There’s spring excitement for many reasons: warmer weather, things turning green, longer days, Easter, obviously spring break, and summer approaching. But before we reach those milestones, first we get to once again enjoy Rita’s Italian Ice.

Rita’s opened March 10, and as if the Italian ice, custard, Blendini, milkshake and Misto Shakes weren’t good enough, there are some new things this year.

Rita’s owner Leo Zimmerman, at the Shawan Plaza location, purchased a second custard machine. Now, in addition to serving vanilla, chocolate and swirl custard from one machine, in he can serve an additional custard flavor every day from the second machine. It will offer one of these flavors daily: cotton candy, coffee, butter pecan, pistachio, strawberry or cheesecake. These flavors can be served as is, swirled with vanilla, or put in a Gelati or Blendini.

Because small restaurants such as the Monkton Grill have closed, Hereford doesn’t have an ice cream parlor where people can cool down from the summer heat, so Rita’s is a hotspot for the Hereford community. A few Hereford students are also on the Rita’s staff, including Emily Endres (’17), Danielle Saman (’17) and Sophia Hagan (’18).

“My favorite water ice flavor is either cotton candy or Swedish fish,” Endres said, and for “cream ice my favorite is cookies and cream.” Cream ices feature flavors like S’mores, chocolate brownie and cookies and cream. “The most popular thing people get are the Gelatis,” Endres said, which people tend to get with mango ice or cotton candy.

Rita’s will be moving locations to the bank that closed in the same shopping center. Zimmerman hopes to make the transition sometime in July. Hopefully the new location will feature more seating outdoors, and possibly indoor seating, too.