Over The Rainbow

[Ted]

Nice article about Over the Rainbow in this week's Windy City Times:

http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Berwyn-business-just-Over-the-Rainbow/44135.html

                             Berwyn business just Over the Rainbow

by Ross Forman, Windy City Times
2013-08-21

Jose Ramirez admits there often is confusion over the name of the suburban ice cream store that he co-owns with his partner of more than two decades, Tom Stebbins.
Over The Rainbow Ice Cream Parlor in Berwyn has nothing to do with the gay pride rainbow since it is a gay-owned business, or even Judy Garland.

Rather, it is family-based, Ramirez said.

"When I was younger, we were all five years apart—I have one brother who is five years older than me, then me, then my younger brother, then my sister," Ramirez said. "Due to our age difference, we all got together only once a year—to watch The Wizard of Oz on CBS, channel 2. We had pizza and watched together.

"I always look at The Wizard of Oz as family-oriented. So we gave the shop the name Over The Rainbow because we wanted it to be a family hangout ... and I think we succeeded at that. We have a lot of families that support us and want us to succeed."

Over The Rainbow opened in July 2006. It is a 450-square-foot store with seating for 30 and 32 flavors of ice cream.

The most-requested ice cream by adults is cappuccino crunch, while kids prefer Superman, a multi-colored, multi-flavored treat.

Ramirez's personal favorite flavor is strawberry, while Stebbins opts for pistachio.

"We have a good following, families that just really like the place," said Stebbins, who works at the store six days a week, and often seven days a week during the hot/busy summer months.

"I think we are a good, established, neighborhood business."

There are toys for the toddlers to play with, while local kids often stop in after school to do their homework.

"There are a lot of families that truly want to support local businesses; that helps us a lot," Stebbins said.

Stebbins, 46, grew up in suburban Oswego and previously worked as a manager in the food service industry. Ramirez, 53, works in computer software support.

"We just saw a need for an ice cream shop in the area," said Stebbins, who admits he "didn't really know" if the concept would catch on.

"We never really thought long-term, but now, six years later, it's pretty wild, things are going pretty well."

But, yes, times can be tough for an ice cream store in the winter.

Still, Over The Rainbow has regular in-store birthday parties over the winter.

During the summer, meanwhile, Stebbins said the store is "very busy."

Plus, the two also cater outside events, such as art and music festivals, Little League parties, etc.

Over The Rainbow also offers an in-store 3A's Program, rewarding local students with a free cone if they receive three A's on their report card.

In addition to Stebbins and Ramirez, they have two employees who are local students.

"Being a gay-owned business in Berwyn has been fine," Stebbins said. "I think people have just figured out that we are gay; we never really made it known, but Berwyn is a very accepting community, with a lot of gay couples."

In fact, Berwyn's 3rd Ward alderman is Marge Paul, the city's first openly gay elected official. And in 2010, the Chicago Tribune reported about the city's $70,000-a-year campaign that targets people of all walks of life to come to Berwyn, including the LGBT community.

"I'd say the biggest surprise is, Tom and I were kind of a little nervous about being ourselves when we opened," Ramirez said. "But what we found, no one really cares [that we're gay.]

"The community has, it seems, gone out of its way to accept us."

Berwyn is located with Cicero to the east, Brookfield to the west, Oak Park to the north, and Stickney to the south.

Over The Rainbow is located in Berwyn's Depot District.

"If Over The Rainbow does leave a legacy in Berwyn, I think it will be that we kind of helped organize the area," Ramirez said.

Over The Rainbow will be moving two doors door, likely by March 1, but will have the same amount of space.

Ramirez said they likely will add a garden in the back, including additional seating, for the summer.

"When we opened, I told Tom that, yes, it's just an ice cream store, but as busy as you think it's going to be and as much time as you think it's going to take, it's going to double that [amount of] time because you just aren't prepared for what owning your own business really is, because the buck stops with you," Ramirez said. "There have been times we wanted to go to [the bars] on Halsted Street, or another time we wanted to go to the Gay Pride Parade, but something came up at the business, so we couldn't go.

It's just a lot of responsibility."

But it's definitely been worth it, they said.

Over The Rainbow Ice Cream Parlor (6836 Windsor, Berwyn) is open daily. For more information, go to: http://overtherainbowicecream.vpweb.com/?prefix=www.

[watcher]

Can you get directly from Berwyn to Brookfield without passing through Lyons, Riverside or N. Riverside? Other than that, a nice article.

[justme]

To keep up my "bearer of bad news" status, sadly OTR is closing 

[justme]

And I will add that it sucks the big one that they are closing. They were so good at getting involved in the community and everyone here loved them. It really is sad.

[Wilson]

That is sad news. 

[seebee]

Very sad. Great bday parties, and great little neighborhood spot.

Truman?

[MRS. NORTHSIDER]

I'm very sorry to hear that.  OTR was a great neighborhood shop.  Their biggest problem was probably 49 cent ice cream cones from McDonald's.  Now it's 1 dollar plus tax.

[bigolo]

This is shocking news! I will truely miss this place. What saddens me the most is the amount of energy and effort those two guys put into the place! 

[berwynres]

I haven't seen any response from the owners of OTR on here.  When they had something to promote, they were on here all the time.  Don't they think that their customers deserve some sort of comment, perhaps even a public thank you for those who did support their business.

[tlcnurse]

They posted on their Facebook page a nice Good-Bye. I am sure this is very hard on them. I would give them some time. When you put your whole life into a business & is closes a part of you goes with it. The whole thing is very sad. We wish them the very best in their future endeavors.

[buzz]

We wish them the very best in their future endeavors.

+1

[dukesdad]

I haven't seen any response from the owners of OTR on here.  When they had something to promote, they were on here all the time.  Don't they think that their customers deserve some sort of comment, perhaps even a public thank you for those who did support their business.

Yikes! Take a pill. They don't owe us anything.