Lollypops’ new owners two-step from Texas to ‘Toga

Bobby Chitwood and his family are the newest fixtures to blow into Saratoga. The new owner of Lollypops’ is a jack of many trades. Bobby has a country music band and tours regularly. He is a celebrity spokesman for the Wounded Warriors Home, an organization that helps place wounded vets into rehabilitative homes in cases of severe head trauma. Chitwood is also active in the Wyoming National Guard.

Bobby runs their new restaurant, and his wife Danyel is the General Manager for the Best Western hotel in Rawlins.

“We had to come into Saratoga a few different times for my wife’s work and we fell in love with the town,” Chitwood said. “We went to the hot pools, and the girls wanted to stop for ice cream, cotton candy flavor, and when we saw this place for sale, we jumped on it.”

Former owner, Irene Mikkelsens’ formula kept Lollypops open for more than two decades, and Chitwood sees no need to change it.

“We did a little touch up work but our menu is going to stay exactly the same,” Chitwood said “Not to worry, we are still going to hand-make ice cream.”

Lollypops won’t keep 30 flavors of ice cream through the winter, but will ramp up to that during the summer season. Meanwhile, unlike in the past, Chitwood plans to be open Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 7 a.m. - 4 p.m. and Sunday from 7 a.m. - noon during the winter months.

“We closed the shop purchase on the fourth of December, so we’ve only owned it for a couple of weeks now,” Chitwood said.

Catering lunches is another goal of Chitwood’s. If the local fly shops want boat lunches catered, or if anyone in general would like an event catered, they can call Lollypops a day ahead of time and Chitwood will get back to them to confirm the order.

“We will do sandwiches, soups and ice cream for anybody that is interested,” Chitwood said. “Any catering we get, we’ll gladly do it.”

Chitwood’s schedule is jam packed right now, and with him possibly going to Officer Candidate School this summer, it’s going to get much busier.

“I’m going to rely heavily upon Judy Duhring,” Chitwood said. “She has been with Irene the whole time and she knows the system better than anyone.”

Chitwood’s next big gig, aside from Officer Candidate School and his new restaurant, is a concert for the Wounded Warriors House on the USS Midway next Sept. 15 in San Diego.

“It’s going to be big,” Chitwood said.

Chitwood also has a website to promote the music side of his life. You can find him at http://www.bobbychitwood.com.