Faith and Sterling Zile celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary at the end of June in a small, whitewashed snowball stand just off York Road, in Cockeysville.
Although neither has ever operated a snowball stand, they opened the business this summer to provide added income and entertainment as they approach retirement. For the moment, though, Faith is a bus driver for The Park School of Baltimore and Sterling manages an estate property in Towson. Sterling will retire by the end of the year, while Faith will work another year or two, she said.
Their stand opens at 4 p.m. weekdays, after the Towson couple gets off from their day jobs, and closes at 8 p.m. It's also open from noon to 8 p.m. on weekends.
The Ziles, who are in their mid-60s, say they have done everything together for the better part of five decades. The snowball stand is "the next chapter," in their lives, Sterling said. The stand will "get us through retirement, and it's easy to do," he added. "We're not ones that can just retire, stop, do nothing."
In that way, the couple is part of a growing trend of people nearing retirement age who are taking on an "encore career" — an activity that allows them to supplement their income and give back to their communities once they've retired, said Mary Carter, director of the Gerontology program at Towson University.
"I think this idea of an encore career is going to grow," Carter added.
Leonard Lee, a business consultant for the Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce, said he is also seeing people looking to the chamber for advice on how to start businesses to supplement their income, especially baby boomers, like the Ziles.
"It's going to be something that's fun, something that's casual," Lee said.
The Ziles' stand, called F and S Snowballs and Produce, is located behind Captain Trey's Seafood, at 10625 York Road. Though the couple hope eventually to hire someone to help them with the business, right now they are its only employees.
They make their snowballs with syrup manufactured by Koldkiss, a Baltimore-based company; the flavors can have cryptic names, such as skylight, which tastes like blue raspberry, or egg custard, which has a tutti-frutti quality. They charge $3 for a large, $2.50 for a medium, and $1.50 for a small, with such toppings as marshmallow or caramel 50 cents extra.
In addition to snowballs, the couple sells fresh produce. As vegetables and fruit come into season locally, they hope to sell items from nearby farms.
"Nothing beats a Maryland tomato," Sterling said.
'There you go, hon'
Customers have been taking advantage of the new snowball stand.
On a recent Monday afternoon, a customer stepped up to the stand and ordered one large egg custard, one large skylight, and one small root beer.
"OK babe, here you go," Faith said, handing her husband the order ticket.
Sterling lined up the cups, filled them with ice, and slid a straw into each, allowing the syrup to soak to the bottom of the cup. Then he leaned out the window of the small stand, which is no wider than 7 feet, and handed the cups to the customers.