Snowballs on a hot summer day
It’s one of those Riverview summer afternoons: 3 p.m. and 93 degrees outside, but you know the heat index is in triple figures. You walk from the front door to the car, and your shirt is already drenched in sweat.
You wonder if there’s a snowball’s chance of finding relief, and there it is — The Snowball Station in the Lake St. Charles Shopping Center near the intersection of U.S. 301 and Lake St. Charles Boulevard.
Owned and operated by Sarah and Charles Smith of Riverview, The Snowball Station opened in March near the intersection of U.S. 301 South and Lake St. Charles Boulevard. It offers 53 different flavors of syrupy, shaved ice, and you can combine up to three in one snowball in prices ranging from $3 to $6. The menu includes favorites like cherry, orange, strawberry and grape, and some exotic flavors like kiwi, pina colada, tamarind, spearmint and cantaloupe. There are sugar-free versions, too.
Opening a snowball business was a natural for Sarah Smith, a New England native.
“I was born in New Hampshire, so I’m an expert on snow,” she laughed.
Sarah grew up in the town of Union — population 204, according to 2010 census figures — located near the Maine border in the east-central part of the state.
It’s a one-stoplight, rural town,” she said. “The church can hold everyone in town.”
Sarah, 46, was at a crossroads in her life 17 years ago. Her first husband died of brain cancer a week before Christmas in 1999, leaving her a widow with two young children. She decided to move to Virginia and became entranced with the snowball business through a friend in Norfolk.
“She opened three stands and (in Norfolk) I saw all the food stands,” she said. “So I knew how it worked.”
She met Charles in Norfolk and the couple married; they have a 9-year-old daughter. They moved to Florida in January 2016 when Charles, a commercial crane operator, found work in the state.
Sarah still liked the idea of selling snowballs.
“I decided to look for a trailer,” she said.
She found a Southern Snow trailer from a vendor who worked a stretch of the Pinellas Trail in Clearwater. After Sarah and Charles bought the trailer and set up their business, they began selling on the weekends at the Wagon Wheel Flea Market in Pinellas Park.
They came to Riverview earlier this year and now operate six days a week (the business is closed on Monday). The Snowball Station has a social media presence on Facebook and Instagram. In the Lake St. Charles Shopping Plaza, potted palm trees adorn the entrance. Colorful plastic chairs allow patrons to sit under a canopy. Even in mid-90 temperatures, a breeze makes the heat bearable.
Customer favorites? Blue raspberry and cherry.
“Maryland folks like egg custard,” Sarah said. “People from Louisiana like nectar and hurricanes.”
I’ve had the Georgia Peach and Polar Punch (a variation on the blue raspberry). This week, my granddaughter had a mixed strawberry-blueberry snowball.
For many customers, it brings back summer nostalgia.
“The kids love it,” Sarah said. “For the adults, it brings back childhood memories.”