Everyone’s favorite summer treat is the star of the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum’s largest event of the summer.
The 15th-annual Ice Cream Sunday, which happens to land on National Ice Cream Day, is from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on July 15. The event will move indoors if weather becomes an issue.
Admission for Ice Cream Sunday is the same as regular museum admission: $5 for adults, $4 for senior citizens and $3 for children ages 4 to 17. Children 3 and under are admitted free. Free passes (Culture, Library or Friends) are not part of this special event.
The first 600 people to pay admission to Ice Cream Sunday receive a coupon for a free 5-ounce cup of Caliche’s Frozen Custard to use at the museum during the afternoon. Visitors are also invited to make their own ice cream using tin cans or plastic bags while supplies last. Ingredients are provided and there will be instruction areas in the museum courtyard.
The popular annual ice cream sandwich eating races are scheduled to start at 3 p.m., with registration from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Only those who sign up will be allowed to compete and there will be a limited number of participants. The age categories for the races are: 4-6, 7-10, 11-13, 14-17, and 18-and-over. Prizes will be awarded to the top finishers in each division.
There also will be games, activities, the regular museum offerings, and a plant sale featuring plants grown in the museum’s greenhouse. Museum volunteer Jerry Schickedanz will be making ice cream using a washing-machine motor and handing out free samples.
The New Mexico Vintage Iron tractor club will be on hand to provide barrel rides for the kids.
Lost Cruces Escape Room will offer table-top escape games free of charge as part of the event. The three-minute games are available to all guests on a first-come-first-play basis. Fastest times of the day in Drag, Swing and Point categories (of increasing difficulty) will win gift certificates to Lost Cruces’s permanent location adjacent to Hotel Encanto. All games are family-friendly and players of all ages are invited to play. For more information, guests are welcome to call or email Lost Cruces Escape Room Managing Director Griffin Allen at 575-323-2112 or g.all@LostCruces.com.
Red Hawk Golf Club also will offer games. Other supporters of the event include the Friends of the Museum, the Museum’s volunteers, Mayfield High School Honor Society, Centennial FFA, Rockin’ Jump, Southwest Dairy Farmers, Sarah Farms, Allen Theaters, Cracker Barrel, Village Inn, Tractor Supply Company, Walmart, Hubbard’s Music, Wet-n-Wild, Adventure Zone and Peter Piper Pizza.
While the ice cream sandwich eating contest and games are inside, the ice cream making activities are outside, so visitors are encouraged to bring hats or umbrellas. For more information, call (575) 522-4100.
