Ice cream from the grocery store can be good, depending on the brand, but there is nothing like homemade ice cream, made that day. And Austin's in Ceredo has been doing it for decades.

Austin's Homemade Ice Cream has been serving up delicious ice cream for more than 70 years, and it has been a staple of dessert culture in Ceredo for the better part of 35.

Before the property was purchased by Joyce Snyder (pictured below) in 1983, Austin's was a much smaller shop. What started as a little ice cream parlor in an equally little town has expanded a great deal under her management.

As the name of the parlor states, Austin's Ice Cream is hand made, and until Joyce retired in 2017, it was all made by her, and her alone. She may have had help carrying all the ingredients and setting them up, but the actual preparation was done by her until she was 80 years old.

She was especially insistent on variegating the ice cream herself, which is a method that involves adding swirls of color to the ice cream to give it variety, a method that would be lost if the ice cream was made using a simple folding technique.

Since retiring, Joyce has left the business in the care of her daughter Kimberly Adkins, and her grandson, Tim Ruff. It was Tim who was given the job of not only making the ice cream, but variegating it, which Joyce trained him to do before retiring.

Now, the business has expanded, thanks to Joyce. Before retiring, the company made partnerships with several local businesses, including Backyard Pizza and Raw Bar, Dreamland Pool, Grindstone Coffeeology, and Java Joe's. They have even opened a second location.

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held in May 2018 to open their new location at The Market In Huntington, which is an indoor bazaar of restaurants and unique shops in the heart of downtown. The new location is managed by Taylor and Timothy, Joyce's grandchildren.

At Austin's, you can choose from 27 different flavors of ice cream, plus seven seasonal varieties. They also have sherbet, milk shakes, sundaes, banana splits and parfaits. The second location also provides the same quality ice cream, but the menu is a bit smaller.

So, if at any point you are in the greater Huntington area, be sure to pay a visit to Austin's. You will have to wait in a line at the Ceredo location, even if it is at 9:00 at night, but it will definitely be worth the wait. The wait time is usually less at The Market, but that is not guaranteed.

Austin's Ceredo location is located at 1103 C St. and is open from 10:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. The Huntington location is located at 809 3rd Ave, inside The Market, and its hours are 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Have you ever been to Austin's, either in Ceredo or Huntington? Feel free to comment below and tel us about your visit.

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