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The Ernst family has been dishing ice cream from this nondescript strip mall at 195 Carleton Ave. in East Islip for 54 years.
But Pamala Ernst-Annunziato, an East Islip native, says it’s time to hang up the ice cream scooper.
Her last day behind the counter at Pam’s Ice Cream Shoppe will be Tuesday, Jan. 14.
The business has been sold, and the new owners will continue to operate the space as an ice cream shop, she told Greater Long Island. But maybe not under the name Pam’s.
“They’ve been going back and forth on that,” she said.
Ernst-Annunziato said her body was telling her it was time to retire.
“My knees are shot,” she said with a laugh.
But letting go is hard, especially after some 54 years.
Her parents first opened in the same location as a Carvel franchisee in the 70s before Pamala and her brother, John Ernst, took over the family business and reopened as Pam’s Ice Cream Shoppe in 1985.
“We grew up in this store, with my parents,” Ernst-Annunziato said. “And [John’s] been here with me.”
She’s since moved to Patchogue, and plans to stick around Long Island after retirement, with her children and grandchildren nearby.
The Pam of Pam’s Ice Cream Shoppe has just one thing to say to the community that’s kept the family in business for 54 years, the community in which she grew up, where she attended grade school, eventually graduating from East Islip High:
“We’ll miss you.”
Among those customers, count Jen Pegollo and her family.
“We literally ran down here when we heard” the news that they were closing, she said.
They took a selfie together to remember Pam’s:
Top: Pamala Ernst-Annunziato, an East Islip native, says it’s time to hang up the ice cream scooper. (Michael White photos)
What other customers are saying:
See the warm, heartfelt comments that have been pouring in since Pam announced her retirement:
