The Tales of Huckleberry Hound: Season 2

2. Color Me Creative

The ice cream shop in Hill Street Neighborhood had just gone under new management, but Huckleberry Hound didn't know that yet. Right now he was whistling cheerfully as he made his way down the street on a sunny Monday morning following a busy weekend of filming new segments for his TV show. He didn't seem to care that it was only about half past ten in the morning. He was already in the mood for some ice cream. But when he got there, he noticed that someone was missing.

"Say now," he mumbled, rubbing his chin. "Where's Dave? He's always here on Mondays!" Dave was the manager of the ice cream shop...or at least he had been. "Wonder where he could be?"

Just then, the rest of the gang showed up. "What's wrong, Huck? Dixie asked.

"Look in there, fellers!" Huck replied. "Dave isn't running the ice cream shop!"

"Now that's a surprise!" Yogi Bear cried. "Where is he?"

"Haven't you heard?" the teenage boy working behind the counter said. "Dave retired! He's letting a new guy take over the shop!"

"What do you mean?" Huck asked.

"Take a look at the note!" the boy replied. "He sold the shop to a new guy...someone who came over here to America from Italy!"

Huck looked at the note, and to his surprise, the boy was right! "Oh noooooooo!!!" he cried. "Now who's gonna make the very best ice cream for us?!?"

"Huck, please don't..." Boo-Boo tried to finish his sentence, but it was too late.

Huck, threw back his head, and exploded into a flood of tears.

"Aww, don't be upset," the boy said. "We heard Mr. Antonio is really talented when it comes to making ice cream! He used to run a gelato shop with his family back in Naples!"

Huck sniffled and brushed his tears away. "Huh? Gelato?"

"Yeah, it's like ice cream but thicker. But Mr. Antonio learned a lot of things from traveling around to the World's Fairs and he learned quite a thing or two about making ice cream! Wait until you try it! He should be here any moment now."

"We never heard of this guy," Mr. Jinks said.

"Well, whoever he is, I hope he's good," Pixie replied.

Just then, the door opened, and a man stepped into the shop. He had a thick mustache and a big bright smile.

"Is this the place?" he said with an Italian accent.

"Yep!" the boy replied. "How are you this morning, Mr. Antonio?"

"Very good, very good! I was wishing the best of luck to your old manager, Dave. Now he's got-a all the time in the world to spend with-a his family."

"Yeah, Dave ran this place for almost forty whole years, I heard," the boy sighed. "He's had a good career. It's not gonna be the same without him."

Mr. Antonio then noticed the gang sitting there. "Well what have we here?" he asked cheerfully. "These are regular customers of yours, si?"

"Yep," the boy answered. "They love the ice cream here." Then he turned to the gang. "Guys, this is Mr. Antonio. He's the new manager of the ice cream shop."

"HI!!" the gang chorused.

"Ciao, my friends!" Mr. Antonio replied. "And who are you?"

Huck leaned in to shake hands. "Howdy, Mr. Antonio! I'm Huckleberry Hound! But everyone just calls me Huck!"

"Like, uh, I'm Mr. Jinks!" Jinks added.

"He's Pixie!" Dixie said, pointing at Pixie.

"He's Dixie!" Pixie said pointing at Dixie.