The name "Sugar Bowl Ice Cream Company" comes from a business that once stood in downtown Decorah, just across the road on the other side of River Street, where the radio station stands today.

The original Sugar Bowl was torn down in 1977, decades before the current building project even began. Craig Running enjoyed the name and the idea for the current Sugar Bowl business was born.

To read more about the original building, and see pictures of it, come visit us downtown today! You can find parts of the original Sugar Bowl sign right inside our main entrance.

(and Carter, Miles & Leyton).

Nathan grew up with his parents and sister in Fort Madison Iowa, across the street from his grandmother's 300-acre farm. His pastimes have always involved exploring their land and spending time with his family, but everyone who knows him well knows his love for baseball. After graduating high school in 2005, his passion for playing brought him to Decorah, specifically to be a part of Luther College's baseball team. He met his wife Brittany in 2008 after she delivered a picture of him pitching (but that's a story for another day). 

After graduating in 2009 from Luther with a degree in Physical Education, he spent the next 7 years in school districts throughout the area, but knew there was something even better out there for him. After going back to school at WGU to get a Masters of Science in Management and Leadership, he realized he wanted to start his own business. When the topic came up he tended to lean towards the restaurant realm, but he couldn't quite figure out what direction that would take him. A grad school paper led him to research the changes that may happen if someone were to buy the Sugar Bowl Ice Cream Company, and the more he researched it the more it seemed to fit the family's plan.

Some would call it a coincidence that it was a photograph that caused them to meet for the first time and then Brittany's studio (Photography by Brittany) directly faced Sugar Bowl as it went up for sale. She now works as the head of marketing, alongside running her business Mill Street Mocha and motivational speaker.

And the kids? They haven't decided yet if they want to take over the business some day, but they do know they don't mind taste testing in the meantime.

 In 1999 Craig Running purchased a building and the lot the Sugar Bowl is currently on, but it didn't stay that way for long. He tore down the existing building and day by day, over the course of 9 years, he built more than just a building, he built a dream into a reality. In 2008 Sugar Bowl Ice Cream Company officially opened, seasonally, and stayed that way under his ownership until May 2017, when he sold the business and building to Nathan Todd.