Parker and his wife, Regina, were recently quenching their appetites for the frozen treat at Ritchey’s Dairy, where the couple of 50 years might not agree on the same flavor but concur that “there’s no such thing as too much ice cream,” Regina said.

Two weeks into National Ice Cream Month and days before National Ice Cream Day — Sunday, July 16 — Mirror staffers asked local residents what’s so special about ice cream and found that for some, “there’s never enough ice cream.” That’s according to Paul Fennessey of Altoona, who picked up a bag full of treats at Cove Creamery in Roaring Spring.

Fennessey’s favorite is chocolate or anything with chocolate in it, much like Victor Sanders of Martinsburg, who was looking forward to a scoop of chocolate fudge brownie at Ritchey’s Dairy.

“But my wife got the last scoop of that,” he said, so instead he went with regular chocolate, which is still good.

Kore Pastva, 10, of Tyrone, enjoys a vanilla shake at The Meadows Original Frozen Custard in Duncansville. Vanilla with chocolate syrup is his favorite. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

He and his wife, Joanne, were enjoying the hot summer day with their grandchildren, who like chocolate, mint chocolate and strawberry cheesecake.

While many people like the crunch of ice cream cones, others find it easier to eat in a cup, especially on a hot day when the sun melts the ice cream faster than it can be eaten.

Bonnie Imler of Hollidaysburg likes to dip French fries into her ice cream, but when that’s not available, crushed up pretzels will do, she said.

Imler and fellow Penn State Altoona professor Gail Good were also at Ritchey’s, where Imler enjoyed the graham cracker crumb cheesecake and Good went with strawberry cheesecake after her favorite, coconut fudge, was unavailable.

Both grew up on dairy farms and said there’s no such thing as too much ice cream.

The stop at Ritchey’s, the duo said, was part of their quest to complete the sixth annual Scooped: An Ice Cream Trail and come away with a commemorative Scooped stainless-steel ice cream scoop.

The promotion through the state tourism bureau includes a list of more than 40 ice cream shops taking part in the event. Anyone interested in the challenge has until Sept. 9 to collect 600 points and earn ice cream bragging rights. Information can be found at visitpa.com/trip/scooped-ice-cream-trail.

So far, Imler and Good checked Ritchey’s off their list and plan to make stops at Stocks in the Cove, Vale Wood Farms in Loretto, Penn State’s Berkey Creamery and finish out the list with ice cream in the Harrisburg or Lancaster areas. It takes six stops at participating locations to earn enough points for the scoop.

While local residents favor a variety of selections — from cookie dough and butter pecan to chocolate peanut butter cup and caramel salted pretzel, one flavor several said they didn’t like was teaberry. That just means more for those who enjoy the minty old-time flavor that has a following at Ritchey’s Dairy.

Talking of flavors had Regina Parker noting that if she could create her own ice cream, it would be something fruity. Peach is her favorite, she said, but finding it out of stock, she instead went with a cone of white house.

Mike Parker said his favorite flavor is black raspberry, but as it is hard to find, he usually goes with chocolate peanut butter ripple or something similar.

Some summer venues have what could be called “shocking” flavors, typical flavors, like chocolate, mixed with such flavors as ghost peppers or cayenne. Some people love them, others won’t even give them a chance.

“As much as I like garlic, I probably wouldn’t like garlic ice cream like they have at festivals,” Joanne Sanders said.

Kore Pastva, 10, of Tyrone, was found slurping a shake at the Meadows in Duncansville, where he said vanilla with chocolate syrup is his choice. Little sister Ruby, 2, had vanilla ice cream in a cup and shared it with the rubber duck she won in a game.

Brothers Matt and Corey Craw were enjoying their favorite ice cream at the Meadows location in Greenwood, where Matt chose cookie dough and Corey, blackberry.

Dipping fries is good, said Matt, who is also known to dip his spicy chicken nuggets in the cool goodness of a milkshake.

The thing about ice cream is that it’s good any time of the year, Corey said. “It’s good even in the winter.”

Mirror job shadow participant Nathan Brown contributed to this story.