Snowflake Ice Cream Shoppe in Riverhead hit hard by heat wave, power outage

Snowflake Ice Cream Shoppe in Riverhead was hit by "just like a perfect storm" last week. First the family-run shop lost air conditioning and three freezers during the heat wave, then it lost power two days later, said Stuart Feldschuh, the shop's owner.

Snowflake lost all of its hard ice cream, which is made on site, on Thursday as temperatures hit the high 90s and repairmen worked to fix the air conditioner.

"The next day we were able to open as a soft serve-only store, and we stayed, we worked day and night making ice cream, so we’d be prepared for July 4," Feldschuh, 75, said. "We were back, and we had most of our flavors made again."

"We have a great community, so everyone’s on board," said Nigel Ranghell, Snowflake’s manager. "They were coming regardless. We were just selling soft serve, and people were just happy to be there."

But around 10 p.m. on the Fourth of July, the shop lost power for eight hours during severe thunderstorms and again lost all of its hard ice cream.

Ranghell said he and Feldschuh were outside clearing the area after receiving a weather warning when the storm hit and the shop lost power.

"We were getting ready for it, zipping the awnings down and putting crates away so they don’t go all over the place," Ranghell, 35, said. "And as soon as we started, it just ripped right through the place."

Ranghell and Feldschuh sent employees home and waited out the night, hoping the power would return.

"I stayed here until 3 in the morning, maybe. I wanted to be here in case power came back. I have so many machines, I turned most of them off, but I would turn them on one by one, and I was hoping that I could save everything I could," Feldschuh said.

Snowflake regained power around 6 a.m. Sunday. Employees dumped spoiled ice cream and cleaned the shop before working late into the night making enough hard ice cream to reopen the following morning. By Tuesday, the store was again operating at full capacity.

"We’re a real mom-and-pop shop, and it’s like everybody here is family, and we had lots of people that were involved with this all day, all night," Feldschuh said.

Ranghell said Riverhead’s response to the storm showcases the community’s strength.

"We're a strong town ... everyone just went about their day the next day, just cleaning up, and I see a lot of people helping each other out, going over to houses and picking up trees and whatever else," Ranghell said.

Feldschuh said Snowflake had seen community members come together for ice cream as the town recovered from the storm.

"Things can be really bad, but let’s take a break, get an ice cream and go back," Feldschuh said.

He added, "Things like this happen, emergencies, and I think Riverhead recoups really quick."