Happy Camper Snoballs
When New Orleans native Rena Lasch moved to Charleston in 2006 following Hurricane Katrina, she was not a happy camper. “I was dazed and needed to reinvent my life,” she recalls. She was looking for an escape from reality—a diversion where life could be a little bit more colorful, a little bit sweeter. Her idea? Start a business. Her one requirement? It must be mobile. “In case I had to move again,” she says. As for the product, that was easy. Longing for the simple pleasures of home, Lasch couldn’t stop craving traditional New Orleans Snoballs, a variation on the Snocone, but made with smoother ice. She was busy perfecting her recipes for the icy treat, using homemade simple syrup and fresh fruit, when a vintage 1965 mini Canned Ham camper came up for sale on Craigslist. “It was perfect,” she says. And Fourth of July of 2010, Happy Camper Snoballs debuted. “Life is theater,” says the sno dealer, who arrives at each event and food truck rodeo in a kitsch costume complete with retro sunglasses and apron. “When I moved here, I decided whatever I chose to do, I wanted to be around happy people every day,” she says. It sounds like no easy feat, but then again, have you tried frowning with a Snoball in hand?
Best Bites: Blueberry, peach, and watermelon flavors made with homemade simple syrup
Facebook: HappyCamperSnoballs
Web: www.happycampersnoballs.com
