LA GRANDE — One of La Grande’s historic family-owned ice cream parlors, Hought’s 24 Flavors, closed Sept. 15 after serving local patrons and tourists since 1951.

Owner Carla Sorweide will be retiring to Truth and Consequences, New Mexico, to live near family, but she will sell her business in the spring and assist the new owners in reopening the eatery and ice cream parlor at that time.

“I bought the business in September of 2004, and reopened it on Feb. 14, 2005,” Sorweide said. “Mr. Clair Hought had it from 1951 to 1985, so it sat closed for 20 years before I bought it, and then I had it for 20 years myself.”

When she bought the business, Sorweide said she retained the well-known Hought name because it has a legacy, “and I wanted to keep that going for him,” she said.

A month after she purchased Hought’s 24 Flavors, Helen Hought died, but Clair Hought lived long enough to be present at Sorweide’s first year anniversary special in February 2006.

“I went to get him and brought him to the store that day so that everyone could meet him,” she said. “A few months later, in June 2006, he died.”

Sweet legacy

Clair Alvin Hought was born in 1913 in Noonan, North Dakota, to a family that farmed and had a coal mine. He married Helen Kloster on August 31, 1935, in Noonan, and then they moved to Portland, Oregon, where Hought worked for Mr. Eugene Keller as a machine hand for Keller’s Bakery.

In 1950 at the age of 36, Hought worked his way up to a baker’s position in Keller’s wholesale bakery business. His employment there gave him valuable years of experience in the food industry, but his dream was really to own and operate his own business.

Then in early 1951 while on a road trip, he and his wife passed through La Grande for the first time, and they fell in love with the area. As the La Grande Observer’s story recounted, “They saw (La Grande) for the first time during the height of a storm, and the Portland businessman decided then and there to establish his ice cream business in the hub of the Grande Ronde valley.”

Clair and Helen Hought relocated to La Grande with their two children Charlotte, 9, and Jimmy, 5, and they took up residency in a one-story framed home on the corner of Adams and Cedar.

With the help of a crew of craftsmen, the finishing touches were made on the ice cream parlor and eatery attached to their residence. They named their new business Hought’s 24 Flavors, and its grand opening was held on Saturday, May 12, 1951. All visitors that day received a free cone.

Their ad read, “You never tasted such delicious ice cream as Hought’s 24 Flavors! Rich and flavorful, you can get it here in cones, 5 cents to 25 cents and gallons.”

Hought’s 24 Flavors served malts, sundaes, walking shakes to go and sherbets in lemon, lime, and orange flavors. Gallons in mixed flavors cost a mere $1.59. It also offered a wide variety of flavors: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, lemon custard, licorice, maple nut, butterscotch, black walnut, fresh banana, fresh banana nut, townhouse, butter brickle, pecan crunch, orange, pineapple, cherry nut, cherry treat, black raspberry, date nut, huckleberry, pistachio, Rocky Road, an Artic Freeze and many other offerings.

By January 1959, Hought’s 24 Flavors added to its menu fountain service, jumbo banana splits, sodas and fountain drinks. Their ads read, “Our delicious ice cream is made right here in our own store.”

The Houghts ran their business for 34 years, supported by loyal patrons and many tourists who heard about them and stopped for a meal as they were passing through. Then in 1985, at the age of 72, Clair Hought decided it was time to retire. He didn’t sell the business since it was attached to their residence, so that space sat dormant for the next 20 years until its grand reopening in February 2005 by Sorweide.

In their honor, Sorweide retained the historic name of the business and its retro stool and bar atmosphere. She wanted to keep things as close to the way they were in its heyday when the Houghts served “the best ice cream in these here hills.”

With a few food additions, Sorweide kept the menu about the same with fresh burgers mixed with special seasonings, and a side of curly fries, hot fudge sundaes and their specialty waffles.

Over the years, she had to raise prices. For example, burgers rose gradually from $2.75 to $7.50 over 20 years, but she never cut back on the quality or portion sizes. However, she said she hardly stepped away from the store, and after 20 years, “I was tired and all the state requirements finally caught up, and I was almost retirement age, so I decided to close up shop,” she said.

What lies ahead

Since Sept. 15 when Sorweide served her last customer, it’s been hard for her to believe she doesn’t have to open the store and wait on anyone anymore. Instead, she’s been contemplating her future pursuits and reflecting on where her journey has taken her and what she will miss the most when she leaves La Grande. “I’m really going to miss the customers I made here,” she said.

Sorweide said there has been a lot of interest expressed from potential buyers for Hought’s 24 Flavors and the residence. She will handle all that interest next spring when she returns from wintering in New Mexico. She will also help the new owners reopen the business doors next spring.

“The new owners will have to keep the business name, or they won’t be successful,” she said. “I’ll also show them how to save money operating it.”

She feels it’s her solemn duty and privilege to pass along the Hought’s traditions and secret recipes that will take the 74-year-old menu and iconic business into 2025 and beyond.