Ice cream trucks roam Elgin after ban ends
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Ice cream truck owner Jim Cremeens waits for a customer's order on the west side of Elgin. He got the No. 1 sticker issued by the city after a 45-year ban ended. Rick West | Staff Photographer
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Jim Cremeens said it felt great to drive his ice cream truck in Elgin on Monday. He was the one who first contacted the city about overturning its ban. Rick West | Staff Photographer
Familiar summertime jingles finally are drifting through the air in Elgin, with the No. 1 ice cream truck sticker going to the man who petitioned to overturn a 45-year ban.
"It feels great," Jim Cremeens said Monday, as he was getting ready to drive his ice cream truck around the west side of Elgin. The Elgin resident contacted the city last summer and the city council granted his wish last month.
Cremeens was the first to apply for a permit, but ice cream truck owner Ziyad Al-Asuli -- who was issued the No. 2 sticker -- was the first to hit the streets in Elgin last week. That's because Cremeens' permit issuance was slightly delayed when the city needed additional information, said Brad Bohner, the city's public health coordinator.
"I'm doing this for almost 15 years," said Al-Asuli, of Des Plaines. "Thank God (the ban is no more). ... Everybody is all excited."
