im 7th from the right
St Patrick’s Primary School, McLean Place, about 60 years ago — Front row (left to right) Ronnie (Tiger) Shaw, Pat O’Brien, dunno, Harry Smyth, Michael DiManna, Johnny McGroarty and Highie McMahon. Second row: Patrick King, dunno, James McGroarty, Edward Delaney, Francis McIntosh, Dick Goldie, dunno, dunno, dunno, dunno; Third row: Tom Gallagher, Tom Bell, Hamilton?, John Docherty, Charlie Gallagher, Pat Milton, Tom Morrison, Geordie Coffey, dunno, dunno; Fourth row: Dunno, dunno, dunno, John Kane, dunno, dunno, dunno, Charles Baird, dunno, Brendan McGuire;, Back row: Dunno, Joe Monaghan, Alex Kennedy, Dan Docherty, dunno, Fitzpatrick, Ian Scullion and John Buster McColl.
NOTEBOOK by BILL HEANEY
I remember Areste Reigitano owning and running the shop while his son, Gino, toured the housing estates looking for business in a mobile shop which had been an old bus.
Then there was the legendary Peter McGarry, who gave the good boys “tick” when they came in looking for single cigarettes and a bottle of “ginger”.
I believe the Davidson brothers were the first to own Aranci’s on the brae at Cardross Road, Dumbarton.
They too sold single cigarettes, which was edgy for a couple of Free Kirk old timers.
John B and his brother Lewars’ roots were in the Hebrides.
When they had made their own pile and sold the shop, the brothers who were kenspeckle figures in the town, became guardians of the public purse.
They scanned the Council minutes – Town Council, County Council and all the district councils for any impropriety and claimed success when a senior council official got the jail after it was uncovered that workmen from the local authority had done the work when he erected a fence in his garden.
I have my own personal story about Aranci’s. It concerns my baptism.
This didn’t happen until I was about five and the age to go to school for the first time.
However, you couldn’t get enrolled if you didn’t have a baptism certificate from the priest.
My Aunt Mary McKinney, who was devout, took me down to the chapel house on the brae and got Father Jeremiah O’Leary to do the honours with the holy water.
Afterwards, she took me across the road to Aranci’s for a treat – a pennyworth of chipped fruit!
Who could forget that?
The years roll on. I don’t know everyone who has had that shop since Peter McGarry retired.
There was a promising snooker player connected with it, but don’t ask me more.
Instead look at what trainee journalist Tempany Grace has to tell us the latest about Aranci’s in this week’s Reporter.
Her headline drew my eye: Biggie Scoopz: Biggie Smalls themed ice-cream parlour opens in Dumbarton
By Tempany Grace, Trainee Reporter
IT’S a long way from the New York rap scene of the 1990s to selling ice cream in Dumbarton in 2020 – but it’s a leap that James Samain is hoping local dessert fans will make with him.
James is the man behind Biggie Scoopz, a new ice cream parlour on Cardross Road which has been inspired by the musical legacy of American rapper and hip-hop artist and songwriter Biggie Smalls.
Also known as The Notorious B.I.G., Biggie – christened Christopher George Latore Wallace – was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles in 1997, aged just 24.
Twenty-three years later, his music remains hugely popular, and influential, around the world – and while he isn’t especially well known as an ice-cream-eating icon, it’s his artistic legacy that inspired James to set up a specially-themed shop in Dumbarton selling a range of sweet treats, filling what he thinks is a distinct gap in the local market.
Located a short distance from St Michael’s Primary, Biggie Scoopz was due to open to the public in late March before the Covid-19 pandemic forced James to put his plans, if you’ll pardon the pun, on ice.
And his efforts have already attracted attention, with 15,000 likes for the shop’s Facebook page, while Glasgow comedian Gary Faulds making two trips west from the city to try some of James’s products.
Gary posted on Facebook: “Drove to Dumbarton for a Biggie Scoopz to try the Slimming World waffle – only 12 calories!”
James said: “Since moving to the west from Edinburgh, the community has welcomed me with open arms, so it is really important that the shop is all about giving back and helping the local community where possible.
“I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported us throughout this journey. We appreciate it so much, without you this wouldn’t be possible.”
Biggie Scoopz’ range includes ice-cream, chocolate-covered doughnuts, waffles, cupcakes, cheesecakes and milkshakes using ingredients from local businesses wherever possible.
- So, there you have it. Even in the middle of a pandemic when most folk see themselves as being in lockdown, even if they are not, Dumbarton stays in the headlines. BH
