Ice Cream Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Pepperoni Rolls, Ice Cream And The World’s Largest Teapot, Inside Appalachia

This week on Inside Appalachia, If you’re hungry for a pepperoni roll in West Virginia, you can find one at just about any gas station, but how did they get so popular? In Pennsylvania, the lure of one particular sweet treat gives hikers on the Appalachian Trail a break on their journey and a challenge that requires a strong stomach. We also “spill the tea” on a classic roadside attraction that’s been around for generations.

If you’re hungry for a pepperoni roll in West Virginia, you can find one at just about any gas station, but how did they get so popular?

In Pennsylvania, the lure of one particular sweet treat gives hikers on the Appalachian Trail a break on their journey and a challenge that requires a strong stomach.

We also “spill the tea” on a classic roadside attraction that’s been around for generations.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

In This Episode:

The Riddle Of The Pepperoni Roll
A Half Gallon At The Halfway Point
Snorkeling In The Hills Of Appalachia
Spilling Some Tea About The World’s Largest Tea Pot

The Riddle Of The Pepperoni Roll

Trays of pepperoni rolls, ready for the lunch rush at Horace Mann Middle School in Charleston, West Virginia.

*Credit: Zack Harold/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Pepperoni rolls have been enshrined as part of West Virginia history through their connection to coal miners. They’re absolutely a favorite and available almost everywhere, but that wasn’t always true. How pepperoni rolls became a statewide convenience store staple might have less to do with coal mining and more to do with lunch ladies in Kanawha County.

Folkways Reporter Zack Harold takes a bite out of pepperoni roll lore.

A Half Gallon At The Halfway Point

Gardners, Pennsylvania is the halfway point on the Appalachian Trail. Though-hikers celebrate the milestone with something called the “half-gallon challenge.” Hungry (or not so hungry) hikers devour a half gallon of ice cream in one sitting.

WITF’s Rachel McDevitt takes us to the Pine Grove Furnace General Store, to meet some of the challengers.

Snorkeling In The Hills Of Appalachia

Many people love to get out into mountain rivers and streams to fish, swim or just cool off. Now, some communities in North Carolina are adding snorkeling to the list of activities.

BPR’s Lilly Knoepp has this story about a new snorkeling trail.

Spilling Some Tea About the World’s Largest Tea Pot

The World’s Largest Teapot in Chester, West Virginia.

*Credit: Zander Aloi/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Out on the roads of Appalachia, you never know what you’ll see. Fireworks and fruit stands, for sure, but every once in a while you’ll pass something that makes you say, “What was that?”

Inside Appalachia Associate Producer Zander Aloi took a trip to Chester, West Virginia, to learn the story behind a souvenir stand known as the World’s Largest Teapot.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Jesse Milnes, Michael Hurley, the Kinks, Paul McCartney, Sierra Ferrel, Tyler Childers, Wizard Clipp, and David Mayfield.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

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Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Catching Up With W.Va.’s New School Superintendent And An Appalachian Trail Ice Cream Tradition, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, Michele Blatt became the state superintendent of schools earlier this month following the retirement of David Roach in June. Chris Schulz caught up with the superintendent in Morgantown this week to discuss her new position.

On this West Virginia Morning, Michele Blatt became the state superintendent of schools earlier this month following the retirement of David Roach in June. She is the third person to hold the position in less than two years. Reporter Chris Schulz caught up with the superintendent at the INVEST Conference in Morgantown this week to discuss her new position.

Also, in this show, sharing a fun summer feature on Appalachian Trail thru-hikers stopping to eat a half gallon of ice cream in PA, a hallowed trail tradition. WITF’s Rachel McDevitt takes us to the midpoint for a trail tradition.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Concord University and Shepherd University.

Caroline MacGregor is our assistant news director and produced this episode.

Teresa Wills is our host.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Once a Foodie Fruit, Could Pawpaws Have Economic Impact in Appalachia?

Those who’ve eaten a pawpaw before often say that the creamy, tropical fruit resembles a mix of a mango and a banana, or a mango and an avocado. They often can’t believe that the fruit is native to Appalachia.

“It’s creamy, but you get that tropical fruit taste,” said Katie Wight, a resident of Athens, Ohio, upon eating her first paw-paw. “It’s not really mango, but mango-papaya – that kind of genre.”

To the rest of the country, the pawpaw is little-known. It’s not commercially grown, in part because it’s so tricky to eat – it’s not ripe until it looks rotten on the outside, and ingesting the seeds or the skin causes some to fall ill. But the Appalachian fruit is showing potential.

Katie Wight holding first pawpaw at the Ohio Pawpaw Festival

In Charleston, a locally-owned ice cream shop called Ellens Homemade Ice Cream increased its supply of pawpaw ice cream this fall due to increased demand. And every year, thousands flock to Athens, Ohio, to celebrate the Pawpaw Festival, where they can learn about the pawpaw and buy pawpaw art, saplings and raw pawpaws.

“At my place, a Belgian gentleman comes and buys all my seeds,” said one attendee who traveled from his home in the Netherlands for the eighteenth annual Pawpaw Festival this year. He spoke of the growing market for pawpaws in Europe. “Before that I threw them away but he pays me 15 cents a piece. I ask him (why) and he says he (uses it) for curing cancer.”

pawpaw teapot by artist, on display at the Ohio Pawpaw Festival

According to Andy Moore, a writer who recently published a book called Pawpaw: In Search of America’s Forgotten Fruit, pawpaws have been consumed in the United States for generations. Towns are named after the fruit, and folk songs, like “Way Down Yonder in the Pawpaw Patch,” have been written about them.

Writer Andy Moore in Phyllis, Kentucky at the Lucky Penny General Store.
Credit courtesy Andy Moore

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In the last few years, pawpaws have started to be cultivated on a very small scale. “People are growing them in orchards now, just like you would any other crop, which will hopefully give people more opportunity to taste it and experience it,” Moore said.

A man dressed as a tree was available to take photos with children at the Ohio Pawpaw Festival

Some pawpaw fans hope that pawpaws can be included in the forest farming or agroforestry movement, which means growing and harvesting crops like ramps or pawpaws in the forest that many West Virginians landowners own. Walt Helmick, the West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture, says that they haven’t looked into pawpaws as a commercial fruit yet, even though they are unique to the Appalachian region.

“We need to see what we can do with agriculture in the forest more than we have in years gone by,” Helmick said.