Store Churns Out Sweets for 20 Years

Buck's Ice Cream Place has been scooping tasty treats for quite a few years. Twenty, to be exact. Despite the low temperatures and drizzle Thursday, hundreds of people showed up to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Buck's Ice Cream Place. The party brought several people in the ice cream industry to the MU campus as well.

Dr. Robert Marshall, the inventor of Buck's Ice Cream's signature flavor, Tiger Stripe, was one of the speakers at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

"There were so many possibilities to what the stripe could be," Marshall said. "We tried orange and licorice, but that was just bad."

Marshall wasn't the only ice cream celebrity present at the party. Truman the Tiger helped entertain and J. Arbuckle was also on hand. He's the grandson of the shop's founders, Ruth and Wendell Arbuckle. Wendell Arbuckle, who died in 1987, never got to see Buck's grand opening, which came two years after his death.

But J. Arbuckle said one of his grandfather's proudest moments was seeing the freshmen eating Tiger Stripe ice cream after Tiger Walk, their introduction into MU through the columns on the David R. Francis Quadrangle.

"It's amazing to see how important it's become to Mizzou over the years," Arbuckle said. Even though the weather wasn't ideal, J. Arbuckle said that ice cream is a necessity. "Even on a cold day like this. It just warms you up!" he said. Buck's Ice Cream Place is located in Eckles Hall on MU's campus. Thursday's celebration included Tiger Stripe ice cream and brats for $1 apiece.