Waterville - Ice cream stands all over the state opened their doors today, a sure sign that spring is right around the corner.

Judging by the smiles on people's faces, you wouldn't even know the temperature was hovering in the 30's. It's opening day at the North Street Dairy Cone in Waterville and to the folks in line it might as well be mid-July. "Hey I've been waiting for this since last year," said Ron Smith of Fairfield. "You can't get orange pineapple everywhere by golly. They've got the best ice cream in this place."

The North Street Dairy Cone has been family owned and operated since 1961 when current owner Rachel Paradis' parents opened for business. The one constant over the years, all the ice cream is homemade. "We look forward to it. Seeing the people come back. we really do. Spring is here when we open up," Paradis said.

Meanwhile, across town Gifford's Ice Cream is also kicking off their season. "We've opened before in snowstorms, we've opened before in freezing rain so I'll take this," said Carol Goldsmith, Operations Manager at Gifford's. "At least the sun is shining and people will eat ice cream no matter when."

The folks at Gifford's have once again spent their winter coming up with new flavor ideas, like "Campfire S'mores", with graham cracker flavored ice cream. And keeping with their opening day tradition, they'll once again be serving up free ice cream from 6-8 Friday night.

Even though the season is just starting,Ron Smith, a true ice cream lover, was nice enough to share his secret of how he makes it through the long maine winters. "At the end of the year I can usually buy a couple quarts at a reduced price at the end of the year because it's the last day. I was here the last day last year and I bought 2 quarts and a pint and that lasted me to november I guess."

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