65-year-old Dairy Queen opens for spring in Minnesota despite freezing temperatures

MOORHEAD, Minn., March 3 (UPI) -- Even though temperatures on March 1 only reached a high of 11 degrees below zero, one of the country’s oldest Dairy Queens still opened up on the first day of meteorological spring on Saturday in Minnesota.

The Moorhead Dairy Queen has been “serving up smiles since 1949” and this is the 65th year that it has opened on the first. It stayed open until 11:00 p.m. on Saturday night, when temperatures were expected to plunge to 21 degrees below zero.

"That's a testament to what we think of your Dairy Queen,” Moorhead resident Sharon Bjerken told WDAY TV. "It's our fix! We've been in withdrawals since November 1st." Despite the frigid weather, customers were lined up before the DQ even opened.

"We're off to a great start. We had a group of people before we even opened this morning,” said co-owner Diane DeLeon. "I know, it's crazy right? It gives them hope that spring isn't too far off."

Moorhead's Dairy Queen is open until Halloween.

"March 1st is my birthday, every year we come down here and get some ice cream. It's just a tradition; we've done it ever since I was a little kid,” said longtime customer Adam Sampson.

The restaurant opened again on Sunday morning.

“The Moorhead Dairy Queen has been a local favorite and important part of our community since Bob and Phyllis Litherland opened the landmark in 1949,” according to the DQ’s website. “Our store is a traditional seasonal walk-up style Dairy Queen and is one of the oldest original stores in the entire Dairy Queen system. We feature an outdoor, smoke free patio dining experience under our large red and white umbrellas and we have a large parking lot for easy access to our store.”

[WDAY TV]