Couple Pays $50,000 to Name Stewart’s Ice Cream Flavor

A New York couple just spent $50,000 for the chance to name a brand-new ice cream flavor at Stewart's Shops, and the result is now showing up in freezer cases across the state.

Mike and Linda Toohey made the winning bid during a Saratoga Hospital Foundation fundraising gala, securing the rare opportunity to create a custom flavor name. But, instead of taking the opportunity to immortalize themselves in ice cream history, the Tooheys decided to go a different direction.

New Ice Cream Name Honors Its Maker

When faced with the challenge of coming up with a new ice cream name, the couple chose “Dake’s Passion,” honoring the family behind Stewart’s Shops and their long history in the dairy business.

The Tooheys said they wanted to recognize the Dake family’s impact on communities throughout New York, noting the company’s reputation for supporting employees and local organizations.

Dake’s Passion features vanilla ice cream with blueberry and raspberry swirls, topped with an oatmeal cinnamon crumble for added texture. The limited-edition flavor is now available in half-gallon containers at Stewart’s locations.

Before There was Stewart's, There Was Dake's

Stewart’s Shops has been a fixture across New York for decades, growing from a small dairy operation into a regional chain with more than 400 locations across New York and New England.

The business traces its roots back to the Dake family’s early ice cream production in the early 1900s, long before the first Stewart’s store opened in 1945. The famous moniker comes from Don Stewart, who had operated a dairy business in Balliston Spa that was taken over by the Dakes in 1918, one year after the Dakes began their dairy empire in Middle Grove, New York.

Today, the company continues to be run by the Dake family, but is still known as Stewart's.

Thanks to the Tooheys, this new ice cream flavor is at least a small way to give the Dakes the recognition they deserve for all of their years of giving back to communities throughout New York State.