PHOTO COURTESY OF FOUR SEAS.
The iconic Four Seas Ice Cream Shop around 1959.
CENTERVILLE – Four Seas Ice Cream, the iconic shop in Centerville, is celebrating its 80th birthday this year.
The shop, which opened in an old blacksmith shop, was founded in 1934. It was later expanded to include a dining room and kitchen.
To celebrate the milestone, Doug and Peggy Warren who own the shop are holding a reunion for anyone who ever worked at the shop.
The reunion is scheduled for Saturday, July 19 at the Resort & Conference Center at Hyannis. There will be dinner and dancing provided by the Warrens and old photo albums of the shop’s history and staff through the years will be on display.
Peggy Warren said she expects a few hundred former and current employees will attend the gala.
The store employs about 35 to 37 full and part-time staff each summer. Many employees stay on for multiple years with the longest being 10 years. The average, Warren said, is about five years per employee.
Placards stating the flavors were hung outside in the old days at Four Seas.
There are some other special events planned this year. Every week, there will be a Flavor of the Week, a brand new flavor that will be concocted.
On August 3, Four Seas will sponsor a fundraiser called “Cape Cod’s Coolest Dessert Contest” to benefit Children’s Cove, a non-profit that helps children who are survivors of assault or other trauma.
Peggy Warren said the shop went into high season mode in terms of hours and staffing the Saturday before Memorial Day. She said business has been good so far this season.
“Weather is definitely a factor with ice cream,” she said.
In a typical summer evening at the shop, scoopers serve about 4,000 to 5,000 scoops, she estimated.
