Weber Days Ice Cream Social & Family Festival Scheduled

During Irving Weber’s lengthy career in the ice cream business in Iowa City, his wife Martha used to quip that “[they’d] be rich, but Irving’s eating up all the profit.” It is with Irving’s love of ice cream in mind that an Ice Cream Social & Family Festival will be the culminating event of this year’s Irving B. Weber Days. This fun-filled event will take place on Saturday, May 31 from 1:00-4:00 p.m. at City Park in Iowa City.

Along with free ice cream, the event will feature old-fashioned games, 10 cent admission to the City Park pool, horse-drawn wagon rides, classic cars, 10 cent carnival rides, and much more! Bring your lawn chair or blanket and sit back and enjoy performances from a host of local talent, including vocals by Wayne Neuzil, the Iowa City Community Band, and the University of Iowa Swing Dance Club performing to the music of the Silver Swing Band. And help pick the winner in the first-ever Irving Weber look-alike contest!

Saturday, May 31
Schedule of Events – Upper City Park
1:00 p.m. Welcome/opening remarks by Mayor Regenia Bailey
1:10 p.m. Vocalist Wayne Neuzil
1:30-2:30 p.m. Silver Swing Band with UI Swing Dance Club
2:30-3:00 p.m. Irving Weber Look-Alike Contest
3:00-4:00 p.m. Iowa City Community Band

Irving Weber was a lifelong Iowa City resident (1900-1997), the University of Iowa’s first All-American swimmer, businessman in the dairy and ice cream business, and designated in 1989 as Iowa City’s Official Historian. A day to honor Irving’s memory and instill the desire for current residents to appreciate and preserve the community’s history was first established in 1998. “I had the distinct pleasure of knowing Irving Weber,” said Shaner Magalhães, executive director of the Johnson County Historical Society, “and it is befitting of his legacy that the community continues to honor him by emphasizing the importance of preserving and telling the stories of our collective past.” “And I’d venture to guess that Irving would truly enjoy the ice cream social that we have planned” added Magalhães.

Admission to the Ice Cream Social & Family Festival is free and open to the public. Free parking is available in City Park, and also in the Hancher parking lot (un-metered spaces only).

Sponsored by the City of Iowa City, Iowa City Press-Citizen, KCJJ Radio, University of Iowa Community Credit Union, and Roberts Dairy; and organized by the Johnson County Historical Society and Iowa City Host (Noon) Lions Club. For more information, call 319/351-5738