14th Annual Killis Melton Ice Cream Crank-Off to be held at Chestnut Square Historic Village in McKinney on July 4th

Start out your Independence Day holiday with the 14th annual Killis Melton Ice Cream Crank-off presented by Chestnut Square Historic Village and McKinney Main Street. From 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on July 4th, visitors to the Chestnut Square Historic Village can sample fresh, unique and homemade ice cream.

The competition, held in front of the Dulaney House at Chestnut Square is open to the public. Pre-registration is not required, and contestants should arrive by 8:30 a.m. with an ice cream freezer and pre-mixed ingredients for registration. Ice cream recipes should not contain raw eggs. Contestants should also bring 5 gallons of their flavor entry for tasting. Salt and ice will be furnished by Clyde Geer.

The public can begin sampling the various ice cream flavors at noon. A minimum of $3 will be accepted in exchange for a wrist band that allows tasting at each Tasting Station. All proceeds from the sampling will benefit the McKinney Education Foundation in memory of Leslie Geer and the Clyde and Doc's Ice Cream Churn Exhibit at Chestnut Square.

“What better way to spend a hot Saturday afternoon than cooling off with a sampling homemade ice cream? You can find flavors as unique as Curry, as gourmet as Chocolate Caramel Crunch, and as familiar as vanilla,” said McKinney Main Street Director, Ty Lake. “By moving the date of this favorite annual event to coincide with Red, White and BOOM!, it rounds out a very special weekend. The Ice Cream Crank Off in one more example of what makes our wonderful community truly unique by nature.”

Along with sampling ice cream, event attendees can enjoy the unique ambiance of Chestnut Square Historic Village.

Doc n' Clyde's, a museum exhibit featuring more than 300 antique ice cream freezers and ice cream memorabilia, will be open during the festival. The museum is was moved to Chestnut Square Historic Village when Clyde’s on the Square closed in 2008.

Visitors are urged to park in one of the many downtown parking lots and take the new McKinney Trolley, funded by the McKinney Community Development Corporation to Chestnut Square. The Trolley will run a route around the McKinney parking lots on the quarter hour. In addition to the Crank-Off, the Historic Downtown McKinney Farmers Market will take place at Chestnut Square 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. and the Antique Car Show will be next door from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

Historic Downtown's specialty shops, art galleries, furniture stores, antique collections, gift shops, apparel boutiques and more than a dozen restaurants will be open for visitors to enjoy. Enjoy an upside down meal by attending the tasting and then dining at one of the many wonderful downtown restaurants.

“Ice cream is an American pastime, and we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate our holiday weekend than this,” said Clyde Geer, former owner of Clyde’s on the Square. “Everyone has some sort of fond memory about making homemade ice cream. My family and I enjoy putting this together each year, and our hope is that families throughout our community will continue to relive those special moments and cherish time spent with one another in Historic Downtown McKinney.”

For more information, contact Cindy Johnson at 972-562-8790 or email info@chestnutsquare.org. Applications are available at www.chestnutsquare.org or by calling 972-562-8790. Wristbands for tasting may be purchased in advance at www.chestnutsquare.org or by calling 972-562-8790.

Sponsors for the 14th Annual Killis Melton Ice Cream Crank-Off are:

McKinney Community Development Corporation
Medical Center McKinney
Clyde and Lu Geer
Collin County Tents
Mark Lowey State Farm
North Texas Kids