Free Greater's Ice Cream by Robin Davis Heigel

that required attention was production efficiency. To improve it, Graeter’s started running three shifts of ice cream making instead of two. They worked out a schedule of workers so they never had to shut down during a shift. They dedicated certain crew members to clean up and tear down. They became diligent about maintenance, to keep the machines operating at top form all the time. The improvements were dramatic.
    â€œThe year I started in the business we were making 100,000 gallons,” Richard said. “In 2004, we were making 200,000.”
    In 2007, Richard also expanded relationships with his dairy suppliers, Trauth Dairy of Newport, Kentucky, and Smith Dairy of Orville, Ohio, turning them into distributors of Graeter’s Ice Cream. Now, along with other brands, the dairies, as well as UDF, include Graeter’s Ice Cream in their trucks delivering ice cream to various locations.
    â€œDistribution was a competency we did not have. You have to know what you’re doing,” Richard said. “When you’re only a niche product, it is almost impossible to develop the necessary distribution system. At one time, my bakery drivers would drop off product at the country club while delivering.”
    Now, the dairies, along with UDF trucks, distribute Graeter’s to grocery stores.
    All the changes and transitions set the family on the path for a brighter future.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
    Today, Cincinnati houses a population of more than 300,000 and more than 2 million people if surrounding areas are included. It is the third largest city in Ohio, behind Cleveland and Columbus. It is home to numerous businesses, including Procter & Gamble, Kroger, Federated Department Stores (owner of Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s) and Chiquita Brands International.
    Over the years, the city has been the birthplace of many famous—and some infamous—people, including abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, entertainer Doris Day, film director Steven Spielberg, crooner Rosemary Clooney, pop singer Nick Lachey, talk-show host Jerry Springer, disgraced Cincinnati Reds player and coach Pete Rose and mass murderer Charles Manson.
    Cincinnati was the home of one of the worst rock concert tragedies in U.S. history, when eleven fans were killed and dozens injured in a rush for seating at a sold-out concert by The Who at Riverfront Coliseum in 1979.
    The city again drew national attention when the Robert Mapplethorpe photo exhibit opened at the Contemporary Arts Center in 1990 and its director, Dennis Barrie, was indicted on obscenity charges because of the graphic sexual nature of the photographs. Barrie was acquitted of the charges later that year, though the trial brought the question of what constitutes art to the national forefront.
    Race relations remained an ongoing challenge for the city. Riots broke out in 2001 after an unarmed black man was shot, and the police department was accused of racial profiling. Many people feel these riots cost the city its bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics.
    At the same time, however, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Museum honoring the city’s important work on the Underground Railroad was being planned. It opened in 2004, and to date, it has brought in almost one million visitors from across the country and around the globe.
    Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott, who died in 2004, caused her own race relation debacles over and over in the ’90s with her racist comments and professed admiration of Adolf Hitler. These views led to her one-year suspension by Major League Baseball and overshadowed her acts of kindness and generosity.
    Beloved Riverfront Stadium was demolished in 2002 to make way for a new ballpark. The Great American Ball Park, where the Reds play, opened a year later, built next to the site where Riverfront had stood. It is smaller than Riverfront, seating just over forty-two thousand, but is praised for its breathtaking views and innovative