Even though our winters might not be what they once were, especially the ones remembered by us “Boomers” of the 1950s and 60s, the fact that all of the leaves have fallen and been sucked up by the “great vacuums” of Danville’s department of public works by January is a sure indicator that Nature is still going to plan!

So, in this midwinter month, I thought it might bring some warmth to remember something cold from summer (a bit of paradox): “The Ice Cream Man.” To be more precise, the product which he hauls around and sells. If he, himself were frozen solid, our memories of him might unfortunately be relatable to some of Clint Howard’s character’s victims in the horror movie The Ice Cream Man (1995).

This man of whom I write drives a van, different from the old “Town Clown” ice cream truck of memory. His sign, more generically just states “Ice Cream!” But, whatever the sign or type of vehicle, different people portraying the same “kid-popular character” also brings to mind “Santa Claus!” Maybe, just like Santa, there’s a demi-god “Ice Cream Man” somewhere; and these guys in the trucks and vans are “The Ice Cream Man’s Helpers!” Considering their product, it would also be fitting (and necessary) for his base of operation to be the North Pole! And if you interrupt this analogy by saying: “But parents buy the ice cream,” I would say (out of earshot of the kids): “And just who is it that pays for the Christmas toys? (despite the iconic label: “From Santa!”).

Well, I set out to write about the “jingles” played by the Ice Cream Man, not the “Jingle bells dashing through the snow; ” so I will now properly re-route myself.

This happened during another one of those times while exercise walking in Ballou Park, in late August, a few days before its splash pad’s yearly closing.

I was ascending Ballou Park’s great (but gradual) hill on the side near the senior center when I heard the sound of recorded bells coming from the direction of the park’s Park Avenue entrance. The taped peal of bells sounds different from the real thing; and besides, even though the sound of the bells travels far and wide through means of echo, the bells themselves don’t range about, so I knew it was coming from the loudspeaker atop the Ice Cream Man’s truck!

The tune being played was “Turkey in the Straw,” a melody that for me and many others has been associated with the arrival of frozen treats by wheel for many decades. When my children, Jeremy and Rachel were small, the “Town Clown” came down our street in Yanceyville, always announced by that well-worn “fiddle tune” transcribed to bells.

As the van weaved around the park, stopping at picnic shelters and splash pad, I noticed its blaring bells departing from that traditional tune. And after a few notes of each new melody, I found I could use the information which had been stored in my brain over many decades to “Name That Tune!” (or “Name Those Tunes! “).

Yes, it seemed like there had been a sort of evolution in the variety of songs “pealed” to attract not just the young customers, but their parents (the ones with the ice cream money).

Hearing the “Do-Re-Mi” song from The Sound of Music (1965), I thought back to when I saw the movie in high school, when it was new (and my old high school, East Rowan Sr. High was pretty new, too, being only about 6 years old at the time).

I was next surprised to hear “Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport” (1960), having heard it in its original “bell-less” form on an “Oldies” station just a few days before.

The next “song for bells” was “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree”(1973). In “my mind’s TV screen, I can still see Tony Orlando and Dawn on set (TV set, that is).

Not far away, and stopped, The Ice Cream Man was serving a man about my age (74), or a little older. I immediately thought of a church friend about my age whose wife said he still relishes a “Bomb Pop” from The Ice Cream Man (and another Bomb sticks in the minds of all of us Boomers).

The thought occurred to me: even if you get too old to master a push-up, a Push-Up can still be licked!

And the thought of an old man hailing The Ice Cream Man to relish a treat from his youth makes me think of the residents of that retirement home in the episode, “Kick the Can” (1962) of the original TV series, The Twilight Zone. At the episode’s end, they actually become physically young again by playing the game “kick the can.”

And thinking of the earlier days of TV and me in the late 1950s, around age 6 or 7, I was watching Shock Theater while washing down malted milk balls with a glass of milk (not ice cream, but dairy derived).

As the ice-cream van passed me, I couldn’t believe it when the minor-key theme of Tschaikovsky’s “Prelude to Swan Lake” began to play (or rather, ring!). This was indeed a long way from “Turkey in the Straw!” The same music in orchestral form had been used in the beginning credits of Dracula (1931) and The Mummy (1932). And it was even used in The Danville Little Theatre’s production of Arsenic and Old Lace back in 2014. I acted the part of “Dr. Einstein,” played by Peter Lorre in the 1944 film adaptation of the play. It may sound strange, but I had always wanted to be Peter Lorre; and in that production, I got to “be” him (well, his voice).

Looking back on that memorable day (anything connected with ice cream always being memorable), it was as if The Ice Cream Man had evolved over the years; and was now driving through Ballou Park, giving a special “shout out” (or a ring) to all of his “vintage kids,” still having “ears to hear.”