Join us this Saturday, June 7th from 11AM - 3PM in celebration of our old-fashioned soda fountain’s lasting legacy. Come share your memories and join us for one last scoop of ice cream! See a note below from the Hoeschen family and rest of the SPCD staff about this upcoming change to our space:

This Saturday, June 7th we’ll be hosting a mini “retirement party” to give our soda fountain some love before it is removed and goes on to its second life after being donated (it’s destination is TBD, but we know it will be put to new use somewhere local!). Its official retirement will allow us to finally reconfigure our space so that we may better serve our patients and patrons of today as we help them navigate an increasingly complicated healthcare system. We care about your health and wellbeing, and this extra space will help us assist you in your health goals both now and in the future. 

Our family and team are, as we’re sure many of you are, both excited and sadly nostalgic about this much needed change. For many years, our old-fashioned fountain served as a literal watering hole and gathering place for community members, where regulars came (often daily, sometimes twice) for a coffee or pastry, where old friends met and new ones were made; where parents and grandparents brought their youngsters for a celebratory ice cream treat, and teenagers (including all four Hoeschen kids) worked their first job… It certainly is bittersweet, this retirement of a historic piece of our landscape. But as our fellow Minnesotan Bob Dylan sang, “The times, they are a changin’.” And we are wholeheartedly ready to embrace this change: one in which pharmacies are able to continue growing in their ability to provide high quality, community-based patient care that is sorely needed (assuming, of course, we’re able to save independent pharmacy. Check out what we’re doing to help ensure that this happens here). 

In honor of the fountain’s “last day” in our pharmacy, we will be handing out complimentary scooped ice cream from 11:00am to 3:00pm this Saturday, June 7th, for anyone interested in a little treat and a chance to say “goodbye.” We’ll also have a book where individuals can record a memory, leave a “thank you,” or simply reminisce about their days at the fountain.

If you’ve got pictures or memories to share with us, please bring them along with you to the pharmacy and write/place them in this book OR send them to us by replying to this email (you can also email Hildie directly at hildie@stpaulcornerdrug.com). After dressing this book up a bit with our own additions, we’ll keep it displayed somewhere in the pharmacy as a testament to the fountain’s cemented legacy in this community’s history. If you’re not able to join us on Saturday, feel free to give the fountain a little love tap or blow it a kiss as you pass by during your visit this week! 

As always, thank you for braving the future with us and understanding this difficult decision we’ve had to make in parting with our beloved soda fountain. We thank you for your patronage and continued support. We love taking care of you.

Yours in health,
The Hoeschen family & entire staff of St. Paul Corner Drug

Contributing to the fountain’s memory book

If you’d like to gift a photo, note, and/or story to the fountain’s permanent memory book, feel free to bring those with you to the pharmacy this week or email them to Hildie at hildie@stpaulcornerdrug.com. The Hoeschen family will spend some time putting this book together before displaying it in the pharmacy for everyone’s enjoyment, so feel free to send contributions even after this Saturday’s event has ended!