Yarnell's Ice Cream recipes sold for $2,500 at auction

SEARCY, AR - "All of the Yarnell's Ice Cream recipes and they're here to sell," yelled the auctioneer. "How much will you give for them?"

Think about that for a second. How much would you pay for every single Yarnell's Ice Cream recipe? The final price might surprise you.

"Last time," repeated the auctioneer, "would you give 2,500?"

David Davison did. He said he payed $2,500 for every single Yarnell's Ice Cream recipe at the Yarnell's auction Wednesday. That's not $2,000,000, that's not even $20,000, that's $2,000 and change.

"I just basically thought it was a good buy," said Davison after making the winning bid. He's never sold ice cream in his life. In fact, he owns a heating and air store in Harrison, and that's why he came to the auction.

"Basically to look at the heating and air equipment and refrigeration equipment," he said, "but if nobody's gonna give any more than that for the recipe, I'd be glad to own the recipe."

And now, he does. It's an opportunity for him just like everyone else who bought Yarnell's trucks or Yarnell's property, even the Yarnell's freezers were for sale at the auction, which a federal bankruptcy judge said had to happen.

The auction, however, does have a different meaning for the people of Searcy, many of them laid-off when Yarnell's declared bankruptcy in August.

"This has been a part of Searcy for a long time and it's kind of sad to see it go," said Former Yarnell's Employee Lisa Stewart.

Lifelong Searcy resident Buddy Phillips said, "we hate to see it. Everybody in town hated to see the company shut down."

"We grew up eating Yarnell's Ice Cream," said Robert Cargile who actually played for the Yarnell's little league team as a kid. "It's a sad day for us actually."

A sad day or an opportunistic day, depending on how you look at it. Afterall, a guy who is a heating professional of all things, now owns some awfully good ice cream recipes.