“Last licks” at the Dairy Queen

Sandra Wiitala and her daughter, Seeger DuRussel, get their final taste of Manchester Dairy Queen last Monday. Owners Jeff and Crystal Fahey will be re-opening the store next spring under a new name, rather than as a Dairy Queen franchise.

Monday, October 22 was the last day of the season for the Manchester Dairy Queen, owned by Jeff and Crystal Fahey.

After almost 60 years, however, last Monday was also the last day that Manchester will have a franchised Dairy Queen store. Next spring, the Faheys will be re-opening an ice cream store at the same location, but it will be under a new name.

As has become their tradition in recent years, Jeff and Crystal took advantage of their last day of business for the season, and all proceeds from the day’s business, with sales, tips, and a personal donation from the Fahey family, went to the Community Resource Center. This year’s total was $1,500. In addition to the cash raised for the CRC, the Faheys were able to donate about $900 worth of cakes to the St Louis School in Chelsea. They also have about $200 worth of ice cream sandwiches which will be donated to either the senior citizens or the CRC.

Jeff and Crystal want to thank all of their staff, but especially Hannah Foltz, Mackenzie Pietrzyk, and Kaitlin Kurasz, who each donated their time on Monday. “Kaitlyn also volunteered her time and stayed with us until the last customer was served,” Jeff said.

“While we are still a little sad to see the DQ end, it is nice to end on such a positive note,” he added. “We had people tell us they were coming because it was our last day ever for the DQ; others really wanted to support the CRC, and some people were just excited that it was such a beautiful day and wanted to join in with the crowd.”

Crystal and Jeff say they remain humbled by and highly appreciative of the many positive comments about this fundraiser as well as the community support for whatever their new venture will be next year.

“We’ve lined up an architect and contractors and we will update you further when we have more detail on what we will be doing next spring,” Jeff concluded.

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.