Toadally Tropikool’s grand opening is from 11 a.m.
to 9 p.m. today. The store, located in the Ritchie Highway Shopping Center, will donate 10 percent of the proceeds to the foundation, said Chris Wengert, who owns the shop with his brother, Josh, and father, Tom. “My wife had ovarian cancer at age 17, and it was pretty devastating for her then,” he said, adding the illness left her unable to have children, so the couple adopted their two youngest children. “We wanted to give back to the cancer foundation. And my father just won a battle with prostate cancer.” Supporting a charity is one way the family hopes to give back, he said. “We’ve always wanted to do a fundraiser to give back. I’ve grown up in Brooklyn Park my whole life. My parents still live in Brooklyn Park. We’ve branched out,” Wengert said of himself and his brother, who were involved with groups like the Brooklyn Park Youth Athletic Association. “It’s a chance to give back to the community because the community’s always been good to us.” Toadally Tropikool sells Italian water ices, soft serve ice cream, root beer floats, milk shakes, smoothies, gelatis and lemonade. Getting to opening day was a long time coming as the family worked with county officials to secure permits, so today is a relief, Wengert said. Still, it sneaked up on them, he said. “We’ve put a lot of work into it, countless hours,” he said. “It’s all come to fruition.”
For details, call Wengert at 443-956-8807.