$2.50 Ice Cream Scoop of Hope: Roshan Bhakta’s Baskin-Robbins Reopens on America’s 250th, Just Days After Burying His Father

A Scoop of Hope: Roshan Bhakta’s Baskin-Robbins Reopens on America’s 250th, Just Days After Burying His Father

By Mike Sparks
Some stories arrive wrapped in irony so pointed you can’t script it. This Fourth of July, Murfreesboro’s Baskin-Robbins location at Thompson Lane and Old Fort Parkway celebrates a $250,000 renovation on the same weekend our nation marks its 250th birthday. The number lines up almost too perfectly. But the real story isn’t the math. It’s the man behind the counter, and the empty chair beside him.
Roshan Bhakta, sadly buried his father this week. Days later, he’s standing at a ribbon cutting, inviting the whole community in.

Bob Patel, Roshan’s friend, asked me if I’d share a few words at the funeral service. I was happy to. I learned that Hasmukhbhai father’s name means “smiling face.” It’s easy to see where Roshan, who was born and raised in Shelbyville, gets his smile and positive attitude from.

That takes something most of us don’t have words for. Grief and grand opening don’t belong in the same sentence, and yet here we are, watching a son honor his father not by pausing life, but by pressing forward into the work his family built together. If that’s not the American spirit distilled into a waffle cone, I don’t know what is.

 

Last week I invited Roshan and his sons, Dev and Riyansh, to join me on my WGNS radio program, “Conversations with Mike Sparks,” heard each Sunday evening from 5-6 p.m. on 100.5 FM, 101.9 FM, 1450 AM, or WGNSradio.com.

The Ribbon Cutting
Roshan and his family are throwing open the doors of their newly renovated Murfreesboro location this Fourth of July, and everyone in Rutherford County is invited. To mark the occasion, they’re offering ice cream cones for just $2.50, a nod to the anniversary and a gift back to the community that has supported them.
Independence Day and ice cream have gone together since before most of us can remember. Sparklers, parades, the smell of charcoal in the air, and somewhere in the middle of it all, a scoop of something cold and sweet. This year, that tradition has a name and a face in a Rutherford County backyard: a local family, freshly grieving, choosing to celebrate anyway.

What’s Waiting in the Case
Baskin-Robbins built its name on variety, and the Murfreesboro store will have the full lineup ready for the holiday crowd. Stop in and you’ll find the classic rotating flavor case along with scoops, hand-packed quarts, and grab-and-go pints for the cooler. For those who’d rather stay poolside, delivery through DoorDash remains an option, and this month the platform is running a reduced delivery fee on larger orders as part of National Ice Cream Month.

Beyond the cone, the shop offers custom ice cream cakes built to order, made with a choice of cake and flavor combinations and finished with a personal message, ideal for topping off a Fourth of July gathering. Advance orders typically take a day or two, though many shops keep a rotating selection ready for same-day pickup.
For backyard cookouts looking for something different, the shop’s ice cream “pizza” treats, built on a cookie or brownie base and loaded with toppings, have become a favorite at summer parties across the country. And for those craving a nostalgic twist, the classic rolled ice cream cake, a marriage of chocolate cake and ice cream finished with fudge and toppings, remains on the menu as well.
Orders can be placed ahead through the Baskin-Robbins app or website for pickup, drive-thru, or curbside.

More Than a Grand Opening
It would be easy to write this as a straightforward business feature: local franchise reopens, community invited, discounted cones for the holiday. And it is that. But it’s also something more.
Roshan Bhakta didn’t have to open his doors this weekend. He could have grieved privately, closed the shop a few extra days, and no one in Murfreesboro would have thought less of him for it. Instead, he and his family chose to invite the community in, on the very weekend the whole country stops to remember what it means to keep going when the cost is high.
That’s a story worth telling on any Fourth of July. This year, it’s worth telling twice.
The details: Baskin-Robbins, Murfreesboro, TN. Ribbon cutting and $2.50 cones this Fourth of July. Stop by, congratulate Roshan and his family, and celebrate both anniversaries the way Middle Tennessee does best: together, and with ice cream in hand.