The business behind the scoop

On a busy summer afternoon, the line at Whistlepunk Ice Cream often stretches out the door and down the sidewalk. Behind the counter, employees move quickly between tubs of handcrafted ice cream, fresh waffle cones and eager customers. Scoops are passed across the counter almost as quickly as orders are placed, while employees in the kitchen work to keep the kitchen stocked.

For shift lead Dylan Munly, the pace is all part of the summer season.

“We normally have a line out the door all day long,” Munly said. “I’m constantly making sure we’re restocked and making batter for our waffle cones.” 

On the busiest days, Whistlepunk goes through as many as 800 waffle cones. Across the year, owner Matt Collins estimates the shop produces between 80,000 and 100,000 cones. The cones are made fresh at the shop using a recipe that dates back to the days just before Whistlepunk opened its downtown storefront in 2018. Collins credits the original recipe to Claire Nelly, one of his first employees, who developed it on short notice when the business was still missing a recipe days before opening.

Nelly tested three recipes and made three sample cones for Collins to try. 

“We still use that cone today,” Collins said, in reference to the recipe he picked from Nelly’s selection. 

The recipe has since been tweaked to allow the shop to produce cones on a much larger scale, but Collins said the basic ingredients and flavor remain much the same, including real butter and eggs. He jokingly refers to Nelly, now an astrophysicist, as the “rocket scientist” who invented Whistlepunk’s waffle cones. 

The story of the cones mirrors the story of Whistlepunk itself: what began as a small experiment has grown into a business serving hundreds of customers a day during the summer. 

Collins grew up in Massachusetts, where ice cream was woven into his childhood. A good grade, a successful baseball game or a visit from family were all reasons to go out for ice cream. 

“Ice cream is huge where I come from in Massachusetts,” Collins said. “It’s sort of an institution.”

After working for years as a fisheries biologist in Washington, Collins began thinking about doing something more independent. He and friends discussed the possibility of opening an ice cream business in Leavenworth, and Collins soon bought a small ice cream maker. 

Then he started experimenting.

“I went home and purchased an ice cream maker,” he said. “And me and some friends started making ice cream relentlessly, just tons of ice cream.”

The early experiments eventually became a business.

Collins began making ice cream at Ravenous Catering in Monitor after purchasing a commercial machine. He then worked to pay off the equipment by selling ice cream at the Leavenworth Farmers Market and serving concerts, weddings and other events. 

Eventually, he had the opportunity to open a permanent location in downtown Leavenworth. Whistlepunk opened July 27, 2018, and the first summer was a trial by fire. 

Collins said he struggled to produce enough ice cream to keep up with demand and remembers running out almost every day during August. When September arrived and tourism slowed, he finally had a chance to catch his breath. 

Today, the challenge remains similar. Whistlepunk is constantly working to produce enough ice cream to meet growing demand. 

“Every year, it seems like we need to make more and more,” Collins said. 

From the beginning, Collins said he wanted Whistlepunk to be different from a typical ice cream shop. 

His goal was simple: make homemade ice cream on the premises and put thought and intention into the process. 

“We do one thing. We try to do it really well,” Collins said. 

That philosophy extends beyond the ice cream base. The ship makes its own cookies, caramel, brownies and other ingredients used in its flavors rather than relying on commercially produced mix-ins. The business also rotates seasonal flavors throughout the year.

Blackberry Fool remains the shop’s most popular flavor, according to employees. The vanilla ice cream and house-made blackberry sorbet combination is followed closely by Cookies ‘n’ Dreams and Bertha’s Caramel Brownie.

For Ethan Flansburg, who began working at Whistlepunk as a Cascade High School junior in April 2024, Maple Pecan is a favorite. 

Another summer favorite is Bucky’s Lemon Bar, which is available only during the warmer months.

And while Collins is reluctant to make promises about upcoming flavors, he said one old favorite may return this fall: Chai Honeycomb. The shop has developed a new production method that could make it possible to produce the flavor in larger quantities. 

The summer crowds may appear sudden to customers, but preparation begins months prior. Around March, Collins and his managers begin preparing the shop for the upcoming season. Freezers are readied, ingredients ordered and production multiplied The shop also begins hiring early in the spring. By the end of March and into April, Collins said, the business can receive a large number of applications from students hoping to work at Whistlepunk during the summer. 

By April, kitchen production increases. Employees begin making large quantities of brownies, cookies and other ingredients that will become part of the shop’s ice cream flavors. 

The business tracks how many tubs of ice cream it goes through each week, allowing Collins and his team to anticipate when production needs to increase. Eventually, however, there is no longer much room to prepare for the rush,

“At some point in May, there is just no way to keep up,” Collins said. “We’re basically chasing our tail the entire summer.”

Whistlepunk employs between 30 and 40 people during the summer, many of them high school and college students. On a busy Saturday, the shop can handle 600 to 800 transactions and serve roughly 1,500 people, Collins said. 

Rather than scheduling young employees for long shifts, Collins said most work four- to six-hour shifts, typically two to four shifts a week. This is organized intentionally, in order to preserve the well-being, mind and body, of employees facing an often intense work demand behind the counter. 

Munly said the schedule is one of his favorite parts of the job.

“We only work shifts that are around six hours long and they often don’t start until 11 a.m., so I am able to still enjoy my summer even on days that I work,” he said. 

The name Whistlepunk connects the shop to Leavenworth’s history, and serves as a call-back to the logging origins of the town. A whistlepunk was a young worker in historic logging operations whose job was to operate a steam whistle that signaled other members of the crews as logs were moved. 

Collins discovered the term while driving to meet a friend for a day of snorkeling near the North Fort of the Skykomish River. He had been searching for a name that felt distinctive but still connected to the region. As he drove past an old logging operation, the word “whistlepunk” came to mind. He knew immediately that it was the name he wanted. 

The term also represented something Collins hoped the business could provide: an entry-level job for young people beginning their working lives. Today, that idea is still visible behind the counter. 

Flansburg started working at Whistlepunk during his junior year of high school. He said one of his favorite aspects of the job is working alongside friends, noting that the business often hires several students from each Cascade High School class. 

“My favorite part about working at Whistlepunk has to be that I work with my closest friends most days I am on shift,” Flansburg said.

Older employees who return for another summer also help train new workers, creating a cycle in which experience is passed from one group of students to the next. This has become an important part of the business for Collins. 

For Munly, the appeal of working at Whistlepunk is not only the ice cream or the summer rush. It is the people who pass through the doors. 

“You get to meet all types of people,” he said. “It’s always great to connect with people over little things they mention in the short time you’re serving them.”

Despite Whistlepunk’s growth, Collins said some of the most meaningful parts of the business have little to do with production numbers. He appreciates the local customers who continue to visit, even during the busiest tourist season, and those who bring visiting friends and family to the shop as part of their Leavenworth experience.

The business also hosts an annual free ice cream cone day in the spring, an event Collins said is intended primarily for local residents to gather and enjoy the shop together. But as word has spread, even that local tradition can draw visitors from further away.

For Collins, the loyalty of local customers is one of the most rewarding parts of running the business. 

“I just appreciate that,” he said. “Thanks to everybody that is loyal to us and keeps coming down.” 

What began with a childhood love of ice cream, a small machine and experimental batches has become a Leavenworth business with a history of its own. 

There are the 100,000 waffle cones, the seasonal flavors and the thousands of customers who pass through each summer. But there are also the high school students working their first jobs, the returning employees teaching the next generation and the local families who continue to bring visitors through the doors.

At Whistlepunk, the story has always been about more than a scoop of ice cream. It is about making something intentionally, creating a place for young people to begin working and becoming part of the community, one cone at a time. 

Hazel Eschen: 509-731-4392 or hazel@ward.media