Ice cream treats + refurbished ambulance = Ice Cold Emergency

Heather Graves

Staff

April 21, 2025

NORTHEAST WISCONSIN – Ken Tomsyck said when he has an idea and says it out loud to his family, it typically becomes reality.

Ken said that’s the story with Ice Cold Emergency (ICE) – an ice cream truck business he started with his wife, Mary Beth and their three children – Michael, Erin and Brooke.

“It was 2017, we were cleaning up and getting ready for the school year, and I asked our kids, ‘did the ice cream truck come around this summer?’” he said. “The response was ‘no.’ And I said, ‘Well, what can we do about that?’ So, I kind of opened my mouth before giving the idea any real thought, but I always keep my word – so that’s kind of how we got started.”

The next several months, Ken said, were spent researching and looking for a vehicle.

“I did some looking for ice cream trucks, and found that there really aren’t many of that sort of thing available in the Midwest anymore,” he said.

The trucks he did find in the South, Ken said, “were 30-plus years old with just a ton of miles – it didn’t make sense.”

Then, Ken said he stumbled across a company that used a refurbished ambulance as an ice cream truck.

That’s when the light bulb went on, he said – not only because it was a “neat idea” to have an ambulance serve as the vessel for their ice cream truck idea, but because “they are very well-maintained vehicles and their space and power are kind of unique.”

“I bought it off an online municipal auction without ever actually going to look at it other than the pictures on the computer,” he said. “Probably not the smartest thing, but (it’s worked out great).”

The Tomsycks said they were definitely the talk of the neighborhood after purchasing the ambulance and spending a handful of months repurposing the vehicle.

“It was a little surreal having an ambulance parked in our driveway for a little while,” Michael – who grew up in the business – laughed. “We heard several comments from people wondering what was going on.”

The Tomsycks said since they purchased the ambulance and started refurbishing it before they officially announced the ice cream truck idea, Mary Beth said several people reached out and asked if “we were okay.”

Today, she said the truck is “very much a conversation piece.”

“When we go to events, the ambulance is how people remember us,” she said. 

Rolls off the tongue

When it came time to name the business, Michael said, for them, it was important to have an easy-to-remember acronym of some kind.

The fact that the business is housed in a refurbished ambulance, he said, made Ice Cold Emergency, or ICE, a perfect fit.

ICE’s emergency-fast service, Mary Beth said, further cements the name.

“Our service is very fast,” she said.

Pricing their items at even-dollar amounts, Dan said, supports the truck’s fast service.

“Our business plan had always been for speed,” he said. “We keep items at even-dollar amounts so we aren’t wasting time making change.” 

Idea evolution

Though the original conversation that sparked the idea behind ICE centered around a neighborhood ice cream truck, the Tomsycks said they quickly recognized that wasn’t feasible.

“We don’t have that traditional ice cream truck,” Dan said. “So driving an ambulance around the neighborhood doesn’t necessarily work.”

Adapting that original idea, Dan said, was also partly due to the change in society as well.

“I think the big thing that’s changed from years past is… people’s schedules, and people aren’t outside as much,” he said.

Though they still believed in the concept, Dan said they recognized they would need to adapt that idea to find success.

“We said, ‘Well, we still have a good product and a good service – how do we find the right customer?’” he said.

Mary Beth said “we found where our sweet spot” is with scheduled private events – such as company picnics or employee recognition luncheons.

“We’re able to reach the most number of people and it’s still a lot of fun,” she said.

Mary Beth said ICE also participates in public events, such as village gatherings, fireworks events, etc.

“We have to go where the people are,” she said.

Mary Beth said they hope to do more public events this summer.

Inventory

To help live up to its “emergency-fast” service promise, Mary Beth said all items available at ICE are prepackaged.

Michael said, at the time, his fifth-grade classmates (and a few teachers) inspired the truck’s initial inventory.

“I created a survey of sorts asking my fifth grade class – a few teachers participated as well – which ice cream treat they would consider buying,” he said. “It provided a nice, well-rounded sample (of what customers liked).”

Inventory today, Michael said, is determined by popularity.

“We try not to stock every kind of item, because we want what’s going to sell,” Dan said. “We don’t want it sitting around in our freezers taking up space, and (selling quickly) keeps items fresher.”

A full list of items available in 2025 is available at icecoldemergency.com.

Educational family time

Not only has ICE served as a supplemental source of income for the Tomsyck family, Mary Beth said it has also served as family time – with a side of education.

“(It has allowed us to) spend time together as a family when we work the truck,” she said. “Not so much when they were younger, but now it usually just takes two people to work, so for Ken and I to have that one-on-one time with each of our children has really been invaluable, and we’re making a ton of memories.”

Working in the truck, Mary Beth said, is also “a lot of fun.”

“Many of the events that we go to – everybody’s in a good mood, it’s a nice summer day, there’s usually music playing – it’s just a fun atmosphere to be in,” she said.

Growing up in the business, Mary Beth said, has also provided her children with an opportunity to use “real-world math.”

“Everyday math is dollars and cents when you’re in business,” Dan said.

Furthermore, Mary Beth said Michael, Erin and Brooke have learned customer service and financial management skills.

“Communication skills, running a business, building relationships and just being an entrepreneur – they’ve grown up (learning) that,” she said. “It may have started out as (a way to learn) everyday math, but it’s really involved in so much more.”

As a senior in high school, Michael said he wouldn’t be able to provide an everyday usage example of many of the complex calculations he’s learned.

However, he said the practical math skills he’s learned growing up in the family business are ones he’ll be able to use in future endeavors.

Recently, Dan said Michael has taken on more responsibility in the business – specifically with inventory.

“We took the approach, ‘well, let’s throw a bunch of stuff at him and see what he can handle,’” Dan said. “Frankly, he caught on pretty darn quick. Michael has learned how to evaluate what’s available, what we can sell it at and (deciding which items) are profitable. What’s good is that he sees not just the income (of running a business), but he realizes there are expenses as well.”

Michael said he’s also learned there is always room for improvement and growth.

“Even when something is working really well, that doesn’t mean that you can’t or shouldn’t still adapt, because there’s always going to be a next step,” he said. “Just because something works for a bit doesn’t mean it’s going to work forever, so it’s important to adapt and evolve.”

The future

Now that all the Tomsyck children – Michael (17) and twins Erin and Brooke (15) – are teenagers, Mary Beth said there is potential for additional growth.

“With Michael being a driver, that helps a lot,” Dan said.

That, coupled with the fact that they own several small freezers on wheels, Dan said, means there could be an opportunity for them to “be in two places at once.”

“If we’re already booked somewhere – we could still offer freezer service for catering,” he said. “We can ask the customer what they want off the menu, stock the freezer and deliver it.”

With four portable freezers of various sizes, Dan said that is a service ICE plans to launch in 2025.

The Tomsycks said ICE has slowly grown its coverage area, and plans to continue that in 2025.

“We’ve expanded our territory some because we have gotten requests in Oshkosh and in Green Bay,” he said. “So, we’re not strictly just an Appleton/Fox Cities business – though that certainly is our home turf. But for the right opportunities, we are available throughout much of the Northeast Wisconsin area.”

Mary Beth said ICE is also focused on growing its social media presence.

“We have Instagram and a Facebook account that we’re still learning and trying to get better at – it’s an evolving process,” she said.

Now, as ICE enters its seventh summer in business, Mary Beth said “we are constantly trying to improve our processes.”

“The way we order inventory, the way we stock the truck, the way we work events and scheduling – every year, we try to get a little bit better and smarter with that,” she said.