Ice Cream Day: 95 Years of Tradition

Every year, as June arrives and the school year winds down, the St. Michaels University School community comes together across both campuses for a tradition that has endured for 95 years: Ice Cream Day.

Whatever the weather, the SMUS community turns out. Held each year as close as possible to June 2, the birthday of school founder Kyrle C. Symons, it has become one of those traditions that needs no reminder and no convincing.

How It Started

The story, as Michael Symons ‘63 tells it, is the kind of family legend that has been told so often it has never lost its shape.

His grandfather, Kyrle C. Symons, finding himself short of funds on his 50th birthday in 1931, was ready to dig through his own pockets and drawers to cover the cost of treating his students. His staff would not hear of it. It was his 50th birthday. They would find the money.

The total cost was $1.20, enough for every student and staff member to have a treat at drill period. And so the tradition began.

95 Years Later

Michael Symons, grandson of Kyrle C. Symons, has been making the trip to campus nearly every June since returning to Victoria in 1991, helping hand out cups and keep the story alive. He noted one advantage of ice cream on a chilly day: it does not melt.

Chris Spicer '70, who later returned to SMUS to found the advancement office in 1992, was among the alumni handing out cups this year.

For Spicer, the day is also a reminder of a school that no longer exists in name. St. Michael's School amalgamated with University School two years after he graduated. Today, he enjoys watching a new generation experience a tradition he remembers from his own school days. There are fewer and fewer St. Michael's graduates still alive, he noted, but the tradition carries on.

A Tradition Remembered

Most students know Ice Cream Day is a longstanding tradition. Few know just how long.

At the Middle School, a group of Grade 6 students guessed the tradition was about 50 years old. Among Senior School students, the estimates came in similarly short. The answer — 95 years — was met with surprise every time.

Hadley K. still remembers her very first Ice Cream Day, back when she was in Kindergarten at the Junior School campus on Victoria Avenue.

"I climbed up on the monkey bars with my friends and we ate our ice cream up there," she said. "It was like a little tea party."

Her Grade 6 classmate Charlie C. could recount the founding story in reasonable detail: the founder's birthday, the debate over whether the school could afford it, and the staff pulling together to make it happen.

For Senior School students, the Junior School memories are still fresh.

Emily McMillan '26 remembers the cups arriving with a choice of flavours, chocolate or strawberry, and how special that felt.

For Sting Zhang '26, one Ice Cream Day stands out above the rest. It was Grade 7, during COVID.

"Everyone was in their cohorts, separated, and Ice Cream Day was kind of the day you got to go out with your cohort and grab some ice cream," he said. "It was kind of fun."

Even during the disruptions of the pandemic, the tradition endured.

Remy Albert '27, who has been at SMUS since Grade 6, said what keeps it meaningful is simpler than history.

"I think it's just a cool tradition. They've been doing it every year, and that continuity, that it's been a treat for so long and we haven't stopped doing it, that's cool."

"It's just a good way to end the week," said Liam Whiteside '27. "Good vibes."

Passing It On

Kyrle C. Symons could not have known, standing in front of 72 boys with $1.20 worth of ice cream, that 95 years later his grandson would still be handing out ice cream on campus every June.

Nor could he have imagined that what began as a modest birthday gesture would grow into one of the most anticipated days of the school year, with more than 1,000 students, staff and faculty lining up across two campuses to take part.