For Missouri Boy Scouts, nothing beats a Nehi float

ICONIUM, Mo. -- In biblical times, Iconium was a lush oasis. In steamy Missouri summertime, it still is.

Missouri's Iconium is a crossroads in the dense timber country near Truman Lake, midway between Springfield and Sedalia. Just a short, sweaty hike from the H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation.

Here a sweet and simple ritual has endured for about 30 years, comforting homesick boys and reassuring the older and more jaded that innocent pleasure still exists in a stressful, complicated, uncertain world.

Dusk brings Scouts by the score to Scott's Iconium Store. They line up at the snack bar window to earn a whimsical merit badge -- for the Peach Float Trip.

Qualifying is easy: just slurp down a soothing concoction of soft ice cream twirled into a cup of Peach Nehi soda.

Scott's sells about 25,000 of the $1.50 peach floats each summer. That's more than 1,500 gallons of Peach Nehi, enough to fill more than 4,000 canteens sold on the Boy Scouts' official Web site.

"There are two obvious ingredients, the vanilla ice cream and the Peach Nehi," said Ginger Scott, whose husband Wayne's relatives have run the store since 1947.

"But there is a third ingredient: love. We just love these boys and they love us back."

The boys call Scott "mom," and now some second-generation campers call her "grandma."

She likes it. After all, one of the Scouts discovered the peach float, for which her family business has accumulated cult-like fame among boys and their families across Missouri.

It was soon after the Scotts took over the family business in the mid-1970s. The driver of a soda pop distributing van brought in a couple of cases of canned Peach Nehi.

"He told me, 'I can't get rid of these, so will you just take them, no charge?'" Scott recalled.

She took them. The cans gathered dust. Then a bunch of Scouts came in and spotted the obscure brand beverages.

"They wanted to know how it tastes. I said let's get some ice and see. They all liked it, but one boy poured his over a cup of vanilla ice cream and -- WOW! That's how it started. That kid is my hero -- and I'm sorry to say I don't even know his name," Scott said.

Thousands of Scouts have since followed that inspired peach soda pathfinder.

Mark Young, an adult assistant from Blue Springs, helping lead Troop 692: "It's been camp food all week, and tonight we had corn dogs, and that's one of the better menus. So a peach float is a well-deserved treat."

Andrew Morris, 11, stepped up to the counter in search of fizzy pink fulfillment. He reached for his first Peach Nehi Float, its soda bubbles clustered in a cloud at the base of a vanilla pinnacle.

There was a tentative sip, then a vigorous one, then Andrew took up his long plastic spoon and gobs of pink-tinted ice cream disappeared.

The boy from Excelsior Springs smiled.

"Cold! Peachy! Mmmmmm!"

Next year marks the 75th anniversary of the Bartle Scout Reservation. There are projections of more than 5,000 visitors during one celebratory weekend.

"We don't know how we're going to handle them," Scott said, not too unhappily. "Need to order more Peach Nehi."

Wayne Scott usually keeps almost 200 cases on hand. He says Peach Nehi outsells Coca-Cola and Pepsi products combined "just about 10-1."

Just after 9 p.m., Ginger Scott shouts: "Last call for floats and ice cream."

A few stragglers line up -- some for seconds.

Then the Scouts form neat lines and begin marching back to camp along the highway shoulders. The procession emits distinctive sounds: gravel crunching underfoot; the clanking of six-packs of Peach Nehi being lugged along; the scraping of spoons against foam cup bottoms, audibly marking the search for peach float remnants.

Just one more taste, as darkness falls across the peaceful woods.

"Good night, boys. See you next time," Mrs. Scott says.

"Next summer, for sure."