A Guide to Local Ice Cream By Members of the Concord Discussion List. You can join our discussions and/or read the message archives here. Gearing up for scientific examination of the wares at Kimballs, Carlisle. The Concord Discussion List covers many important topics: town meeting, school funding, town news, Concord history, and other issues vital to our community. But on no issue has this group collaboratively contributed more to the quality of life in Concord than on this subject: Where do you like to go locally for ice cream? New Englander's take ice cream veeeeeery seriously, and we Concordians are no exception. Texture, size of servings, number of flavors, quality of toppings (especially the all-important "real whipped-cream question") have been dissected, discussed and debated for weeks. So important has this been, that list members have gone out together to local ice cream establishments to better examine the possibilities and more accurately report results. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it. And with such a "weighty" matter at issue, we have been willing to do what was necessary. Testers giving serious consideration to our endeavor. Here are some of the group's opinions to date. Keep in mind that where to find great ice cream -- like all true art forms -- evolves and changes over time. This info could change as quickly as it takes an ice cream cone to melt. So far, the most votes have been for Kimball's at Bates Farm. Huge servings, great flavors, and a wonderful drive to and from Concord center. Farm animals and a nice lawn, too. And much shorter lines than their much larger stand in Littleton. But watch out for the mosquitoes...they are big and hungry. "In my humble opinion, the surroundings of an ice cream stand are at least as important as the ice cream itself. For that reason, I think this place provides the best experience of any stand for miles around." Erikson's comes in second to date. They, too, have great flavors and the wonderful, creamy, dense farm-stand texture (i.e., no air whipped into it) that we crave. For the historically-minded, there are great photos documenting their history which you can look at as you eat. "Mom likes the lime rickey with lime sherbet, Libby (five) votes for their kiddie size at 85 cents because her dad will buy her a second one if she finishes the first (usually 2 lemon sherbets), Jennifer (two) starts with vanilla yogurt and finishes whatever she can grab from the rest of the family, and Dad (me) usually goes for a triple chocolate yogurt. The variety available at Eriksons seems to be the best in the area, especially for those of us trying to delude ourselves into thinking we are cutting down on fat by ordering the large yogurt!" "The best ice cream is Erickson's, especially grape-nut." Many think that Brigham's has very good ice cream. It doesn't have the ambience of the farmstands, but it's open all year for those ice cream splurges in February. Bedford Farms in (where else?) Bedford also has the good stuff. "One of our favorite places is Bedford Farms. If we don't have time to go to Kimball's. I always have a hard time deciding what flavor to get." The panel confers. If you are able to get into the way-back machine, there's lots of nostalgia for the dearly-departed ice cream parlors of Concord. The Verrills had a dairy with an ice cream parlor at the corner of Thoreau St. and Sudbury Rd. starting in 1939. Howard Johnson's, now a Papa Razzi Restaurant on Route 2, was an institution. "We used to hang out there during high school. It was the place to go, and the thought of their ice cream brings back pleasant memories." The long-gone fountain at the recently closed Snow's Pharmacy was another local institution. "After [ballroom] dancing lessons at the Scout House, we used to stop there for a treat." We are still collecting data, and won't be done until the fall -- yummmm. If you'd like to lend a hand (all in the name of science, of course), join our list and find out about our next outing.