The Milk Pail celebrates grand reopening with new owners

The Milk Pail at 36 W. Marshall St., Rice Lake, a classic ice cream shop where generations of memories have been made, was the site of the grand reopening Friday with new owners Kyle and Alyssa Madlon of Rice Lake.

Both from Rusk County, the couple who have a 6-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son, are excited that their children can grow up making their own memories at the place that is a must for residents and vacationers alike.

Alyssa Madlon said she has been hearing stories of people who remember getting a treat there with their grandparents who are now grandparents themselves and bringing their grandchildren to make more sweet memories.

In addition to a variety of ice cream flavors, Madlon said her specialty is homemade chocolate chip cookies — for sale alone or with ice cream in the middle for an ice cream sandwich. For details on lunch items, which are served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., check their website or Facebook page.

As in the past, the shop also sells regionally made cheese, honey, syrup, fudge, coffee products, wooden items and more.

The history of the local well-loved, barn-themed shop goes back almost 90 years. In 1935 James Yarish and Al Vey started a milk bottling and dairy product business at the corner of Eau Claire Street and Wilson Avenue but soon need more space for ice cream manufacturing so they built a structure, then called Quality Dairy, at the corner of Marshall Street and Wilson Avenue. The Angell family purchased the business in 1947 and changed the name to The Milk Pail in 1965. Since then several other owners have come and gone, and the Madlons are excited to become part of the longtime establishment's story.

Madlon said they don't know how many other offers there were on the building, but they promised to maintain it as is and to keep the tradition going for many years to come. She even hopes one of their children take over the business for them some day. The new owner encourages longtime and first time customers alike to stop by and keep piling up the memories scoop after scoop.

New hours at the ice cream shop are Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 1-8 p.m. They plan to cut those hours to 6 p.m. during the winter hours.