ELLSWORTH – One day while driving down Main Street, Ann Huppert looked at the building at 335 W. Main St. and wished she could turn it into a place for kids to visit and hang out. Little did she know her dream was about to come true.

When the former business vacated the building, she spoke to her husband Carson and teenage sons Jace and Jordy Anderson and they were on board. Sticky Sweet became Ellsworth’s newest business. Serving up ice cream, sweet treats and smiles is the goal.

“We just never dropped it and kept working on it,” Huppert said. “Ellsworth has a lot of places for adults to go, but not a lot of places for kids to hang out.”

Her sons helped her develop the menu, which includes 24 flavors of Wisconsin-based Cedar Crest ice cream available by the cup, cone or in a shake. They both work at the store and Carson is the maintenance man who keeps everything running smoothly behind the scenes.

“I work at Stout so I’m not always available during the day,” Huppert said. “Once we got everything set, the boys and I came in and made up the menu and practiced things, and came up with things to make.”

Sticky Sweet’s menu also features three types of cookies, the popular Cookie Smash (two scoops and two warm cookies), ice cream cookie sandwiches, pretzels with cheese, crunchy pickles and taffy by the pound.

Huppert’s family likes to travel and stop at local ice cream shops long the way. She felt Ellsworth was missing something after Dairy Queen closed.

“When you go to an ice cream shop, you’re happy and excited that you’re going to get a treat,” Huppert said. “I really wanted to have something in the evenings and after school where kids can go get a snack. Hopefully it’s a welcome space where they want to be.”

Huppert employs 16 kids, including Kensie Matzek who handles social media.

“I just hope it’s a place that kids can swing in and families can drop in and hopefully it’s a positive place where high school age kids can work,” Huppert said. “I didn’t have to advertise for workers. I was impressed. I think every single one of them contacted me somehow, made the effort to reach out to me to say they really want to work here.”

Sophomores Alexander Perez Rangel and Ava Acker love their jobs and had their recommendations for customers.

“It’s a fun place to work at serving ice cream and everybody here is nice,” Perez Rangel said. “I like the Cookie Smash, which is a big cup with two warm cookies and two scoops of ice cream.”

Acker said she likes all the people she works with and seeing little kids get excited when they scoop their ice cream.

“At first I was skeptical about the Superman (ice cream), but when I tried it, it was so good,” Acker said.

As for her family’s favorites, Jace prefers the pineapple upside down cake ice cream and Jordy favors the mango sorbet shake, Huppert said. Her husband loves them all.

The March 30 opening fell on a beautiful weekend that brought people into the shop in droves.

“It was amazing,” Huppert said. “It was super nice out that day and people were super nice. It was incredible.”

Visitors who remember Cubby’s Pizza will find a special surprise inside the shop: The gumball machine that used to be in his store. Cubby Huber’s daughter Billie loaned it to Huppert for a piece of Ellsworth nostalgia. Artwork for sale also adorns the walls and handmade earrings by a student will soon be available.

Huppert also credits local business owners Sara and Jerad Erlandson for helping her navigate owning a new business and creating a logo.

Sticky Sweet is open 4-8 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the weekends. Once school is out, the hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Huppert also plans to use Langer Park next door (with the village’s permission) for extra seating.

“Thank you to my workers because they have been doing a kick butt job,” Huppert said. “Theyre willing to learn and they’re on top of it. Everybody that has been stopping in even though the weather hasn’t been that great, we’ve had consistent business and people are super nice and supportive.”

To learn more, follow Sticky Sweet on social media or visit sticky-sweet.com