Celebrating Summer With Four Seas Ice Cream 

Monday, July 3, 2000

CENTERVILLE, Mass. — There’s a sure fire way to tell it’s summer on Cape Cod: Four Seas Ice Cream is open for business.

Four Seas owner Doug Warren said the parlor has been in the same spot in this seaside village for almost 70 years. “If you can make anything a tradition, you’re locked in,” he said.

“You can’t go by Four Seas Ice Cream without stopping in. So we’re here almost everyday,” said Jayne Cedeno, a frequent customer.

“People in a lot of respects don’t like change. They like old traditional values. They really want a sense of home,” Warren said.

Four Seas known for its high concentration of fresh fruit and cream in each of the 32 flavors. “This is 16 percent butterfat — a few calories in there,” Warren said.

But at Four Seas, the creme de la creme refers to the staff too. The owner insists that every kid who works here must be on the honor roll.

Mary Kate Gigliotti, who worked at Four Seas for six summers, said this policy creates a great atmosphere among her coworkers: “They pretty much are motivated students with a great work ethic,” she said.

And though each one could work in higher-paying, resume-building jobs, they come here instead. This is Gigliotti’s sixth summer — she likes the family feel and the fringe benefits.

“I have a cone here and there. Sometimes a milkshake, or pop a sundae in there,” she said.

Seven-year-old Alisyn said she could eat five cones a day. Her favorite flavor is strawberry, but she’ll take mocha chip or cantelope, too.

The next generation of Four Seas employees are already being groomed. Three-year-old Christian thinks he’s just coming for the ice cream, but he and his brothers are being groomed to work here — just as their mother and grandmother did.

“I want them to carry on the tradition,” his mother said. “I’m expecting them to get jobs here when they’re teenagers.”

— Fox News’ Alisyn Camerota contributed to this report.