David Hager’s MVL
Photo: MVL
Can ice cream bring you joy? For David Hager it can. He’s worked the best job in the world for forty-four years at the Mooresville Ice Cream Company.
Some people in life are a meaningful constant. Whether you know them well, or not even really at all, they’re always there with a warm smile, a kind word, or a meaningful moment of human connection. David Hager has been Mooresville’s meaningful constant, quietly making Deluxe Ice Cream and dishing up frozen delights in Downtown Mooresville for forty-four years.
When I moved to Mooresville nearly two decades ago, It was David’s constant, friendly presence that greeted me in the mornings as I arrived at my office on South Broad Street. I would pass him on his walk home from the ice cream factory where he has churned more than seventy-five beloved flavors like butterscotch, double coconut caramel, rainbow sherbet, and Nana’s banana pudding, just to name a few. I always thought that anyone wearing a smile that big after an early shift at work must really love their job. After interviewing David, I would say loving his job is an understatement.
In 1978 when David was just nineteen years old, the Milsaps brothers hired him to come and work with them at the Mooresville Ice Cream Company. His first job was unloading sugar sacks and other ingredients onto the loading dock. Over the span of four decades, he’s done just about everything that there is to do for the company. He’s invented flavors, (admittedly, some of the best by accident). He maintained the high quality, managed the ingredients, cleaned the machines, and of course, dipped thousands of cones up front in the parlor. For David, getting to see the smiles on customers’ faces all these years has been the cherry on top of working a job he’s always loved.
I had the honor of interviewing David on his last day at the Mooresville Ice Cream Company. We talked, and he dipped me a perfect single scoop of black cherry. After forty-four years, David is hanging up his ice cream scoop for some well-earned rest. Then he plans to see what new flavors life has to offer.
David, what’s your MVL?: “I guess it’s getting out there and meeting people. I try to make friends everywhere I go.”
What’s the best thing about the job?: “It’s always been a family-run business. And they’ve treated me like family, always.”
What’s your favorite flavor?: “At first, it was double coconut caramel. But Nana’s Banana Pudding is my favorite of all time.”
Do you have any good stories about making ice cream?: “One day I was making butter pecan ice cream. I had it in a fifty gallon vat and somehow a valve got loose and chocolate got mixed in with the butter pecan. So that’s how I accidentally created a new flavor for Dale Jarrett, called chocolate pecan.”
What do you do when you’re not making ice cream?: “I get out and enjoy walking. If I’m at home, I love to work puzzle books.”
The Mooresville Ice Cream Company is currently owned and operated by the Dogan family. Bora Dogan, manager of the Mooresville parlor said, “David is like the foundation of this store…He’s the best. When you get to know David and his character, you really appreciate him and what he’s done for Deluxe Ice Cream and this town.”
