Continuing the Tradition at Duxbury Beach: Josh and Emily Peters and J’s Ice Cream Truck

(DUXBURY) — Usually this publication finds itself covering the machinations of predatory corporations, or the details of Massachusetts environmental laws and regulations.

Today, we turn to a different, and in my view, happier, subject — ice cream.

In particular, this article will take a look at J’s Ice Cream, the ice cream truck and local small business which has served Duxbury Beach for decades, presently owned and operated by Duxbury residents Josh and Emily Peters.

(J’s Ice Cream at Duxbury Beach; photo credit — J’s Ice Cream, via Instagram account @js_ice_cream_duxburybeach.)

I should note here that Mr. Peters and I have been friends for most of our lives, having graduated together, alongside his brother, Justin, from Duxbury High School; Justin lives with his family next door, in Duxbury’s sibling Town of Kingston.

This will be the third summer that Mr. and Mrs. Peters have operated J’s Ice Cream Truck. Prior to that, it was owned and operated by former Duxbury High School Guidance Counselor Bruce Hamilton (himself widely admired for his humanity and decency); and prior to that, by the Green family, the first owners of what has become a quasi-public institution in our neck of the woods.

Mr. Peters described how he and Mrs. Peters came to own and operate the business.

“We bought the business in the spring of 2021 off of former DHS Guidance Counselor Bruce Hamilton,” he told The Plymouth County Observer. “During that summer quarantine period of 2020, I had brought our kids to the beach and a visit to the ice cream truck. During the visit, Bruce explained that after 20 years + of him operating J’s Ice Cream, he was ready to retire and asked if I’d be interested. After thinking it over for a few months, my wife Emily and I decided to go for it,” he said.

One of the factors which was important for Mr. Peters was his own experiences with the ice cream truck during his formative years in Duxbury.

“I used to come to J’s Ice Cream truck when I was a kid under its original owners, the Green family,” said Mr. Peters. “It’s been operating on Duxbury Beach for close to 50 years. We were excited about the idea to carry on that town tradition. We also thought it could be a fun learning experience for us and our three kids.”

Mr. Peters spoke about some of the highlights of operating J’s Ice Cream.

“People are always happy to see you!” he exclaimed. “We’re able to meet some great people throughout town by doing private parties and through the Beach. We get the same kids every summer who make numerous trips to the truck throughout the day. We’ve done some great events, like the Heather Bone Foundation Annual Kids Parade and the Veterans Day Parade,” Mr. Peters said.

(Josh Peters, of J’s Ice Cream, Summer, 2022; photo credit – J. Benjamin Cronin.)

For both Emily and Josh Peters, the ice cream truck is a labor of love.

“We live in town and have three kids. We kept our day jobs, and thankfully have a couple of great people that help us out. So far it’s been a fun adventure! We operate on Duxbury Beach daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day (weather permitting), and schedule parties and events around the beach hours,” he said.

Mr. Peters encouraged those who were interested in booking J’s Ice Cream to reach out to him directly, online at www.jsicecream.com, and via email at jsicecreamdux@gmail.com.

I have been interested in writing about J’s Ice Cream, both as a small business and as a quasi-public institution, because to my mind, it falls squarely within the concerns of this publication, which are above all with community — with the common life of our Towns.

This, as I remarked above, often requires writing about what we might call “matters of state” — public meetings, legal arguments, and electoral campaigns, for instance. Community, however, is not only a matter of statute books and public hearings; these things are exceptionally important, of course; but community is both a larger and a deeper thing, one that is not encompassed solely by our laws or by our governments. Rather, community in its broad sense comprehends and includes the full field of human experience.

Indeed, to my mind, in order to describe this conception of Community more fully, we may usefully recall an idea from Aristotle, that of eudaimonia, or human flourishing and well-being.¹ For Aristotle, eudaimonia was the goal of a just and properly ordered body politic. This state of flourishing I believe is evidenced not only by the proper working of our governments and the laws of our Towns and the Commonwealth, but in an important and profound way, by small businesses like J’s Ice Cream. These are the vital threads which bind our collective lives; in a very real way, I believe J’s Ice Cream is an example of the hopeful and beneficent social order which is possible in our Towns. For me personally, it is an example of “Why We Fight” — an encapsulation of the human flourishing and well-being which our citizens, laws, and governments must defend.

In our time, in which division seems to permeate all things, there are still some things which may unite us — and J’s Ice Cream is one of them. 

It is a sterling example of the long continuity of our community, in both its official and unofficial senses; I think it fair to say that we are all very glad to see it continue under the steady hands of Emily and Josh Peters. The entire Town and her several neighbors are better off for their work, and we owe them a debt of gratitude.

In the meantime, if you’re at Duxbury Beach, consider stopping by J’s Ice Cream — your day may get just a little bit better.

1. See https://www.britannica.com/topic/eudaimonia.