A hot-day hankering last summer leads to creation of the Snoball Shack

When Baltimore native Cliff Neal went looking for a snowball to quench his thirst one hot day last summer, he pulled into a stand in Millsboro only to find the operation closed “due to illness.”  On the spot he decided to buy the equipment and now when he wants a snowball, he goes to his daughter’s Snoball Shack in the old icehouse on New Road in Lewes.  There, the only decision is which one of 52 flavors to get.

“We have everything from strawberry cheesecake to cherry to chocolate snowballs,” said Loretta Abell.  “A lot of people from the Baltimore area in particular get the chocolate snowballs.  They’re always happy to hear we have that flavor.”

In another old Baltimore tradition, Abell also keeps a hefty supply of marshmallow cream on hand.  “You can have it on the bottom, in the middle or on the top,” she said.

Snowballs, an icy concoction with flavored syrups, originated in Baltimore according to Abell.  “Before the days of electric refrigeration, shippers would bring produce and other perishable items into the city in the summertime packed in ice.  The ice was kind of slushy and refreshing to hot workers unloading the trucks and ships. They figured out a way to recycle the ice into a cool treat.  People started adding flavors to the slushy ice and snowballs were born.”  She said the original flavor for snowballs was egg custard – which she has.  “People don’t think that sounds like a very good flavor for snowballs but it’s really yummy – very creamy in the flavor.”

Some of the syrups used at the Snoball Shack are sweetened with fructose syrup, some of them with pure cane sugar and she also has some sugar-free flavors.

“We’re also selling several other items, trying to keep with the local theme,” said Abell.  “We have local tomatoes, local peaches, local corn, local brown eggs and local honey.”

The Snoball Shack, open daily at 11, also has grass-umbrellaed tables outside where people can sit and cool off with their snowballs.