Sweet treats for sale

Milk, sugar and flavoring, mixed with help from a John Deere ice cream machine and guiding hands, are turned into a sweet treat. Carl Rader, who owns Rader's Old Fashioned Homemade Ice Cream with his wife, Grace Rader, said the 15-year-old company is based out of Tiro and is a full-time job. He and Grace do the work at the stand, which is located near the livestock buildings at Seneca County Fair. "We serve the window," he said. The business travels to 35 events, including 14 fairs, per year. Carl Rader said he made 40 gallons of ice cream Tuesday and 44 gallons Monday morning. His work Tuesday started at 7 a.m. and was completed by 10:30 a.m. Carl Rader said about 2 gallons of milk, along with sugar and flavoring, go into the canister. It takes about 20 minutes per mix to yield about 4 gallons of ice cream, he said. The ice cream is made on-site. Carl Rader uses a 3-horsepower hit-and-miss John Deere ice cream machine, which he said does all of the cranking for him. The engine was built in the late 1930s, he said. He produces 4,000 gallons of ice cream in a season. The Raders are serving vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, butter pecan, mint chip, peanut butter, cookie dough and cherry, which is new this year, at Seneca County Fair. They serve ice cream in cups and offer shakes, rootbeer floats and cones. Carl Rader said he likes strawberry and John Deere green. They're all good, he said, "just depends what you like."