John Deere usually brings tractors and dirt to mind, not ice cream. But with a few mechanical tweaks, Wayne Beard has turned his green-and-yellow 1954 Model 40 tractor into an ice-cream churn.
On Thursday, Beard and his friends hosted a fish fry at Sam Pilkinton”s catfish farm for workers on the road crew that is widening Highway 45 South. Pilkinton”s farm is nestled deep into Lowndes County between winding dirt roads under an expansive sky. Huge stock ponds surround the small cluster of buildings where most of the work is done.
The feast was complete with hushpuppies, cole slaw, potato salad, and plenty of fried catfish. But Beard”s ice cream put a twist on an otherwise normal Mississippi fish fry.
The afternoon was one of Beard”s inaugural churning sessions after he came up with the idea about a month ago.
Getting the tractor to do the work certainly beats turning a crank by hand. To make the machine work, Beard hooked up a series of belts and pulleys to two of wooden buckets packed with ice and salt to freeze the milk, cream and sugar, which are mixed in a metal canister.
“I collect old tractors, and I decided I wanted to do something with one instead of letting it just sit,” Beard said.
Beard, the Lowndes County deputy sheriff in charge of litter control, does this sort of thing all the time, and it”s not about the money.
“It”s a conversation piece,” he said. “You can”t get John Deere ice cream just anywhere.”
Beard paused and pointed to a stain on a little girl”s shirt as she walked by.
“You look like you had some,” he said.
“My dad tried to make me taste it,” she replied.
“You wouldn”t eat it?” Beard asked.
“I”m not really a vanilla fan,” she said.
Beard didn”t seem phased.
“I”ve got the taste to it that I like,” he smiled. “If other people don”t like it, they don”t have to eat it.”
Luckily, vanilla is a hit with most people.
“Everybody”s bragging on it,” Beard said. “It tastes like what their daddies used to make years ago.”
Terry Penney, a road worker from Burnsville, couldn”t agree more.
“It”s awesome,” said Penney, who said he made ice cream with his family every Sunday when he was a child. “It”s just like grandma made, but this tastes even better.”
It must have been the color. The ice cream has a rich vanilla flavor, but it isn”t plain by any stretch. Beard throws in a dash of green food coloring to make it match the John Deere theme.
“Wayne loves to cook and do this kind of stuff,” said David Ashmore, who has been friends with Beard since they were eight years old. “He”s always doing something for someone, which is how it should be, I guess.”
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