If you have made it to any of Pampa’s outdoor events this year, then you have likely noticed one trailer in particular seems to always have the longest line; but the citizens of Pampa fully believe it’s worth the wait. There has been no shortage of excitement about the newest mobile refreshment trailer, since calling it a food truck isn’t exactly accurate, because at the Fountain of Sunshine their specialty is old-fashioned gourmet hand-crafted sodas.
“It was just one of my hair-brained ideas,” said Brad Pingel. “I want to be able to cater to our smaller communities, mainly Pampa.”
Brad and his wife Suzanne are the owners and operators of Fountain of Sunshine. The soft opening began on June 21st, but the success of the business really hit during the Pampa Independence Day Celebration at Recreation Park. The trailer can usually be seen working out of The Harbor Event Center’s parking lot a couple of days a week. You can almost guarantee you’ll see them at any event happening in the area, but Pingel has other plans for the trailer as well.
“Part of our vision was to accommodate businesses that have a bunch of employees,” said Pingel. “We can just roll up and serve a quick drink or treat.”
Cabot was the first company to take advantage of this service, with Sunshine spending nearly an hour serving over 55 employees on location. They are currently gearing up to serve drinks at a wedding reception as well.
“That’s kind of a unique spin that we didn’t really think about doing and kind of excited about that part,” said Pingel.
The trailer is completely self-contained with its own water supply, generator and everything they need to provide refreshments. Inside the trailer you’ll also find all of the ingredients that go into making their signature drinks. Currently, they have over 30 different syrups and several containers of garnishes to add something unique to each drink.
“Each of our signature drinks gets a special topping or some sort of candy that goes with it,” said Pingel.
Sunshine has its stationary menu of all its drinks you can order at any time, but they are always trying to come up with something new and special for each week. In celebration of Shark Week, you were able to order the “Shark Bite”, a blue-colored drink topped with strawberry puree and gummy sharks. While in Panhandle, the crew brewed up a purple panther drink uniquely for them. Pingel is hoping to create something special for the bride and groom of the scheduled wedding. They try to give every signature drink some extra personality with a unique name.
“The Beeps is my grandpa name,” said Pingel. “That’s my favorite drink; Coke, vanilla coconut, and cream with vanilla tootsie rolls on top.”
Sunshine has also drawn from this pool of inspiration for their business name; Pingel’s wife, Suzanne, was given the grandma name “Sunshine”, with their signature “Fountain of Sunshine” seltzer drink also named for her.
While making fancy drinks topped with candy and coming up with unique names sounds like fun, Pingel will tell you it’s also a lot of hard work.
“There’s a lot of prep work that goes into it,” Pingel said. “We hand squeeze all of the lemons for our lemonade every night.”
The Pingels can’t run such a busy and in-demand operation alone. They employ several high school and college youths part-time, with three regularly on staff and four or more for big events.
For now, the Pingels wish to keep their business on wheels, with no plans for a brick-and-mortar location anytime soon.
“I still like the anticipation,” said Pingel. “I want people to build up to it since we’re only open two days a week.”
The good news is you will still be able to get your drink fix even through the depths of the winter, with maybe an added hot drink here or there.
“I’ve got some plans coming. I think we’re going to be able to accommodate a little bit of hot [drinks], but people still drink cokes during the winter, too,” Pingel said. “As long as we can keep rolling, we’re gonna do it.”
