The Story of Kevin
Kevin Ortiz was born on the night of Tuesday, September 24th, 2013 to the biggest of families. He already had his step-brother, two big brothers, and a sister. He also had his two great parents, who both migrated from Mexico, yet he was born in Houston, Texas. His step-brother had already moved out, but his other siblings all went to Cloverleaf Elementary School.
Even though many people would have loved being the youngest, Kevin did not like it. He would be getting everything ugly, smelly, or just broken. Anyways, fast-forward to his first day of school. Kevin went to Cloverleaf elementary, just like all his brothers. He stayed there only in Kindergarden. 4 months later he moved to Woodland Acres Elementary School with his brother, Jorge. This was a major change in his life. He would have to find new friends and adjust to the different types of stuff they did there than in Cloverleaf. Later, he skipped 2nd grade. In the 5th grade he joined the after school program, ACE. He stayed there for a few months, which was fun, until the school year ended, and he went onto middle school.
Kevin did not feel like a middle schooler. He was too small and everyone there, even other 6th graders, seemed big to him. He had the option to choose two out of many electives. He ended up choosing Band and P.E. In the school band and played the clarinet. After a few months he joined the basketball team, Galena Park Athletes. Kevin stayed in GPA for most of the time, but he left about 2 months before it ended. Now he is in seventh grade.
In seventh grade, he now had space for 3 electives. Kevin was hoping to get into the school’s top band, Wind Ensemble, like his brother. But instead he got placed into Symphonic Band, the second band. For his other two electives, he chose Jazz Band, which anyone from any band can get into. And he also chose Spanish I, because he really needs those credits.
Kevin is the type of person that believes “If you expect disappointment, you will never really get disappointed.” Maybe this is the reason why he has many accomplishments already. And by the way, his lucky number is clearly two: he plays two instruments; he’s been in 2 groups that help for high school, which are encounters and Honor Society; he knows two languages; he skipped second grade; and he’s in the second top band. Kevin is still in the process of what he wants to do with his life. He knows he would like to become an architect. He wants to get a starter job as soon as he can to get money. He needs that money to get his own house and pay for a good university later on. But a job isn’t just for the money, though. A job can give him experience to become an architect. Kevin found out that he would like being an architect, because they design all the cool buildings and houses he would see in pictures.
All in all, Kevin is an energetic, ambitious and smart person with a bright future ahead of him.
From the Lamp on My Desk
I am from the old lamp glowing softly on my desk,
from the neighborhood basketball court,
and my worn-out backpack.
I am from loud, loving chaos,
and from “Don’t forget who you are,”
said in a dozen different ways.
I am from the tree by our driveway,
whose shade kept every summer afternoon,
cool and calm.
I am from playing videogames in my bed,
and Junior H in my head all day long.
I am from Olga and Jorge,
and from warm tamales and sweet arroz con leche.
I am from those moments when the world feels still,
and everything in me settles into peace.
A Thousand Flavors, One Story
Beyond pink-and-blue doors,
a swirl of flavors waits for me,
A promise of “one for every day,”
tucked subtly in their legacy.
Scoops crafted from two dreamers
whose ideas mixed just right,
Keeping secret numbers in the logo
blink once and miss the sight.
Inventing countless recipes
far more than most could ever name,
Not stopping even when astronauts
needed treats above the flame.
Remembering classics like Pralines ’n Cream
that sparked a global craze,
Offering frozen cakes for celebrations,
lighting up so many days.
Beyond a thousand flavors churned,
their creativity still spins,
Bringing something new each season
as another year begins.
In every scoop, you taste a story
built on fun and clever spins,
Not just ice cream—but a history
sweet as sugar on your skin.
And when you’re feeling low,
You’ll know where to go.
So here’s to Baskin-Robbins,
where the joyful journey never ends.
All You Need Is Ice Cream
Someone is out walking in the street. He stops at a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop and buys himself a cone of his favorite ice cream flavour. “This is some good ice cream” he thinks. They were the first to offer 31 flavours of ice cream. Now they have thousands of flavours for everyone. The creators of Baskin-Robbins, Burton Baskin and Irvine Robbins, went through a lot of hard work to get people to be able to get their ice cream all in one place. All their troubles and hardships were worth it. These two men worked hard and hardly working to make their ice cream store in America and they successfully earned the title of being the biggest ice cream shop. After all their hard work in the ice cream industry, they were finally able to complete their life long goal. They had finally become the biggest ice cream shop in the United States.
Irvine Robbins' childhood greatly influenced and shaped his ice cream career. He was born in Manitoba, Canada, on December 6, 1917, to Goldie (Chmelnitsky) Robbins and Aaron Ernest Robbins. Goldie’s sister, Rose Robbins, married Samuel Berch, a Russian immigrant who followed in his father’s grain business. After saving up from his work in produce, he bought the Velvet Ice Cream Company. Velvet first appeared in Seattle newspapers and started as a one-truck operation, but in 1921 combined with Arctic Ice Cream. Even though Velvet had some of the first unique flavors and the first large-scale plant, ice cream in Seattle wasn’t sold until 1872. (McNerthney, Robbins, Irvine) “Velvet and Western Dairy had operations in the 1500 block of 4th Avenue S, just south of where T-Mobile Park is today, and after Berch and J. Frank Holt founded Arden Farms Company in 1925, those facilities became an Arden operation” (McNerthney, Robbins, Irvine). Irvine Robbins was very inspired by his uncle’s successful ice cream company. “Sticking a scoop into an ice cream container at his uncle’s store ‘was the greatest thrill of my life,’ Robbins once said, recalling how he stood on a chair to dig into a 10-gallon bucket” (Parr). Burt Baskin was born on December 17, 1913, in Streator, Illinois, to Eda and Al Baskin. Unlike Irv Robbins, Burt did not grow up with dairy in his childhood. Burt’s father owned a store with clothing and other accessories. Burt’s first job was with his father in his accessory shop, selling clothing. Baskin, who was nicknamed Butch in high school, was an athlete in many sports. The sports he liked were football, basketball, and track, but the sport in which Butch succeeded most was swimming. He graduated from high school in 1931. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1935. “Baskin went on to follow somewhat in his father’s footsteps, running a men’s clothing store in Chicago, but once Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, priorities changed” (Parr).
Burton Baskin enlisted in the Navy in 1941. This year was the same year he had started dating Shirley Belle Robbins. Shirley Robbins was born in Winnipeg, Canada. Her family moved from there to Seattle in 1923. Burt Baskin married Shirley Robbins in 1943 (McNerthney, Burton Baskin marries Shirley Robbins…). Shirley asked Burt to move over to Pasadena, where she and her brother, Irvine Robbins, ran their ice cream shop, Snowbird. It was mainly Robbins’ idea for Burt to get into the ice cream business. Irvine was about to sign a lease on a store in Pasadena. Instead, he told Burt to take the store and get into the ice cream business. “I said [to Baskin] you take it; you go into the ice cream business and do the same thing I’m doing, and as soon as we have enough stores open, we can open up a little ice cream factory. So he went to that store” (Parr). Irvine Robbins had already planned to have an ice cream empire. One of their first problems was early in their first store. They had trouble measuring customer satisfaction and the transfer of the product itself. They couldn’t expand their business when they could barely take care of their stores. So instead, they went a different direction. Robbins stated, “…we hit on the idea that as long as we’re going to manufacture ice cream, let’s sell these stores to our managers” (Parr). They let the managers run the stores, and they made money by selling the ice cream sold in said stores to the managers. Burt and Irv didn’t want the name of their company to be like Snowbird or Burton’s, so they flipped a coin. Burt won the coin toss, so his name got put first. That’s how they got “Baskin-Robbins”.
IV. Accomplishments and Innovations
Irv Robbins wanted their company to be more unique. Their stores were getting pretty popular, yet he and Baskin still didn’t really have anything to set them apart from all the other ice cream stores. “In 1953, as their newly focused company hummed and stores with the name Baskin-Robbins began to open, they had an important encounter with the Carson-Roberts Advertising Agency. The ad men wanted to be of use, so they asked: What makes Baskin-Robbins unique?”(Parr) They hadn’t thought about this until the ad men came to them. In the previous stores they had run, Burt and Irv had already created new flavors, sometimes even offering up to 21 at Snowbird. Almost immediately, they thought of it. “...almost in jest, that we even had a flavor for every day of the month—thirty-one,” (Parr) Irv had said. This would last in their company forever. They renamed their company, “Baskin-Robbins 31”. Burt thought the number was kind of poetic. It reminded him of the year that he had graduated from Streator Township High School. He was very far from where he had started, in his little clothing store in Illinois. He thought about it a lot. “Soon, he’d be a millionaire, many times over” (Parr). “By 1967, Baskin-Robbins had created nearly 300 different flavors, sometimes taking the advice of their customers. One humorous anecdote relayed by Abel involves a man who wandered into a California store, unaware that Burton Baskin was nearby. The man shook his head at all the flavors” (Parr). He had said, “The guys who think up these flavors must be plumb nuts.” This ended up being the whole new flavor. “Yes, plum nuts ice cream is a great idea”. Baskin-Robbins grew largely after that. “Partnering with his brother-in-law Burt Baskin and renaming his business Baskin-Robbins in 1953, the company grew to include more than 8,000 shops in 52 counties, serving more than 300 million guests annually – including President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle (Robinson) Obama on their first date. As Robbins often said: ‘We don't just sell ice cream; we sell fun’” (McNerthney, Robbins, Irvine).
V. Death and Legacy
Irv and Baskin wanted their company to expand. “Baskin saw his company grow to more than 400 stores nationwide when it was sold in 1967 to United Fruit for $12 million – roughly $110 million in 2024 dollars, adjusted for inflation” (McNerthney, Burton Baskin marries Shirley Robbins…). But shortly after that, Burt felt a striking pain in his chest in the early morning. Burton Baskin died of a heart attack on Christmas Eve at the age of 54. Shirley was 47 when this happened. Besides hurting her and their two children, this tragedy had an effect on Irv, too. Shirley kept going. “Shirley later married Aaron Goldfarb, who died less than a year later. At age 60, she wed businessman Isadore Familian” (McNerthney, Burton Baskin marries Shirley Robbins…). Irv continued with the business. “Robbins remained with the company, which expanded internationally in 1971, until his retirement in 1978. The Robbinses named their boat the 32nd Flavor, and the backyard of their Encino, California, home had an ice cream cone-shaped swimming pool and a soda fountain” (McNerthney, Robbins, Irvine). The Robbins family had become rich through the company. Baskin-Robbins had become one of the world’s largest and most successful ice cream chains in the world, but Burt was not there to see it. Irvine kept going with the company. His son, on the other hand, did not. “Life could have been sweet for John Robbins. The only son of Irvine “Irv” Robbins, co-founder of Baskin-Robbins, he was next in line to assume the family legacy and reign over what is now the world’s largest chain of specialty ice cream shops. But the more he learned, the more uncomfortable he became with the environmental, health, and ethical implications of dairy. So, despite the familial and financial repercussions, Robbins ultimately decided not to pick up the proverbial ice cream scoop” (Flink). He decided not to continue leading the company. Irvine Robbins retired in 1978. In the summer of that same year, is when teenager Barack Obama got his first job in a Honolulu Baskin-Robbins. “‘I’ll never forget that job – or the people who gave me that opportunity – and how they helped me get to where I am today,’ he said during his second term,” (McNerthney, Robbins, Irvine).
Work Cited
Flink, Tanya. “Why the Heir to the Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream Empire Walked Away From It All.” VegNews, 29 May 2024, www.vegnews.com/the-untold-vegan-story-of-baskin-robbins.
McNerthney, Casey. “Burton Baskin marries Shirley Robbins, Setting Into Motion The Baskin Robbins Ice-Cream Empire.” History Link, King County, 4 April 2024, www.historylink.org/File/22912y.
--. “Robbins, Irvine (1917-2008).” History Link, King County, 4 April 2024, www.historylink.org/File/22911.
Parr, Patrick. “Baskin-Robbins brings 31 Flavors to Japan in 1974.” Japan Today, 14 Feb 2024, www.japantoday.com/category/features/when-they-opened-in-japan/baskin-robbins-brings-31-flavors-to-japan-in-1974-2.