SOUTH BRISTOL, Maine — When the Thompson Ice House Harvesting Museum advertised its ice cream social on July 2, rain or shine, it wasn't kidding.
For Caroline and Ken Lincoln, carrying the tradition of harvesting ice in the winter, storing it under hay through the spring, and turning the ice into ice cream in the summer is a way of life that can't be stopped.
"It feels good for people to come out and have an ice cream on a Sunday afternoon in the pouring rain. It's great," Ken Lincoln said.
Ken Lincoln said he doesn't remember an ice cream social where it rained as bad as it did Sunday, but Caroline Lincoln said they counted roughly 100 cars just within the first few hours of opening.
The Thompson Ice House has been functioning as a museum for 30 years and uses the same equipment on display to harvest ice during the winter months.
Some of the tools seen Sunday are around 150 years old, according to organizers.
The ice harvested in the wintertime is stored in a barn, insulated by being stacked together and with hay on top of it. This method is the same way used for 200 years, according to the ice house organizers.