By Maggie Beamguard
Insider Editor
It’s time to dig out your spoons this Fourth of July and celebrate America’s 250th birthday with a scoop of ice cream. The Founding Fathers ate it up, after all.
Thomas Jefferson’s handwritten recipe for vanilla ice cream is one of 10 surviving recipes by the signer of the Declaration’s hand, according to monticello.org. And George and Martha Washington served the treat to visitors to the nation’s first capital.
And according to the International Dairy Foods Association, “Dolley Madison served a magnificent strawberry ice cream creation at President Madison’s second inaugural banquet at the White House.”
So where is one to find a good pint in Moore County? Of ice cream, that is?
For many Moore County families, a stop at a farm stand with a funny sounding name on N.C. 211, is a summer tradition.
Kalawi Farm began in 1985 when Jan and Art Williams started selling peaches and sweet corn from the back of a truck. Jan, a third-generation peach grower, wanted to continue her family’s farming tradition after marrying Art.
Since the couple was growing a family and not just peaches, they gave the business a name that honored the apples of their eyes — their three children — Katie, Laura and Will. The first two letters of each child’s name earned a syllable in the endeavor.
Then came Ben.
“Ben was the surprise baby,” said Maria Williams, Jan’s daughter-in-law. Maria married the “Wi” in Kalawi.
The ice cream shop opened when Jan found herself looking for a way to use peaches that weren’t sold fresh before they turned. Rather than let the fruit go to waste, she started making peach ice cream. The sweet spot was named for the baby in the family, and Ben’s Ice Cream has been on the map ever since it opened in 1991.
The first flavor was, of course, peach.
Now over three decades later, the shop sells 20 homemade flavors and nine seasonal favorites. White peach, blackberry and coconut are summer’s seasonals.
Ten of the homemade favors are named after Jan’s 10 grandchildren. One of the most popular is Nash’s ‘Nana Pudding, a banana pudding-inspired flavor. Another is Paisley’s Popular Peach. Customers often ask what makes Paisley’s Popular Peach different from the regular peach cream. “There’s no difference,” Williams said with a chuckle. “It’s the same thing. We just put her name in front of it.”
Family ties run throughout the business. Jan’s children, grandchildren, in-laws and extended family members have all played a part in the running of the farm, the stand and the ice cream shop. Many young people working behind the ice cream counter each summer are family friends or local students who return over four or five years, at least until they get their “big kid jobs,” Williams said.
Williams believes that a sense of family is part of what keeps customers coming back. And while many customers are from Moore County, others go out of their way to stop by on their way through to summer beach vacations.
“They stop here every summer, and they look forward to seeing her sitting out here,” Williams said of Jan. “Jan’s made relationships with people out here summer after summer after summer.”
She is still out there. Jan, fresh off a recent knee replacement, can be spotted carrying 20-pound buckets of blueberries and 30-pound baskets of peaches. With her 70th birthday coming up in August, she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Williams said Jan has a saying: “Peaches are in my blood.”
Kalawi is more than a roadside stand these days. The property has a playground with a pirate ship and swing sets, a super slide and jump pillows. In the fall, Kalawi holds a corn maze, pumpkin patch and other activities.
“People come out here, and they’ll play for hours at a time,” said Williams. “You’ll drive through and then drive by two hours later and they’re still there, the same kids running around.”
Kalawi Farm and Ben’s Ice Cream are located at 23339 N.C. 211 in Eagle Springs and are open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the summer season. The farm will be closed on July 4 so the Williams family and staff can celebrate.
Customers should stock up on peaches and ice cream early. Then you can chill in style, just like the founding fathers.
Contact Maggie Beamguard at maggie@thepilot.com.
Kalawi Farm participates in Moore County Peach Week,
Get a full schedule of events for July 18-26.
supplying more than 100 half-bushels of peaches to area restaurants
which feature special peach-inspired dishes and drinks
during the a restaurant competition July 22-26.
