TOP PHOTO:  Enjoy some delicious ice cream before or after tonight’s Cougars home football game.
By Charlotte Underwood
LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF) – Beat the heat with something local and sweet; LaFollette is now home to two ice cream specialty shops.  Long-time business PoHo’s Soft Serve Ice Cream and newcomer Sugar Puddin’s Ice Cream Cafe are both located on Jacksboro Pike.  Ice cream would be a great way to celebrate after the Cougar home game tonight.  Head out to one of the locally owned ice cream shops to cool down after the game.
PoHo’s Soft Serve Ice cream
PoHo’s Soft Serve Ice Cream has been a local favorite for 25 plus years. The business is owned and operated by Mike, Charline and Polly Vanover.
The Po Ho crew is ready to serve ice cream.
It was started around 26 years ago by Polly and Howard Vanover, which is how the business got it’s name; Po for Polly and Ho for Howard.  PoHo’s serves many of  the Mayfield Ice Cream flavors with all the toppings you could want.  Their motto is “If you can think it, we can make it.”  They also offer floats, sundaes, shakes, cones and more.
They are set up with covered picnic tables and have added music to listen to outside while enjoying the ice cream.  Come hang out at PoHo’s and cool off with a sweet treat.
PoHo’s new hours of operation are Monday through Thursday 4 pm to 9 pm and Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 1 pm till 10 pm or until the last customer is served.
They are on Facebook.  PoHo’s is located in front of Save-a-Lot at 210 Jacksboro Pike and can be reached at 423-201-9002.
Sugar Puddin’s Ice Cream Cafe
 Sugar Puddin’s Ice Cream Café opened  July 18 and recently held its grand opening on Aug. 15.  Sugar Puddin’s offers “unique ice creams crafted from premium hard ice cream and your favorite ingredients to create a customized soft serve.”  Each base starts from vanilla or chocolate Mayfield and then is blended and crafted with specialty ingredients for custom, made to order creations.  Flavors such as rocky road, red velvet cake and lemon blueberry pie can be found on the 60 item menu, but according to owner Christie Johansen, the possibilities are endless.
A Banana Split at Sugar Puddin’s
“We like to encourage creativity and love to have our customers come up with their own unique flavors,” Johansen said.
Sugar Puddin’s will be open year round and also offers gourmet coffees, local donuts from Kings Donuts, as well as specialty cheesecakes made locally by Cakes by Lacy.
The shop has been a long time dream of owner Christie Johansen, who started the business with her husband Glenn.
“My husband calls me Sugar Puddin’, which is how we came up with the name,” Johansen said.
Sugar Puddin’s owner Christie Johansen shares a photo of herself and her grandson Mason.
 Originally from upstate New York, Johansen said she modeled the ice cream after a shop in her hometown of Deposit.
“I grew up with this ice cream place called the Penguin and they just always had the best ice cream,” Johansen said. She had wanted to start her own ice cream shop for over 20 years and this June, the idea hit home while her sister and brother-in-law were visiting from New York.
“My sister said she couldn’t wait to get back to New York for some ice cream from The Penguin and my brother-in-law called me by my nickname and I just thought, I’m going to start an ice cream shop,” Johansen said. That was on June 10 and by July 18 her dream had become a reality.
Check Sugar Puddin’s out on Facebook and Instagram. It is located at 1720 Jacksboro Pike in LaFollette and can be reached at 423-201-4856.  Business hours are Monday through Friday, 6am to 9 pm and on  Saturday and Sunday 4 pm to 9 pm  (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 08/28/2020-6AM)

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