resumes.
Over the years, Sno Castle has become a multigenerational sign of summer’s arrival.
“I’ve seen little kids grow up here,” Seman said. “But it really hasn’t changed. I have the same diehard customers, [along with] their kids and their grandkids.”
Seman explained that her reason for starting a Sno Castle stand back in 1992 was simple: There just weren’t any nearby. It also seemed like a good way to open a business of her own — the startup costs were minimal, requiring the purchase of ice, flavored syrups, and cups and spoons, among just a few other items — and make money, she said.
She was right. Even on overcast or rainy days, the Sno Castle is steadily busy. On warm and sunny days, though, it’s “busy busy,” frequented by customers from Struthers and Poland — and even by those from farther distances away, such as Hubbard.
The draw, Seman said, is the stand’s unique product — and probably also its bevy of flavors. Right now, within a few weeks of its opening, Sno Castle stocks about 30 flavored
syrups, which later in the season will increase to nearly 60, including “every fruit flavor you can imagine,” she added.
The stand also offers lemon shakes and avalanches, which essentially are sno-cones sandwiched in between layers of vanilla ice cream.
Though Seman tries new flavors each year — hazelnut and strawberry cheesecake being some recent but not-so-great choices — the fruity best-sellers of tiger’s blood, blue raspberry and cherry have remained consistent. Seman prefers red raspberry, but admitted that “after being here all these years,” she usually doesn’t want one.
Sterling, on the other hand, often craves Sno Castle’s sno-cones, particularly the peach daiquiri flavor, which is a mixture of pineapple and peach. This craving, she added, has become particularly pronounced with her pregnancy.
She estimated that from now until June 29, her due date, she’ll be making stops at Sno Castle about three times a week, as well as fantasizing about opening her own stand. Until that happens, she’ll continue to support Sno Castle.
“My husband thinks I’m completely absurd,” Sterling said, laughing. “I’m not a big ice cream fan — I like the shaved ice.”
Seman noted that even after 22 years in the business, she still enjoys the work and the people in particular. She’s also managed to keep the stand in the family, staffing it with her nieces and daughters on those rare occasions she’s not available.
As for the future of her Sno Castle, she can’t imagine ever closing it down, though maybe one day she’ll pass it on to her children.
“Honestly, I’m not getting rich off of this, but it pays my bills, and I like working for myself,” Seman said. “I really don’t think I’ll ever give it up.”