Sidney Shelton

It’s a hot afternoon but it’s even hotter in the ice cream truck that senior Brett Sloan is driving. Kids in a local neighborhood run outside because they hear the repetitive songs of the truck around the corner. They rush to the truck and hand over crinkled dollar bills in exchange for their favorite ice cream. For two and a half years Brett has helped deliver ice cream throughout the St. Louis area for Frosty Treats.

“A lot of the people down there [Frosty Treats] are really nice,” Brett said. “[I like] getting to see the kids’ faces when I get them their ice cream.”

Before Brett drove the truck, he loaded them and prepared them for other drivers. Over the summer Brett drove from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. nearly everyday. This was an ideal schedule for Brett because he played baseball after-words.

“I think it’s a great job for him,” Brett’s father Greg Sloan said. “It’s taught him to punctual, on time, and taught him to work for a boss and that’s a good skill for every one to learn.”

Frosty Treats has been part of the Sloan family for over 30 years. Greg was a manager, his older brother worked there and Brett grew up around the ice cream trucks. But the connections to the company didn’t help him get the job.

“It was a family business for us, but for the time Brett worked there I wasn’t there,” Greg said. “This family has been in the ice cream business for twenty-five years, but he got the job on his own.”

Because both Brett’s father and brother had worked at Frosty Treats before him, Brett felt the pressure to work hard at his job.

“Yeah I had a lot to like live up to because my brother was always

a really hard worker and my dad was the manager for like 30 years,” Brett said.

Over the summer temperatures reached the high 90s and into the 100s but Brett still drove the ice cream truck.

“[The worst thing is] the heat because most of the trucks don’t have air conditioning,” Brett said. “Most people think it would be cool because of the big freezer but you can’t really get in there.”

On top of the heat Brett listened to the same songs playing over and over again blasting from the speakers announcing the sale of ice cream where ever he went.

“Yeah [the same songs playing over and over again get annoying],”

Brett said. “They have different songs, but they only have a few good ones and everyone knows that’s the ‘Hello’ one.”

There were two months of summer and for his first time driving the ice cream tuck Brett worked 20 hours a week.

“He’s a very hard worker,” Jan said.” He gets in, people tell him what to do and he does it.”