A storied summer destination for creemees and fried clam baskets — and the subject of a beloved picture book — is on the market. Since 1950, Joe’s Snack Bar has served up Vermont’s iconic frozen treat and classic snack shack meals from mid-April through early October. The listing price of $475,000 includes the buildings and property located just off the intersection of Route 15 and Lee River Road in Jericho. The snack bar will remain open during the process of finding a new owner.
Joe Rotunda Jr. opened the seasonal business next door to an IGA grocery store operated by his father (also Joe Rotunda). The mystery of where its owner went during its annual closure was the subject of then-Vermonter Tracey Campbell Pearson’s Where Does Joe Go?, published in 1999. After the younger Rotunda died in 2010, his life and business partner, Marilyn Kozlowski, continued to run the seasonal operation between winters spent in Florida. (Spoiler alert: not the snowy destination revealed in the picture book.)
Kozlowski, who will be 75 in October, said she is ready to retire after 15 years of keeping Joe’s Snack Bar going as a solo owner. She started working at Joe’s when she was in high school, like many of her employees, before joining Rotunda full time around 1980.
“I’ve tried to carry it on,” Kozlowski said, “but I figure I’ve worked long enough.”
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This article appears in Jul 30 – Aug 5, 2025.
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