ABOVE: Mike Steuber puts liquid chocolate on an ice cream cake, getting ready for Dairy Freeze’s opening day today.

FAIRMONT – Starting today at 4 p.m. Dairy Freeze will be open for business.

Co-owner Mike Steuber, who’s owned Dairy Freeze for seven years, said they’ve been working for a month to get everything together.

“Getting all the items, candy pieces, equipment fruits,” he said. “Make sure all the ice cream machines are working, get everything cleaned up and ready to go for another year.”

From the end of last season to now, Steuber said he has been looking around for new ideas.

“Once we get everything cleaned up and winterized, it’s mainly trying to see new things,” he said. “There’s some food shows we go to.”

It was at one of these food shows two weeks ago Steuber found what would be the only major new change this year. He found a new machine to make frozen coffee.

“A few people were interested in some type of coffee thing,” Steuber said. “It’ll be frozen vanilla cappuccino and chocolate frappe flavors. It’s like a slushie.”

Dairy Freeze already has a couple of coffee items, including a mix-in option for their Flavor Burst ice cream. Even so, Steuber said he had heard plenty of demand for more coffee options.

Opening April 18 fits right around when Dairy Freeze typically opens every year.

“Usually it’s the third week in April,” Steuber said. “Usually we look at the weather, see if it’s going to be decent enough. But this year it worked out that Easter was a little later. The goal this year was trying to be open for Easter.”

Although Thursday saw its fair share of rain, Steuber said the weather is looking favorable for their opening.

“Rain is not good for business,” he said. “Other than that, it’s usually pretty good. If anybody doesn’t want to wait in line, the rainy days are the best days to come.”

Hiring help has also been at the forefront of their preparations. Steuber said his staff is mainly high schoolers, and he has 10 employees. This year, they were able to retain all of their employees. He said this is beneficial for the business.

“If they’re returning employees from years before, it’s maybe a half hour,” Steuber said. “Like riding a bike, they’re right back into it. The new employees, it takes maybe two or three weeks before they feel comfortable.”

Steuber said there are several skills he has seen youth learn from working at Dairy Freeze.

“The main thing is customer interaction,” he said. “Being able to talk to people at the window, handle if there’s issues, dealing with money. A lot of kids nowadays don’t handle the money. It’s a lot of cards. Work ethic, for showing up on time.”

With Dairy Freeze being a community staple, Steuber said he is excited to see new and returning customers on opening day.

“You get to know people every year,” he said. “The same people come back. They like to be here. It’s fun seeing the kids, people anywhere from two to 92 years old. You get a mix, everybody seems happy to be outside.”

After opening day, Dairy Freeze will return to its normal hours of 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mon-Sat and 1 to 10 p.m. Sunday.