2025 Keeper of the Flame: Pam Trowbridge
At each Fall Symposium, SFA honors an unsung foodways tradition bearer of note with the Keeper of the Flame Award, and pays homage to their life and work through a documentary film.
In 2025, SFA honors Trowbridge’s, a café and ice cream shop that’s anchored downtown Florence, Alabama, for more than a century. In 1917, Paul Trowbridge drove through Florence on his way to a dairy convention. He fell for the Shoals and opened a creamery there a year later, where he developed a recipe for orange pineapple ice cream and eventually added hot dogs and homemade chili to the menu. Today, Pam Trowbridge, the fourth generation of the Trowbridge family, manages the shop—a gathering place for local and visitors alike.
Other Links
2025 Keeper of the Flame
Pam Trowbridge Read More
View LectureIce Cream, Coffee, and Community in Alabama: A Gravy Road Trip
Gravy takes a road trip to the Shoals in northwest Alabama and visits two favorite hangouts in the small city of Florence. What do these places—one a century-old landmark, one a relative newcomer—tell us about public space and community-building? Read More
View Gravy Podcast
