Standing at the counter of the Jericho Drive-In and Ice Cream stand in Glenmont on Tuesday, it would be easy to assume it was a normal day. A steady stream of customers pulled up to order scoops of the shop’s signature flavors - Almond Joyous, Nutella Me Something Good, and Raspberry Rumble.
But if you turned your head to the right – about 20 yards from the counter - you’d realize something was different. You’d notice rows of yellow caution tape, and the charred remains of a building.
"About quarter to seven last night," Lisa Chennette recalled, "we had a customer come to the window and tell us they think that our barn was on fire."
Chennette runs the Jericho Drive-In with her husband, Michael. When the customer let them know about the fire, Michael grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran outside. Lisa followed him, and was shocked when she saw the size of the flames. "It was coming out the door on the other side of the shed," Chennette said. "I didn't want my husband going anywhere near it, so that's why we called 911 right away."
A fire crew arrived quickly and got the blaze extinguished within about five minutes.
"I think they thought their favorite ice cream place was burning to the ground," Chennette surmised. "They probably hurried."
No one was injured by the fire, but Chennette said there were some notable losses. "We have some ice cream in some freezers that we store in there, and then all of our dishes and spoons and cups and everything we use to serve any of the ice cream. I still have ice cream melting in the freezers out back that are just kind of sitting in this pile of charred rubbish."
Still, once things calmed down, Lisa went on social media and posted some pictures of the fire, along with an announcement: the Jericho would be open for business the next day. The post got a huge reaction.
"You know, people wanted to donate money and do GoFundMe," Chennette said. "And I said, ‘Please don't, we're, we're fine.’ You know, leave that for somebody who needs it. We'll be fine. Just stuff, it can be replaced. Just come to the drive-in on the weekends, and come to the ice cream stand every day, get something different. We have a huge menu, so you could be here every day and not get the same thing ordered probably in three months."
At picnic tables across the parking lot, a group of regulars licked their cones and surveyed the damage – including John, who was enjoying a Chocolate Peanut Butter Blast sundae, and his daughter Georgie, whose Blue Goo soft serve was melting a little. She was eating it quickly, making sure not to spill any.
John said Georgie was upset when they saw a story about the fire on the news. "She started crying! She was like, 'Oh God – aaah!'”
John and his family come to the Jericho for ice cream all the time – especially to celebrate. That’s actually why they were there Tuesday. "She just had her class musical today," John said, nodding at Georgie. "She sang a bunch of songs and everything in class. She did a good job, too! So, after school got out early, I was like, let’s go get some ice cream."
Lisa Chennette says it’ll take a while before the fire department determines how the fire started. But in the meantime, it’s business as usual at the Jericho.
