CAZENOVIA — This month, Cazenovia Lodge No. 616, Free & Accepted Masons will open Nelson Creamery at 2836 US Route 20, Cazenovia.
The new ice cream stand will offer locally sourced soft and hard ice cream, sundaes, milk shakes, and Hurricanes.
The menu will feature vanilla and chocolate frozen soft-serve custard from Queensboro Farm Products in Canastota, approximately 16 flavors of hard ice cream from Gilligan’s Island in Sherburne, orange sherbet, strawberry sorbet, and a variety of toppings, dips and syrups.
“We have six sundaes and will be adding more,” said W Gregory Wright, secretary and a past master of Cazenovia Lodge. “We have partnered with Cazenovia [Central School District] to develop new sundaes with student input.”
According to Wright, the for-profit creamery was established to provide financial support to Cazenovia Lodge — a 501(c)10 organization — and to give back to the community.
“The Masons are the world’s oldest and largest philanthropic fraternity,” he said. “Masons, by nature, respond to those in need. The need may come in several forms, and we look to help our fellow man. The greatest local evidence of that is the Masonic Medical Research Institute in Utica, NY.”
The Masonic Medical Research Institute (MMRI) is an internationally recognized biomedical research institute founded by the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York in 1958.
According to the MMRI website, the not-for-profit institute is dedicated to improving the health and quality of life for all humankind. Its primary mission is to conduct high quality basic and clinical research aimed at generating the knowledge and information necessary for the development of medical cures and treatments. MMRI is also committed to educating and training basic scientists, clinical researchers and students who will continue and extend the fight against disease.
“[Like the MMRI], Cazenovia Lodge would like to improve the lives of our community in whatever way we can,” Wright said.
He also noted that sourcing the creamery’s ice cream locally was important to the lodge for multiple reasons.
“We believe supporting the local economy supports those who support us,” he said. “It is mutually beneficial. In addition, local sources can provide services not only more quickly but also more personally. They are able to visit your business and get the feel of [it] and thus provide you with better service.”
The grand opening of Nelson Creamery is scheduled for Saturday, May 29, from noon to 4 p.m.
The event will recognize those who helped create and support the creamery, and it will feature a ribbon cutting, ice cream, door prizes like hats, shirts, and gift certificates, music, and pulled pork sandwiches for sale by the Masons.
For updates on Nelson Creamery, visit facebook.com/nelsoncreamery.
To learn more about Cazenovia Lodge, visit facebook.com/cazenoviamasons. For more information on Freemasonry, visit cortland-madison-masons.org/freemasonry.
