Dairy Treat

My small soft serve was huge and the kids scoops we're generous too.

Love the new building. And the staff was super friendly. Even brought our order to our car.

Very pleasant visit, I appreciate when young people left in charge are responsible and they certainly were; also, very sweet.

Yummy!!! Could have mixed the shake a little longer.

I lived down the street from the Hortons when they opened the Dairy Treat in 1969. I was a friend of their son, Todd, and the Dairy Treat was most definitely a family affair. Mr. Horton and his son, Mike, painted the polka dots themselves. Kim was a server and did much of the accounting. I can remember her showing me how she reconciled the receipts with the cash box using a mechanical adding machine with a big lever (while sitting on the family room floor). I was very impressed by how serious she was about it. Meanwhile, Todd spent quite a lot of time perfecting his skateboarding on Lafayette Avenue. His parents made him string his skateboard to his ankle so that it wouldn't roll across Harbor Drive if he lost it.

I am sure there have been some difficult times. I remember Mrs. Horton talking about a nearby street riot - if you can believe something like that happened in Grand Haven. However, I think it has been a pretty good run for the Dairy Treat - built on honesty, hard work and good judgement. The number of teenage employees who have been touched by the Horton/Goldman family and these values is beyond counting and undoubtedly contributed to the culture of the Grand Haven community. I am sure the Dairy Treat in its early form will be greatly missed, and it makes me wonder if we may be losing something of ourselves amidst all of our growth and progress.