Mt. Pleasant Farm Bureau Financial Services treat high school seniors to ice cream

MT. PLEASANT - High school seniors in and around Mt. Pleasant were able to grab a sweet treat Thursday afternoon, courtesy of agents from the Mt. Pleasant Farm Bureau.

Tony Starr, Matt McWhirter and Michael Welcher wanted to find ways to support local business and bring a little joy to the residents of Henry County in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This has included setting up special days at Dairy Queen and Coffee Depot during which the agents helped pick up the tab for first responders and health care workers, as well as the general public.

Their most recent event on Thursday celebrated local high school seniors with ice cream from Pineapple Whip Iowa, a locally owned tropical food trailer.

'With the cancellation of schools, for seniors, this is their last year, their last hurrah, and we thought it would be neat to recognize them and all of the students,” McWhirter said. The agent added that he hopes the events he and his colleagues have put on will 'get people's minds off the current situation and put a smile on people's faces.”

Starr said with each event, participation has grown.

'With the shut downs, a lot of businesses were affected. For students, their school activities were being canceled, they can't be around their friends. This is the final part of their high school careers and we just want to give them a little pick-me-up,” Starr said.

The Thursday event drew in students and residents from across Henry County. Grace and Tanner Conwell and Maddee Carver, seniors at WACO High School said they were sad about the shut downs but that 'there's nothing we can do about it.”

'Getting ice cream is pretty nice. I've never had Dole Whip before,” Carver said as she stood in line.

Mt. Pleasant High School seniors Kenna Smith, Khang Truong, Rylan Seberg and Conner Peterson were similarly sad when news hit about the school closures.

'I cried for two days,” Smith said.

Truong, Seberg and Peterson, all part of track, added they were really disappointed that they wouldn't be able to participate in their last year of high school athletics.

'It's a bummer all around, but getting ice cream is a little bit of a plus,” Peterson said.

Similarly, Amber Fiedler, Madison Campbell and Kaela Welcher, another group of seniors from MPHS, said they missed being able to see each other regularly.

'We didn't even get to make the mark on our school or anything. Like, we left and we didn't even know we were not going to come back,” Welcher explained.

'It's nice to get ice cream. I love ice cream so I'll take it,” Fiedler added.