Dickie Dee Lady brings smiles to St. James

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This article was published 04/08/2020 (2190 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On the surface, Katy Banman’s job isn’t that special. She drives around an ice cream truck, selling popsicles, freezies and other cold treats to kids in the area. But to Banman, her job is to make people smile during a very stressful time.

Banman is one of the tdrivers for Dickie Dee Ice Cream, a Winnipeg company that sells popsicles, freezies and other ice cream products around the province. She drives around St. James and Charleswood throughout the week.

According to Banman, residents were messaging her whenever she’d go out, begging her to drive down their street.

So she created a Facebook page titled Dickie Dee Lady — Charleswood/St. James, where she announces her route every day.

“I kept getting these messages. I’ve been told it would be easier to (post on Facebook), people are always wondering where I am, since I started posting more regularly … It’s really been helping the business,” Banman said.

Banman started working for Dickie Dee Ice Cream over the May long weekend. She’s done it before — she worked on an ice cream truck as a summer job around six years ago. Since she didn’t have her licence at the time, she decided to find a different job. After three years of odd jobs, landscaping, and yard maintenance, she got hired by Dollarama.

Eventually, her Dollarama job became tedious. While she was thinking about some other jobs she could do, her life changed drastically.

In 2016, she was mauled by two pitbulls. While she survived the attack, her arms suffered a lot of damage. She required extensive surgery. The scars are still visible on her arms, a reminder of the traumatic experience.

Banman has learned to smile through dark times. Helping others cope with the COVID-19 pandemic fills her with joy.

“(COVID-19) came out of nowhere. This is the summertime, kids are supposed to be outside and playing. You can’t really do that these days. I’m their little ray of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy day,” Banman said. “I’ve always wanted to make people happy with whatever I’m doing. Nothing makes someone happier than an ice cream truck.”

Typically, Banman works from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. She arrives at the distribution centre around 11 a.m., picks up her truck and ice cream, before heading out to whatever area is on her list. She typically drives around Polo Park and St. James, sometimes rolling through Charleswood. She posts her schedule on Facebook every day.

For Banman, the best part of her job is seeing her customers happy.

“I love seeing a customer come up to me with a big smile on their face. Like ‘you’re here, whoohoo!’ It makes me smile and makes me excited to do my job. When you’ve got little kids running up to you shouting ‘ice cream! Ice cream!’ how can you not smile at that?” Banman said.

Banman’s Facebook page can be found at Dickie Dee Lady — Charleswood/St. James.