Ferris Acres Creamery closed its scoop window for the regular season, but the Newtown farm creamery is opening its Express Window for one more November weekend. From Saturday, November 21, through Monday, November 23, the creamery on Sugar Street is selling extra quarts, half gallons and ice cream pies, including many of its special flavors, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. That is the weekend before Thanksgiving.

November: no order needed for the extras

The November weekend was set up as a pickup for pre-orders, and the creamery closed November pre-orders on October 30. Anyone who missed that deadline can still walk up: the creamery says it is making plenty of extra quarts, half gallons and pies to sell at the Express Window during the same three days.

December: order by Monday, November 23

There is a second pickup weekend before Christmas, on Saturday, December 19, Sunday, December 20, and Monday, December 21, again from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For December, the creamery takes pre-orders for quarts, half gallons, ice cream pies and 2.5-gallon tubs, and every December order has to be placed by Monday, November 23. The creamery's ordering page sets that deadline at 4 p.m.

Ordering is a two-step process, and the order matters:

  • Reserve a pickup time first. Book a December slot through the creamery's Acuity scheduling page, choosing the option to schedule a November or December pickup.
  • Then place and prepay the order on the creamery's website, using the same first and last name as the reservation, and write the reserved date and time in the notes to seller box on the final payment page.

If an order arrives without a pickup date, the creamery assigns the first available slot and emails the date and time. Orders that are not picked up by closing on the Monday of each weekend are donated to Newtown's first responders.

A family farm since 1864

Ferris Acres sits on land William David Baldwin Ferris bought in 1864; he was a descendant of the first Ferris to arrive in Newtown, around 1703. His son grew apples and raised beef, the next generation moved the farm into dairy in the 1930s, and registered Holstein cows followed in the 1950s. In 2003, Shirley Ferris joined the family business and the creamery was established, with original ice cream recipes she developed for sale on the farm.

Today three generations work the creamery and the farm. The family sold the dairy herd a few years back, but beef cattle are still raised there, and in summer customers can sit on a bench and watch the animals in the pasture while they eat. The family has received the State of Connecticut Dairy Farm of Distinction award from the state Department of Agriculture.

Plan your stop

Ferris Acres Creamery is at 144 Sugar Street in Newtown. For the November weekend, go to the Express Window between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on November 21, 22 or 23. For December, reserve a pickup time and place the order before the November 23 deadline. The creamery reopens for regular scooping in May.

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