March 27, 2026

The new owners of the B&G Milkyway in Harrisburg will open for their first season April 11.

Ritch and Jennifer Noble will operate the seasonal ice cream shop that also serves food with their daughter and son-in-law Maleigh and Trevor Jutting, daughter Kennedy and son Caston.

“We’re extremely excited about the opportunity,” Ritch Noble said. “We think it’s going to be a lot of fun and to work together as the family.”

The couple, who also owns Active Data Systems, will be “there as often as we can,” with the others helping out while keeping their full-time jobs and as Kennedy finishes her senior year at Augustana University.

Noble said they’ll also have about 15 high school and college students on the team.

The two sisters have worked part-time jobs at the B&G on Sycamore Avenue – Kennedy for eight years and Maleigh for five years.

“Other than that, it’s all new to us,” Noble said of entering the restaurant industry. While they live in Sioux Falls, Harrisburg was their first home when the moved to South Dakota in 2005 from Nebraska.

“We love that community and know how close-knit it is and how they support each other,” Noble said.

He said they’ve already been approached by the Harrisburg Chamber of Commerce to host a classic car night in the parking lot and are looking forward to it.

“Our goal is to embrace the community, and hopefully the community embraces us back.”

The previous owners, brothers Kasey and Travis Iverson, opened the Harrisburg location in 2021. They also own the B&Gs on Sycamore and in Brandon and wanted to scale back to those two sites.

Noble said his family and the Iversons are friends and attend the same church.

In addition to the sisters working at B&G, it has always been a family favorite, Noble said.

“It’s got such a great reputation, and it’s just such a staple in the Sioux Falls area. I always get excited for spring and the shops to open.”

His go-to treat is a Snickers Avalanche with chocolate ice cream.

B&G Milkyway is a Sioux Falls-based franchise group with 10 locations spread across the city, Harrisburg, Tea, Brandon and Mitchell. Eight of the shops are open for the season already with West 12th Street expected to open April 1.

“We love the fact that it’s a franchise but there are only eight different owners and they all work together,” he said. “We’re not competing with each other – we help each other. The whole business feels like a family business.”

When the Harrisburg location at 201 Cliff Ave. opens April 11, it will start serving customers earlier in the day than it did last year.

Hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, with a 10 p.m. closing time in summer.

“The entire family is excited,” Noble said. “We think it’s going to be a great adventure.”