Ben & Jerry’s new walk-up window is the second-best thing to happen at the ice cream shop this week

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UNSUNG HEROES SERIES


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Side hustle: You can get your Ben & Jerry’s fix via the take-out window. Courtesy Photo

MANCHESTER, NH — It would be enough if this were just a story about how Ben & Jerry’s is now serving ice cream through their walk-up window.

But there’s more.

It’s also a story about the positive vibes and camaraderie that exists among downtown business owners, even during the worst of times.

So to reiterate, yes; you can now stroll over to Ben & Jerry’s and duck down Stark Street where the line will likely be forming outside the store for take-out ice cream.

Yay!

But the rest of the story is how two fellow downtown business owners were happy to assist Ben & Jerry’s proprietors Lee and Brian Gentile get the window operational. Not only does the side-hustle window allow them to add a social distancing option to their small but mighty ice cream parlor, but the two helpers also constructed some interior supply shelves for paper goods so ice cream scoopers can keep the Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream flowing.

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Supply shelves built by Pat Mills and Jim Pliakos around the interior of the take-out window will make things so much easier for ice cream scoopers. Courtesy Photo

They did it because they love Lee.

“Lee is modest, but since this whole thing happened she has been donating ice cream to firefighters, police officers, every hospital and nursing home,” said Pat Mills, General Manager of Bonfire Country Bar. “She’s still open, and she’s doing so much all the time for others; she’s an unsung hero and I just wanted to make sure people know. She and Brian are the greatest.”

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Lee and Brian Gentile enjoy a night out at Bonfire Country Bar’s opening in 2017. Courtesy Photo

Mills, along with Jim Pliakos of Shaskeen Pub and Restaurant, were more than happy to lend the Gentiles a hand. For one thing, they don’t have much to do with the stay-at-home order taking a bite out of the bar business. But Mills says it’s more than that. Good people are sometimes hard to find in this world.

“Jimmy and I had a good time doing it, and we just wanted to give something back because Lee does so much for the community,” Mills said. “I wanted people to know just how special she is and how lucky Manchester is to have someone like her here.”


Unsung HeroesWould you like to sing the praises of an unsung hero? Someone in the city who is a helper, a doer, a behind-the-scenes mover-and-shaker, who lifts up others and embodies the best of humanity in your eyes? Drop us a line: carolrobidoux@manchesterinklink.com, subject line: Unsung Hero

About this Author

Carol Robidoux

PublisherManchester Ink Link

Longtime NH journalist and publisher of ManchesterInkLink.com. Loves R&B, German beer, and the Queen City!