If you frequent fairs and festivals this summer and fall, you may encounter the Sundae School Bus. Owned and operated by Bridgeport High School graduate Jamie Rieser and his wife Sherry, the bus is not only an ice cream shop on wheels, but also a fundraiser for the couple’s ministry. 

 

This past winter, the couple renovated the bus, which Sherry Rieser also utilizes to teach her Apron Strings Cooking Classes which combine cooking techniques with Christian values. Originally, the couple was paying for all materials out-of-pocket and eventually began brainstorming about ways to fund the ministry. 

 

“One night in church, Sherry leans over and says ‘she is praying for a bus,’” Jamie Rieser said. “The next day I hired a girl whose husband is a mechanic and had a bus for sale. We bought the bus and turned it into a mobile kitchen/ice cream shop.”

The Mannington District Fair was recently the first concession attempt of the Sundae School Bus. 

 

“We are now getting ready to go to the Doddridge County Fair and we’ll also be going to the Mountain State Forest Festival in October,” Jamie Rieser said. 

 

The Doddridge County Fair runs Aug. 23-27 and the Forest Festival runs Oct. 1-9 in Elkins. 

 

The couple and their 13-year-old daughter Hope make all the ice cream specialties and do the serving. 

 

“We sell all Hershey’s ice cream in homemade waffle cones, waffle bowls and floats with apple dumplings,” Rieser said.

 

The Sundae School bus will travel to churches, schools and other venues for on-site cooking classes. Before revamping the bus, classes were taught at Heritage Christian School, Centerbranch Assembly of God and for groups like the Royal Rangers for members working on cooking badges. 

 

The bus is available for hire for birthday parties, grand openings and other events and the Riesers welcome calls requesting on-site cooking classes. Send inquiries to Sundaeschoolbus@gmail.com. 

 

Jamie Rieser is a 1978 graduate of BHS. He studied psychology at Ashford University. He is director of Community Correction programs in Doddridge, Ritchie and Pleasants counties. 

 

Editor's Note: The Sundae School Bus is pictured top with Miss West Virginia Nichole Greene, who visited the bus at the Mannington District Fair and just above Sherry Rieser peeks out the window of the Sundae School Bus with a visitor in the foreground.