Delaware's first drive-through marketplace and on-farm creamery in Bridgeville to cut ribbon Aug. 4

Evans Farms Produce and The Frozen Farmer have teamed up to provide a convenient way to shop and eat all things local. Together, they are opening Delaware's first drive-through marketplace and new on-farm creamery on Route 404 in Bridgeville. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at 4:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 4, at 9843 Seashore Highway, Bridgeville, to celebrate the grand opening.

The facility, one mile east of Route 13, is equipped with a carport where customers can drive up and place their grocery order, putting a convenient and unique spin on shopping for locally grown and produced goods.

"The concept of the drive-through marketplace is to add convenience for our customers," said Katey Evans. "Sometimes getting out of the vehicle can be a hassle. The drive-through marketplace allows customers the convenience of shopping for all of the local goods we carry, including produce, milk, eggs, bread, meat, cheese, jarred items and more, right from their vehicle."

In addition to the drive-through marketplace, the new Evans Farms building boasts a spacious general store area where customers can shop for locally produced groceries among a 12-foot indoor grain silo and 10-foot indoor windmill.

"This building has been a longtime dream for our family," said Kevin Evans, third-generation farmer and owner of Evans Farms, whose father's parents - the Evans family of Bridgeville - were fruit and vegetable farmers, and mother's parents - the Lucks family of Camden - were dairy farmers. "By establishing The Frozen Farmer last year, we were able to tie in our dairy roots and give our customers yet another way to enjoy our homegrown produce by making it into homemade, hand-dipped treats, like ice cream and sorbet."

The Frozen Farmer makes from scratch many flavors of ice cream, nice cream (part sorbet/part ice cream), and sorbet from the fruit grown on Evans Farms, as well as traditional favorites like cake batter, peanut butter cup and cookies-n-cream. The new Frozen Farmer at Evans Farms features an open kitchen so customers can interact with the chefs and watch them turn raw ingredients, like a basket of fresh-picked sweet corn, into an end product, like sweet corn ice cream.

"We wanted to show everyone what homemade really means by giving them a full view into our kitchen where they can watch us make our products from scratch right down to the very base ingredient," said Jo Ellen Algier, executive chef and co-owner of The Frozen Farmer. "We use only the most premium ingredients with no powders or mixes. That's what makes all the difference in flavor."

The Frozen Farmer also offers made-from-scratch waffle cones, sundaes, milkshakes, smoothies, root beer floats and made-to-order, farm-fresh juices and smoothies.

A kid-size ice cream cart play center entertains children while parents pay for their hand-dipped treats. Kids and adults alike can sit on the life-size cow named Millie-Moo that doubles as a bench for seating, and enjoy their farm-fresh frozen treats atop an antique Massey Ferguson tractor that provides a unique table for dining. The west wing of the building has a drive-through window for the frozen treats as well as spacious outdoor patio seating.

For more information, go to www.EvansFarmsProduce.com or www.TheFrozenFarmer.com.