Anderson Dairy stays loyal to proven methods

Employees recall touring facility as children

As a student at Manch Elementary School in the 1960s, Kim Webster wore a paper hat during an Anderson Dairy tour and walked right up to the line where employees squirted finished ice cream into cartons. In his youth, Dave Coon cooled off inside the ice cream shop housed inside Anderson Dairy, where his father worked.

Back then, milk was still being delivered to homes. Cows grazed in a field watered by a natural spring across the street from where University Medical Center now stands on West Charleston Boulevard. Locals gathered for ice cream at the shop on hot summer days.

Through the changes, both in population and the industry, Anderson Dairy hasn't changed much since Harry Anderson opened it in 1907, two years after the founding of Las Vegas. Sure, the cows now live in Southern California and milk no longer is stored in glass bottles, but French vanilla is still the favorite ice cream flavor.

"Whether the economy is good or bad, people still need dairy products," said Coon, now Anderson Dairy's vice president. "It's still some basic rules of the industry. Temperature was important then, it's important now. Of course, it's easier now."

The company has been in its current location at 801 Searles Ave. since 1956. Before, it was housed on the corner of Fifth Street and Hoover Avenue in downtown Las Vegas. During the gas shortage of World War II, trucks had their engines removed so horses could be put back to work to make home deliveries. In an effort to keep milk cold, wet burlap was placed over the bottles in back of the wagons to create a swamp cooler effect.

Glass bottles were changed to paper cartons in 1968 and, five years later, plastic milk jugs were introduced. In 1974, home delivery ended.

"It just wasn't economically feasible any longer," Coon said.

Convenience and grocery stores were the dairy's first, but not last, entry into competition. Over the years, store-created brands and national dairies have kept Anderson Dairy on the move to keep its Southern Nevada distribution. Other than the dairy's products, the company also is the local distributor for Nestle, Good Humor, Haagen-Dazs and Ben and Jerry's.

"There's a lot more competition, and you have to handle it. And we are," said Lynn Reber, wholesale distribution supervisor. "If your customers want something, you take care of them . ... The competition is good. It keeps you on your toes."

Reber said he thought major competition has come from national dairies approaching the area.

"If you notice, they've been here since 1907," he said. "Many people can't say that. It's stability."

In 1997, Webster, marketing coordinator and former Anderson Dairy tour-taker, was brought to the company to create an interactive tour that would educate local children on the history of the company. The tour also had to be reconstructed to comply with health and safety regulations. The days when he donned a paper hat and watched ice cream cartons whiz by his head were over.

"We used to do tours back in the days when no one would fuss about taking them in the factory area," Coon said. "The only way for them to see our product area (now) is to see it through windows."

Animatronic barnyard animals were brought in to disperse dairy information before children walked down window-lined hallways to see cottage cheese, sour cream, ice cream and milk being processed and packaged for distribution. The entertaining style of the tour was appropriate for children's attention spans without dumbing down the material. The tradition of a scoop of ice cream at the end of the tour remained staunchly intact. Today, approximately 92,000 children have experienced the renovated tour.

"Some of it was sort of seat-of-your-pants. What to do? Make it fun," Webster said. "It would be fun for people to know about Las Vegas."

"The young people bring their parents and their teachers who are shoppers, and they are the future shoppers in Las Vegas," Coon added. "It's amazing how many older people I run into in the community who remember taking the tour in the 1950s and 1960s."

The black-and-white photos that line the halls of the dairy are from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Special Collections Department, because the company didn't hold on to many historical materials except a few glass bottles and milk cans.

"It's like most things in Vegas," Webster said. The barn on West Charleston Boulevard was torn down in 1983. "Unfortunately, we really regret that, too. It's the history of Las Vegas, not just the dairy."

Employees need not look far to be reminded of the dairy's history in Las Vegas. They can see it in the faces of those currently operating the company, as well as those on the docks, driving the trucks, distributing the products and giving the tours.

Names associated with the company also haven't changed much since the 1930s when Kenny Searles, the namesake for the street where the dairy is located, became head of the company. Glen Coon served as the general manager and then president in the 1980s. Currently, Searles' son-in-law Harold Bellanger runs the company with Coon's sons, Doug and Dave Coon, as vice presidents.

Family ties to the dairy aren't weak ones, Dave Coon said. Many employees represent generations of dairy workers, including Reber, whose two sons, daughter and brother work there. His late father, Calvin Reber, worked for an independent dairy before moving to Las Vegas. Upon arrival, he saddled up next to his son as a wholesale distribution supervisor and assistant at Anderson Dairy.

Webster joked that employees are happy because they're near sweet stuff, but Reber said he believes blood is just as thick as ice cream.

An employee since 1976, Reber doesn't ever want to work anywhere else. A few years ago, as he lay in a coma for 30 days in a Salt Lake City hospital, his boss from the dairy came to visit. After he returned home and was placed in rehabilitation, no less than 15 visitors from work came to see him every day.

"I tell you what, I cherish that more than anything," he said. "They're loyal, and you're loyal to them. Loyalty is big here."

He raised his children while working at the dairy, and now his grandchildren come in to take the tour and meet the relatives of people he's worked with for nearly 30 years.

"It keeps on going. You know what I mean?" Reber said. "I couldn't think of a better place for them to work, and they enjoy working here themselves . ... Mr. (Glen) Coon is not around anymore, but he would know your name. He'd know your family."

Tours are scheduled primarily for groups, but families are welcome to call to be included in a free tour. Those interested can call Anderson Dairy at 642-7507.


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