If you find yourself on Main Street in Schaghticoke today and hear a DJ, a live band, several dozen children attempting their best dinosaur roar, and the distinct thwack-splash of a grown man hitting dunk-tank water — don’t worry. That’s just twenty years of Chrissy’s Cravings being properly celebrated.
The party runs today, Saturday, August 15, from 11 in the morning until 9 at night, at 152 Main Street — and everyone’s invited. That means you.
Twenty years, two candles
Here’s a detail worth knowing before you go: the shop’s anniversary, August 14, is also owner Christina Newton’s birthday. Twenty years ago she spent her birthday opening an ice cream shop. She’s spent every one since scooping for the rest of us. So when you see her today, “happy birthday” is as welcome as “happy anniversary” — and if you can work both into one sentence, all the better.
What she built in those twenty years is the kind of place every small town hopes for and few get to keep: hand-dipped ice cream and a full menu, an indoor dining room, and a picnic yard where the kids burn off the sundae while the grown-ups finish their coffee. Ask around and everybody’s got their order. The buffalo chicken wrap has a following that borders on devotion — though this writer’s vote goes to the Chrissy Mac (a double cheeseburger with pickles, lettuce, onion and Russian dressing), curly fries, and a vanilla shake. Order it once and you’ll understand the twenty years.
The day’s lineup
- 11:30 to 3:30 — DJ Rocky Sawyer spins, and there’s face painting
- All day — the bounce house, giveaways, and the dunk tank
- 1 o’clock sharp — “Pastie Clyde” takes the dunk-tank seat, having spent the week declaring that this town “couldn’t hit the side of a barn.” Schaghticoke, the man has left you no choice.
- 4 to 9 — live music from Better Daze (the band formerly known as 5 Daze Out), with a dance floor down and tents up
- Sometime in between — the kids’ dinosaur roar contest, with prizes. Coach your contenders on the drive over.
The restaurant asks just one thing: bring a chair.
Dunk a neighbor, help a first responder
The dunk tank isn’t just for laughs — every dollar goes to NYLEAP, the New York Law Enforcement Assistance Program. It’s a 501(c)(3) that gives police, firefighters, EMS crews, dispatchers, corrections officers and veterans — and their families — free, confidential help with the weight the job leaves behind: peer support, critical-incident counseling, the works.
If that cause sounds like a natural fit for this particular restaurant, it is. Regular readers will remember this past May, when a call pulled the Hoosic Valley Rescue Squad crew out the door mid-order and their dinner went cold on the counter. Chrissy’s remade every plate, no questions asked. Some places talk about supporting first responders; this one feeds them twice.
The sundae that tells the whole story
The anniversary caught the attention of CBS6, whose Tasty Tuesday crew came up to see what twenty years tastes like. Christina showed them the Baby Mama Craving — chocolate peanut butter ice cream, vanilla soft serve, M&M’s, peanut butter cups, hot fudge, peanut butter sauce, whipped cream, and two cherries: one for baby, one for mama.
It got its name from a pregnant regular who ordered it so faithfully it earned a permanent spot on the board. And honestly, that’s the whole character of the place in a single dish — somebody’s craving became the house specialty because the owner was paying attention.
When the segment made the rounds online, the comments filled up the way they only do for a place a town actually loves: the sponsorships nobody was supposed to know about (half a softball team’s deposit, quietly covered), the grandparents proudly spotting their grandkids behind the counter, and one summary that’s hard to improve on — “best place in the world.”
If you go
Chrissy’s Cravings, 152 Main Street, Schaghticoke — today until 9 p.m., about fifteen minutes up Route 40 from Speigletown. Bring a chair, bring the kids, bring a few dollars for the dunk tank, and practice that roar.
And any other day of the year: you can order online for pickup at chrissyscravings.com — Chrissy Mac included.
Twenty years. One town. Two cherries.
Details from the restaurant’s flyer and Facebook posts, and from CBS6’s Tasty Tuesday segment. Images courtesy of Chrissy’s Cravings, from the restaurant’s own promotion for the event. Community comments are paraphrased and left unattributed. Times are the restaurant’s; check their Facebook page if you’re coming for a specific act.
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