Cool job: Bearden brings smiles with rainbow of snow cones

By CHERIL VERNON

PALESTINE — It’s a rainbow of colors inside Kenzie’s Snoball stand on Crockett Road in the Palestine Plaza that keeps Bradley Bearden busy during the day, especially during the hot summer months when the thought of a refreshing snow cone can bring a smile to almost anyone’s face.

“It’s fun meeting so many different kinds of people — it makes it fun,” Bearden said Monday afternoon when asked why he enjoys working at the snow cone stand.

His family has owned the business for about 10 years, with another family owning it for about 10 years prior to that. Bearden, 22, has worked inside the stand for about eight years, running the business the majority of the time.

Generally, he opens the snow cone stand in March and keeps it open until at least November, with hours from 1:30 to 6:30 p.m.

With triple-digit heat right now, Bearden said it’s not hard to sell 200 to 300 snow cones a day.

Favorite flavors include coconut, Crystal & Diamonds and Tiger’s Blood.

“We have 300 flavors all together,” Bearden said, ranging from regular, cream and sour flavors. People also can opt to add cream or whipped cream to any snow cone.

While some of the names of the snow cones were made up locally, some came from SnoWizard Inc., the company that provides the snow cone supplies.

Some of the most unusual names for snow cones are Elvis, Dragon’s Blood and Paris Hilton. The Elvis snow cone is made with Tiger’s Blood and dreamsicle. Dragon’s Blood is made with strawberry, coconut and sour apple, and the Paris Hilton is made with nectar and vanilla flavors.

There’s even a snow cone called Pickle Juice and one called Dilly Surprise that has a pickle in it.

For the kids, there’s a Ninja Turtle, Superman, Power Ranger, Shrek, Elmo, Dora and Barbie (Barbie is made with bubblegum and strawberry flavors, by the way).

Bearden’s favorite is the buttercream snow cone.

Others he suggests people try?

“Wango Tango (lime cooler, pineapple and kiwi flavors) and Frog in a Blender (lime and watermelon) — everyone is afraid to try that one,” Bearden said.

Bearden said he especially enjoys his regular customers.

“I know exactly what they want most of the time,” Bearden said. “Sometimes I will try to get them to try new things, but they usually stick with their favorite.”

Even when there’s a line of 10 people wrapped around his busy snow cone stand, Bearden doesn’t seem to panic. He has a good memory and can make the snow cones pretty fast.

“I’ve made them so many times they are stuck in my head now,” he smiled.

The smallest snow cone is available for $1, enough to beat the heat on a hot day.

“I like to keep it at a good price so nobody will be out too much,” Bearden said.

Bearden, a 2006 graduate of Palestine High School, is currently attending Trinity Valley Community College to get his business degree.

“I want to be a buyer for a company,” Bearden said of his career plans.

In his free time, he enjoys traveling.

“So far I’ve been to London, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Greece,” Bearden said. “I like going to places and seeing how people live. I definitely don’t go for their food — the food is horrible!”

Asked if he’s seen snow cone stands in any of the countries he’s visited, Bearden said ‘no’.

“I haven’t seen one yet, but I do look,” Bearden said.