
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 15, 1995                   TAG: 9507170047
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                 LENGTH: Medium

A REAL SNOW JOB

One man, dressed in his work clothes, comes twice a day for his jumbo-sized watermelon-flavored treat. Another has been by three times in two days, buying a watermelon, a ``cold duck'' and a cherry, respectively. A third guy spent a good five minutes finding a parking spot for his dump truck.

Could the reason for this demand be that the server, Barbie Price, occasionally dons her bikini top to keep cool?

"Nah, they're just hot," Price said Friday.

The demand, Price insists, is for the syrupy, sticky, ice-cold snow cones she sells.

Price has been spending the recent dog days inside a wooden shack at the corner of Prices Fork and Merrimac roads. A sign with bright orange block letters spelling "SNOW CONES" sits atop an open window where Price peers out, waiting for customers and avoiding the sun.

Her friend, Lacy Bennett, came up with the idea. Price came from her home in Tennessee to spend the summer in Blacksburg and told Bennett she'd help him out with the fledgling business.

The summer stand has been open for about two months, relying on word of mouth to bring in thirsty folks.

With temperatures hitting the 90-degree mark, Price keeps cool in shorts and a plaid bikini top.

"The other day, a woman covered her little boy's eyes and walked him back to the car," Price said. "I didn't think it was a big deal."

She went to put on a shirt after they left.

Business picks up in the afternoon, Price said, when college students cool off from a day at the river, commuters stop by for a taste of summer and sweaty children replenish energy lost at the miniature golf course and batting cages across the street.

When business is slow, Price often makes a sample for her 6-year-old daughter, Farah, shredding the ice in an automated steel compressor, pouring it into a Dixie cup and covering the melting rocks with one of 40 gooky flavors.

"She loves them all," Price said. "I can't stand any of them. They're too sweet."

Sweet is an understatement. The flavor called "Pez" is a mixture of grape and coconut syrup that clings to the mouth like glue.

"You got to eat it right quick, before it melts," Price said.

Price said she plans to keep the shop open until about 9 p.m., especially on weekend nights.

A small cup costs 50; a jumbo will set you back $1.25. Chocolate and marshmallow syrup are extra.

This simple little refreshment stand contains a whole lot of sweetness.|

by CNB