It’s Opening Day at Loveland Dairy Whip today

By Chuck Gibson

LOVELAND, OH (February 27, 2026) – The countdown is over, Loveland Dairy Whip (LDW) celebrated their traditional last Friday of February Opening Day today when the window opened for the first LDW soft-serve cone of the 2026 Ice Cream Season!

MaryAnn & Steve from West Chester, surrounded by Loveland Valentine Ladies at The LDW Opening Day February 27, 2026 (Chuck Gibson)

Officially first at the window was – drum roll please – the Loveland Valentine Ladies which has also become a LDW Opening Day tradition. Loveland Dairy Whip Crew-member Jude Fine was at the ready and took the order for all the Valentine Ladies when the window opened following the final 10-second countdown and raucous cheer of the ladies outside the window. For the record, they ordered a variety of cones and soft-serve specialties including the brand new “Pizookie” (pronounced puh-zoo-kee) – more on that later. While the Valentine Ladies were officially first at the LDW Opening Day window after meeting at Cappy’s for their parade walk through Loveland to the Loveland Dairy Whip, it was Richard & MaryAnn who actually arrived on the scene first but respectfully deferred to the Valentine Ladies.

“We saw them at the intersection as we were driving through it and into the LDW driveway,” said MaryAnn. “Of course we’re letting them go first,” said Richard. “They do so much more for Loveland.”

All the Valentine Ladies, LDW owner Luke Wiley and MaryAnn & Richard posed for a picture (Chuck Gibson)

Richard and MaryAnn travel to Loveland Dairy Whip from their home in West Chester to celebrate Opening Day and have been first at the window on opening day in recent years. They signed the 2026 Opening Day poster wishing the owners (Luke Wiley and family) Good Luck, Richard & MaryAnn. The drive-thru window provided an interesting side note this year as there was no line waiting at the appointed 2 p.m. opening. Though it took about 30 minutes, cars began lining up and keeping the drive-thru window busy too. All of this on a bright sunny day with temperatures reaching near 60-degrees left no doubt The Loveland Dairy Whip Opening Day delivered the usual sure sign spring is right around the corner if not already here in Loveland.

The brand new “Pizookie” seems already a hit on Opening Day (Chuck Gibson)

It was a day for first-timers too. Today was the first time for the brand new permanent menu specialty item. The Pizookie made its debut. What is it?  I’ll let owner Luke Wiley describe the new feature sold for the first time today.

“It’s pizza and a cookie, but it’s not pizza,” said Luke. “It’s like a pan-pizza, but it’s a chocolate chip cookie with chocolate chunks warmed up with vanilla ice cream with caramel drizzle. I guess all the kids have heard of it, I’d never heard of it.”

He has now. He plans to eat his first one sometime today, though he admitted his mom tried one last night and “she loved it”. Just to finish off the description, it also is topped off with whipped cream – maybe even a cherry.

The “Pizzokie” gang, l-r Becky Giver, Cynthia Tait, Lynn Oury & Kay Bolin (Chuck Gibson)

Several of the Valentine Ladies wasted no time ordering it up right away. It seemed they loved it too. Another first-time today was a who are only in their second year living here in Loveland, originally from Massachusetts, Steve and Suzanne Prescott moved here to West Chester, Ohio but moved to Loveland a little over a year ago to be closer to their Son, daughter-in-law and grandchild. Though they enjoyed several visits to the Loveland Dairy Whip last season, they are Opening Day first-timers today.

LDW Opening Day first-timers Steve & Suzanne Prescott. It was lunch for them (Chuck Gibson)

“We loved the LDW last year,” said Suzanne. “We heard about Opening Day today, it was lunch time. So, this is our lunch.”

It really is about traditions; specifically the tradition of Opening Day for the Loveland Dairy Whip here in Loveland now into the 71st season since the Flint family opened in the same building, in this same location in 1955. Now this is the second season for Luke Wiley and his family as owners. For Luke, it is an Opening Day with even more excitement than the first one a year ago.

“Our anxiety was probably higher than our excitement last year,” he said. “This year, our manager Julian has 90-95% of our crew back. When the kids came in, they were screaming in a good way. They’re just ready. This is awesome!”  

Then there is the tradition of the Loveland Valentine Ladies coming as a group each year, but 2026 Valentine Lady Cynthia Tait is a first-timer as a Valentine Lady enjoying opening day at the dairy whip. Inside the dairy whip, before the final countdown to opening began, with Valentine Ladies and other customers eagerly anticipating the window opening, Luke and the crew gathered for an Opening Day team photo. 

The LDW Crew Opening Day 2026 l-r: Manager Julian, Claire Ellis, Topher Maddock, Lee Dickerson, Andrew (shorty) Henriques, Luke Wiley, Leah Wiley & Jude Fine (Chuck Gibson)

Luke led the crew in a brief prayer right before opening (Chuck Gibson)

Then it got serious for a moment as Luke huddled everyone up for a quick prayer of thanksgiving for the opportunity to work together and serve the community in this special way. Finally, just before those final 10-seconds, they broke the football style huddle with a loud cheer and headed to their stations.

Huddled up, let out a raucous cheer and opened up the 2026 season (Chuck Gibson)

The cute kid awrad went to… (Chuck Gibson)

The cookie part of the “Pizookie” (Chuck Gibson)

You oughta be in pictures (Chuck Gibson)

Good Luck from MaryAnn & Richard of West Chester, OH (Chuck Gibson)

Oh yes it was Opening Day at the Loveland Dairy Whip in grand traditional style! Let there be no doubt the surest sign of spring in our town has arrived soft-serve style. Even nature new serving up a special blue sky with sunshine and warm temperatures.

It’s time once again: we all scream for ICE CREAM!

THE LOVELAND DAIRY WHIP (The LDW aka Whippy Dip)

  • Open Daily 2-9 p.m.
  • Located at 611 W. Loveland Ave. – Loveland, Ohio 45140
  • Online at: https://www.theldw.com/
  • On Facebook at:  https://www.facebook.com/LovelandDairyWhip
  • Instagram – thelovelanddairywhip
  • Phone: 513-683-0992