About Us
We Are Two Transplants
Who Came to Love the Roanoke Valley.
Andrew Beltram was born in Danville, VA and spent a large portion of his youth and early adult years in the Scranton, PA area. In 2004, he moved to Roanoke to work in a construction/industrial supply business. Through the years, he worked in various industries but could never find one that stuck. What did stick was his desire to make a permanent home here so he bought a cute house in SE and fixed it up.
Melanie Crovo was born in Loudoun County VA and moved to Roanoke in 1994 to go to school. It wasn’t long before she realized this place had everything, mountains, music, and water. Best of all there was no traffic to speak of. She was never going back to Northern VA.
The Dream
Turns out both of us had always dreamed of opening an ice cream shop. Unfortunately, starting an ice cream shop is EXPENSIVE and Roanoke had several great options already. With a little research we decided on Shaved Ice. We looked to the sno-ball capital of the US, New Orleans, LA to purchase our machine and our flavors. We figured a place that had been in business since 1932 had to be doing something right. Next was selecting a location. Looking around Andrew’s SE neighborhood, we saw the need for a place where families could come to enjoy an inexpensive treat. As we were doing our research, we found I Heart SE and the SE action Forum working hard to bring change to the neighborhood. Best of all, it was working. We knew we wanted to be part of it.
The Pandemic
Where the pandemic brought challenges, we found opportunities. Since inside activities and dining were limited, we felt lucky to have our concession trailer and outside tables where people could hang out safely and have some fun. Seeing our customers’ happy faces brought us so much joy. From conception, contributing to our community was a major part of our business plan. With so much need it was easy to find ways to help. Our Chillin’ Ice Doin’ Nice program was launched in 2021. We plan to grow that program further in 2022.
The Future
We will continue to volunteer in our community, forging new relationships as we grow. Rest assured our yummy shaved ice will continue to help cool you off this summer in SE. We hope to add a few part-time ice slingers to our team in 2022. To help more people discover us, we plan to do more local events. Watch our Instagram and Facebook pages to keep track of where we will be each day. We also hope to offer a few new products this season… stay tuned!