Dairy Dream of Albany

DAIRY DREAM HISTORY 1953 - Present

In 1953, St John’s Dairy Dream enterprise began. Rollie & Lavon St John, sole proprietors, followed their dream. The menu consisted of vanilla soft serve, chocolate malt soft serve, 8 flavors of fruit toppings for sundaes and shakes, hot dogs and fountain pop. The World Famous Sloppy Joe began here! They were always striving to maintain excellent customer serv

ice, a tradition that is maintained today. In 1966, Rex J St John (son of Rollie & Lavon) & Mona Pena St John started a homemade hand-dipped ice cream store in Muncie - Dairy Dream Inc., a production and retail store. At that time, Albany Dairy Dream added hand-dipped ice cream to their menu. In 1978, Rollie St John passed away. Two years later, Rex J purchased Albany Dairy Dream from his mother, Lavon St John. added a drive-up window, a triple headed twist soft serve ice cream machine, a slush machine and multiple microwaves. The BBQ sandwich, pizza and nachos were added to the menu. In 1987, Rex Sr. and Mona sold the Dairy Dream in Muncie. focused on operation and management of Albany Dairy Dream. In 1991, Rex H St John Jr. and his wife then, Angela Dawn, purchased Albany Dairy Dream. purchased a drive thru computerized order confirmation system and headset communications system. He added two Turbo Chef convection ovens and a second fountain pop machine. They purchased a Flavor Burst add-on unit for the soft serve equipment, allowing them to offer 8 additional flavors. Hawaiian Shaved Ice and ice cream cakes were also added to the menu. In 2000, Rex Jr. purchased a concession trailer featuring Hawaiian shaved ice to cater to events in the local area and in surrounding counties. The Albany Dairy Dream concession trailer participates in the annual “Night of Fire” at the Muncie Drag Strip. Dairy Dream sells specialty sundaes and Hawaiian shaved ice. In 2012, the reward promotion program was implemented for different levels of purchases. The program offers gift cards, tie dye t-shirts, RTIC Dairy Dream logo tumblers and fleece jacket embroidered with personalized name and Dairy Dream logo. In 2014, Rex Jr. purchased a smoker, adding hickory smoked pulled pork and smoked potato.

2017 is the year to focus on social media: announcements, promotions, customer participation and customer service thru social media to our neighborhood, community and surrounding counties. I, Rex Jr. invite one and all to experience traditional, authentic homemade products from Albany Dairy Dream. In 2024, Rex Jr. sold the business to the Gates family. Jason, Leslie, Emilee & Taylor have been long time customers and supports of Dairy Dream and look forward to continuing the traditions that the St. John family built.