Photo courtesy of Tiffany Nicolosi
BY JENNIFER CROWLEY
In February 2017, the life of eight year-old Kael Orin Nicolosi was cut tragically short the morning of February 9th while on his way to school. A distracted driver ran a stop sign at the intersection of Morgan and Scottsville-Chili Roads, hitting the car Kael, his mother Tiffany, her mother Valerie, and Kael’s cousin Keithy were driving in. The Nicolosi’s lives were irrevocably changed that morning, leading the family to deal with unimaginable pain as they tried to figure out a way forward without their wonderfully smart, kind and generous boy, who genuinely loved ice cream.
Little did either Tiffany or her husband Keith know then that ice cream would be in their future as a way to channel their grief, memorialize Kael’s life, and bring something back to the village community that had been missing for over 25 years. Thanks to the positive energy of Tiffany and Keith, feeding off of the inspiration Kael provided, iKON ice cream will be opening its purple trimmed doors at 12 Main Street in the next few weeks.
As for how the idea for the shop came to be, Tiffany explained, “During the summer 0f 2016, Kael saw that an ice cream business was selling their fleet of ice cream trucks. He thought this would be a great investment and promised if we bought it, he would work selling ice cream all the time.”
That conversation resurfaced in his parents minds as they sought a way to enhance the community spirit that kept them going after Kael’s passing. Having grown up in Scottsville herself, Tiffany spent a lot of time at Annis Dairy, a beloved ice cream shop that had been open during the 1980s and located only doors down from iKON. “I would always meet up with all the local kids there to eat ice cream and socialize after games. Then it just hit us one day, the town needs this again!”
“Soft chocolate ice cream in a cone with chocolate sprinkles with a dish of extra sprinkles on the side was what Kael would ALWAYS order. Like other families that wanted ice cream after a hot game we would have to drive to either Sprinkles or Byrne Dairy in Chili because they were the closest options around. So we really are most excited about giving back to the community in a way that will bring a lot of happiness and memories to our friends and neighbors.”
With the talk of iKON opening in the village, many residents have been reminiscing about the days of Annis Dairy. Annis offered many flavors of ice cream with unique blends such as peppermint stick and chocolate butter fudge helping seal its reputation for having the best ice cream around. High buttermilk content was what many believed gave the ice cream its unbelievably smooth texture and highly satisfying taste. In the late 1980s Upstate Milk Cooperative purchased Annis’ equipment, milk delivery routes and milk plant in Avon, but it wasn’t long before the shops themselves went out of business. The Scottsville shop closed in the early 1990s.
iKON will be serving over 40 different flavors of custard and 16 flavors of hard ice cream, supplied by Upstate Farms. The menu also includes several specialty dishes including ice cream nachos. The shop is decked out in purple and orange, Kael’s favorite colors, and its decor includes numerous photos of Kael and related mementos. The shop will also be connected to The Kael Nicolosi Foundation which was formed to help spread awareness of the dangers of distracted driving. Bracelets and shirts will be available for purchase at iKON. “We can never say thank you enough to the community for rallying around us the way it did after Kael passed. It is so important to us that everyone feel very welcome and somehow a part of the shop.”
iKON has about 10-15 seats available inside along with bench seating; a few tables will be available outside. The Nicolosis have hired a handful of employees, most of them students from Wheatland-Chili High School. Kael’s younger sister Alexa will also be a fixture at the shop, and older brother Wyatt shares the excitement as well.
While iKON is hoping to open for Memorial Day, there are a small number of things being wrapped up. As the couple has learned, “Everything takes more time than you anticipate and you are at the mercy of others! Let’s just say.
Keith has been much more stressed than I have been. He had to deal with an unexpected switch to 3 phase electric and a number of plumbing changes as well,” according to Tiffany. As of right now they are planning on the shop being open from March-November, but will determine exact dates later this year once they see what the reaction and demand is like.
“It has been a lot of work, and we have learned so much along the way. We know how proud Kael is, looking down on us, delighted we gave into his ice cream idea and overjoyed that we will be serving his friends and their families something he enjoyed so very much.”
