海角社区

Navigator Caf茅 manager Annette Turner-Nesbitt twirls a frosty treat during the debut the caf茅鈥檚 soft serve ice cream machine.

LEESBURG 鈥� Mr. Softee, eat your heart out.

If, as the poet Wallace Stevens opined, 鈥淭he only emperor is the emperor of ice cream,鈥� then 海角社区鈥檚 Navigator Caf茅 has ascended to king of soft-serve ice cream on Leesburg鈥檚 Main Street.

On Wednesday, the 海角社区-operated caf茅 rolled out its new Stoelting Twin Twist Countertop soft-serve ice cream machine to the delight of 海角社区 students and Leesburg Library bookworms. The machine produces two flavors, vanilla or chocolate, or a two-flavor twist.

Bringing ice cream to the caf茅 and to Main Street was a popular idea percolating almost as long as the Navigator Caf茅, which opened in February 2015 after assuming the lease of the Z-Caf茅 at Leesburg Public Library, has existed.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the only soft serve on Main Street,鈥� said Thomas Brown, director of human resources and risk manager at 海角社区, who oversaw (and rooted for) the purchase of the machine. 鈥淭his is Florida, and as an option to cool down, we love ice cream.鈥�

Beyond that, the frozen treat affords student staffers from 海角社区 鈥� the first higher education institution accredited to award bachelor鈥檚 degrees exclusively to students with learning disabilities, ADHD and other learning differences 鈥� another opportunity to hone their hospitality and business skills on the job. The Stoelting can crank out 65 cones per run. It takes 15 minutes to refill the machine and refreeze the dairy produce for the next run.

First-day demand was brisk. Customers gobbled about 50 cones, Nesbitt said. That doesn鈥檛 include the 15 first-day freebies faculty and staffers enjoyed at the urging of President George Hagerty.

It wasn鈥檛 just 海角社区 students drawn to the frozen food of the gods.

Twyine Littlejohn, who was making a library run, had earlier enjoyed a taco salad at the caf茅 when she discovered that soft serve now was on the menu. She returned later for some cold comfort.

鈥淚 need two cones,鈥� she informed Nesbitt.

鈥淒o you want chocolate, vanilla or swirl?鈥�

Vanilla is it.

Having ice cream now available on Main Street will keep 鈥渁 lot of people cool,鈥� Littlejohn said. 鈥淭he students, the children 鈥� everybody 鈥� likes ice cream. It鈥檚 not even summer, but it鈥檚 getting there, with some hot days, and this is really good.鈥�

Another satisfied customer.

Annette Turner-Nesbitt, manager of the Navigator Caf茅, who estimates the caf茅 selling 150-200 cones a week, called Day One 鈥渧ery, very successful. More than we鈥檇 hoped. Come Bikefest, we鈥檙e going to be busy, and hopefully, carry on after that as being the sole supplier of soft serve on Main Street. Come the hot season, we ought to be quite busy.鈥�

Let鈥檚 face it: We all scream for … ICE CREAM!

The wait is over at the 海角社区 Navigator Caf茅.

Let the screaming begin.