Get The Scoop On Cat Health Ice Cream Social Set

At its heart, it is a story about love – the love that humans develop for their pets, specifically those with short life spans, particularly when that animal with a short life span had a unique talent.

It’s also a story about friendly competition, ice cream, summer days and the joy that we find along the way.

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Windy City Sweets, 3308 N Broadway in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, will host a Get the Scoop on Cat Health Ice Cream Social from 7-9 p.m., Friday, June 19, with the proceeds going to the non-profit EveryCat Health Foundation.

The store is co-owned by John and Jill Manchester, who purchased it in 2011. Over the years, they have raised money for various organizations and causes, including Center on Halsted, World Hunger organization and Anti-Cruelty Society, which grew out of a relationship between the store and a man with a remarkable cat.

To those who loved him, the cat was just Ricky, but as Ricky perfected his unexpected talent, not only was Ricky loved by his immediate family, but by strangers all over the world.

Lucy, the family’s therapy dog, was originally going to learn to play the toy piano to entertain children that pet parent Steve had purchased. After the introductory lesson, something unexpected happened.

Ricky, at the time, was a six-month-old kitten.

“We didn’t get that far because only 15 minutes into it…turns out that I did not shut the door to our rehearsal room all the way,” Steve Dale said. “Ricky kind of taught me how to teach him how to play the piano,”

“He became kind of a TV star.

“One day, our veterinarian called me and she’s yelling at me - they’re yelling because they want me to bring in the piano.”

Unfortunately, that visit brought some sad news - Ricky had a heart murmer.

“He had what is feline hypertrophic cardiomyopothy (HCM),” Dale said. “They had a drug that might help, but there was no real treatment.”

Dale explains.

“One of the outcomes of HCM is heart failure. Another is (the cat) has a stroke-like event and another is nothing.”

Those in the third category live a normal life span, but, unfortunately, Ricky was in the second category and suddenly passed away.

“As he is eating, he looks at me and just fell,” Dale said of Ricky’s last moments. “It is the number one cause of sudden death in cats.”

Ricky passed away in 1987. He was only two and a half.

Right after losing Ricky, Dale decided to create the Ricky Fund - to raise money for research for cat health studies of all kinds. Dale initiated a fund with the non-profit funder of cat health studies, the Winn Feline Foundation (now EveryCat Health Foundation) to raise money for studying and better understanding and ultimately treating this common heart disease in cats.

Although the topic of feline health is serious business, an ice cream social is a much lighter affair, that is until the idea of competition is introduced.

Dale has had a working relationship with Windy City Sweets for a number of years, having an ice cream - Banana Graham Cracker Crunch named after him - 'Steve Dale’s Banana Graham Cracker Crunch.'

“This was the best thing I had ever had my whole life,” he said of the flavor of ice cream.

The original banana was discontinued, but 'Steve's Nana Banana Pudding now remains as his namesake.

And the competition that was between Dale and TV personality and host of Curtain Call Chicago, Paul Lisnek, (whose ice cream is named 'Paul Lisnek’s Chicago Pothole') is now playful fun that will raise funds for Anti-Cruelty.

The Get the Scoop on Cat Health Ice Cream Social will take place from 7-9 p.m. June 16. There is no admission charge for the event. While there is not a competition between two flavors, the first 50 attendees get a free scoop of ice cream. In addition to all the ice cream and sweets that will be on hand, Windy City Sweets has used its Face on a Cookie product to create EveryCat Health Foundation branded cookies for sale.

There will be a drawing for two gifts baskets (a Dockstream water fountain donated by Petlibro and a Windy City Sweets treat basket donated by John Manchester).

Although there is not an ice cream flavor competition associated with The Get the Scoop on Cat Health Ice Cream Social, there is a history of ice cream competitions at the store.

The competition between Dale and Lisneck began six years ago during Covid, when the first ice cream contest between the two happened.

“I was actually in the vaccine trial for Covid 19, for the vaccine that ended up being used,” Dale said. “I don’t remember how many times I was jabbed.

“They would pay me. I didn’t do it for the payment and I did not get a lot of money, but I did get some money.”

So he contemplated how to best spend it.

“How can I find a better way to spend the money, but on ice cream?” he said.

There were contests over the years, initially raising money for the Anti-Cruelty Society.

It’s not the only way in which the ice cream at Windy City Sweets is changing the world.

Starting in June, during Pride month, Scott Duff and Ellen Miller, hosts of Out Chicago on WCPT AM 820 and Alan Bresloff and Frank Meccia who co-host a weekend radio show on the station, will each come in and pick out a flavor. In The Great Ice Cream Challenge of 2026, Windy City Sweets willl donate a quarter for every cone of that flavor to the Special Gifts Theater. Last year they raised upwards of $750.

The Great Ice Cream Challenge of 2026 will go all summer through Labor Day.

“They are such good people that run it and again when you have a special needs child…they could be in their teens, in their 20s, whatever…it’s very powerful.” Manchester said of the organization.

June also promises a variety of Pride-themed sweets: rainbow fudge, Oreos, Twinkies, rice crispy treats and pretzels, just to name a few.

“We’re a block off Main. Halsted is where the parade is at and we’ll be open the whole time,” Manchester said. “We will sell our Pride stuff early on and we will donate a portion of sales to Center on Halsted.”

For more information on any of the ice cream flavors, any of the Pride-themed sweets or to order custom-designed treats, visit windycitysweets.com. They ship all over the United States so your celebration can be sweet wherever you live.