If You Scoop it, They will Come

Jeff Green | Aug 23, 2023

It seems, at first, like an unlikely location for an ice cream hut. Mohawk Road, which is a small, twisty and hilly road off of Brewer Road, dead ends at Mohawk Lodge, but there is an even smaller downhill spur to the dock. At the bottom of the hill, there is a bright pink snack shack.

That is Snicks and Scoops.

The ice cream hut features Kawartha Dairy Ice Cream and a ton of different sprinkles, marshmallows and other kinds of toppings, or ‘snicks’ as Casidhe Mika, owner of Snicks and Scoops, calls them.

Even though it seems like a long drive, the shack is only a few minutes from the Road 38 and Brewer Road turnoff, well under 10 minutes from Sharbot Lake.

And, Snicks and Scoops is easily accessible for cottagers on Sharbot Lake, which has been the source of a lot of traffic on hot summer days since it opened on July 1.

For Casidhe Mika, opening the store was part business venture, part healing project. She grew up in Sharbot Lake, but left for University and ended up spending 13 years as a Paramedic in Toronto. She moved back home to help take care of her mother, Mary Jane (MJ) when she developed cancer. MJ, who was a nurse herself for 35 years, died in March.

“After she died, I wanted to do something that would bring joy to people. When you give a child a bowl of ice cream, and dress it up with sparkles, and marshmallows and whatever they want on it, it makes that child really, really happy. That’s what I wanted,” said Casidhe.

It turns out that Snicks and Scoops has been a hit. On hot summer days, there have been lineups at the scoop shack, with boats lined up in the water by the Mohawk Lodge docks, and some car traffic coming down Mohawk Lane as well.

Not only have people been attracted to Snicks and Scoops, they have also learned about the waterfront at Mohawk Lodge, and Casidhe has been talking to her father Gerry about developing the day use potential for the resort.

Mohawk Lodge was developed as a fishing lodge/ housekeeping cabin resort over 70 years ago by Casidhe's great grandparents, and has remained in the family ever since, and she grew up in the family home on the same property.

Like many local lodges, Mohawk was supported for decades by American patrons who came back every year.

All of that changed during COVID, of course, but the business has rebounded over the last year or two and the future looks bright.

Snicks and Scoops has been open from 1pm – 3pm and 7pm -9pm, 7 days a week (weather dependent) all summer, and Casidhe may keep it open through September, although perhaps only on weekends after Labour Day.

She is already thinking about next year, and is working on new signage and other ways to enhance the appeal of Snicks and Snoops.