LOWELL, Mich. — Lowell is home to the river walk. But Lowell's own Jim Ball could tell you a lot more about rolling on the river.
You can find him these days, selling hotdogs from a rolling cart beside the river. But you'd likely know him better if he had an ice cream cone in hand.
Jim's family owned Ball's Softee Creme, a Lowell hotspot for ice cream.
"Back in 1971 my mom and dad started Softee Creme. We had one ice cream machine, a pop machine, and a few toppings," said Jim. "It was just a real big part of Lowell for 53 years. That's a long time for a mom and pop stand."
That mom and pop stand was taken over by a new mom and pop in the 90s — Jim and his wife, Kim.
"I was a pushover, and she was the boss," he said. "She was a tough little cookie."
Strong as she was heading the family business, Kim's health was failing. When she broke her hip from a fall and went through a slew of surgeries, it was too much for her body.
"I saw her. She was on the floor," said Jim. "And I went over and she was gone. She was just gone."
Jim lost his family. Then lost his family business all the same.
"I was still having a lot of trouble with grief, and it thing that gets it zaps your energy, just terribly. And so I thought, I don't have the energy to do it right now," he explained. "So we all decided to retire. Unfortunately, I isolated for a long time."
Just one year after his loss, he needed something new to relish. Happiness didn't take long to catch up.
"I missed the interaction with people," Jim said. "I needed something to get me out of the house and amongst people again."
Jim found a new purpose in the place he'd least expected: hotdogs.
It was all thanks to Kim's daughter, Sumer, who helped Jim enter a new season.
“They did everything they look, you know, took care of each other. He took care of her. He became, you know, quite the caregiver over the years for her," said Sumer. “Just because my
That's when she found a hotdog cart for sale on Facebook Marketplace.
"I brought it to him. I said, 'Let's take the chili and let's sell hot dogs,'" she said.
Jim was getting back out into the world. So was his famous, top-secret chili recipe that's been in the family for 40 years. Both found meaning in the spice of life.
"Four or five days a week, I get to come out and see people. I think that's the biggest thing, is to still be connected with the community," he said.
"I cry often. I was never a crier," said Sumer. "I just start tearing up, you know, what a blessing this is."
Jim Ball sells his hotdogs beside Lowell's riverwalk. That much is true. But an argument can be made about who is feeding who.
"She would just think, this is the greatest thing," smiled Jim.