‘Ice Cream Lady’ says job is self-therapy

With the recent celebration of Halloween, it’s a good time to visit with the ultimate deliverer of treats – “The Ice Cream Lady.” The season has ended for Diane Belmont’s route in her little musical ice cream truck and, depending on how her career goals work out this winter, she may pass on another summer of pushing frozen treats in Coeur d’Alene neighborhoods.

The 50-year-old learned how to sell ice cream while a high school student when her stepfather, tiring of his six kids always asking for money, created a business for them to run. Belmont was the first of the children in the family to drive the company’s motorized three-wheeled minitruck. After graduating from high school, she completed two years of college and obtained a cosmetology certificate. When her personal life went into chaos, Belmont got back into the ice cream business to try something fun and to focus on something other than her personal issues. The self-therapy worked, making her want to “get back in the saddle again.”

Enjoying interacting with her customers, the Ice Cream Lady offers kudos to Blue Bunny, as well as her boss, Shawn, and his sidekick, Doug, “for putting up with me.” Belmont deserves kudos herself. It must be tough putting up with the same music blaring over her minitruck while she maneuvers through neighborhoods while keeping a smile on her face.

What is your job title? “The Ice Cream Lady.”

How long have you been doing this? “For a few months this summer and part of the fall, plus one summer in high school.”

How did you choose this line of work? “I responded to a newspaper ad, saying the pay ranged from $15 to $20 an hour. The real reason I took the job was I had too much on my mind to concentrate on a ‘real’ job and I wanted something ‘fun.’ Knowledge is power, and a few months in an ice cream truck, listening to the same loud, short piece of a song sure makes you want to quit feeling sorry for yourself.”

Are you paid: (a) well; (b) more than you are worth; (c) slave wages, (d) could be better? (d). “It is about half, or less, than what was advertised on average.” Serving cocktails in country western bars in Spokane and Post Falls, she found that cowboys weren’t the greatest tippers but that the tips “were better from slinging beer than from passing out ice treats.”

What is the best thing about your job? “The people – the kids, young and old alike and their reactions and personalities.”

What is the worst thing about your job? “I had difficulty in the weather being so hot, when it was 90 degrees and above.”

Do you plan on doing this job (a) until retirement; (b) until something better comes along? “I’m seeking waitress work until I can save enough to get my hairdresser’s license again.”

Do you have any on-the-job funny stories? “My favorite is when three lovely elderly ladies came outside in their pajamas in the middle of the day during their card game.” She also confesses to getting into trouble as a teenager when she drove a girlfriend home on the freeway at 15 mph in the company three-wheeler.

Any bad experiences (please elaborate)? “On the day I could have potentially made the best profit, I broke a radiator hose in a trailer park. I met a very nice and helpful woman, though.”

If there was a movie made about you and your job, what actor should play you and why? “Molly Ringwald, because she’s a redhead (a real redhead) for one thing. But I think she could play my sense of humor and my sense of irony well.”