Katrina's Lives Lost:	The snowball lady
Submitted By: 		N.O.V.A March 2006
Source:			Times Picayune 

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Mary Hansen was a sweet woman, in more ways than one. And thousands of
customers will miss her cheerful presence at the Sno-Bliz stand she and her
husband started in the 1930s.

It really wasn't a business; it was an extended family, and a devoted one. 

What Mary and Ernest Hansen began for good in 1939 proved once and for all
that the structure isn't what makes something popular, it's the people who
run it, the product and the customers they attract. 

For 61 years, Hansen's Sno-Bliz snowball stand at 4801 Tchoupitoulas St.,
at the corner of Bordeaux, has stood tall in this city, a shining monument
to dedication, an unmatched old-fashioned work ethic, and two of the
friendliest people you'll ever meet. 

Mary's homemade syrups were so good that they posed a constant dilemma for
customers: Would it be cream of nectar, strawberry shortcake, cream of ice
cream, cream of coconut or chocolate? 

They were made by hand with the smoothest ice in town. Ernest, a machinist
and draftsman, in the 1930s designed and patented the same Sno-Bliz machine
being used today. While he filled the cup with ice -- stopping three times
for Mary to pour the syrup down deep -- she would chit-chat with her
customers. "Oh, you're so beautiful today" was typical of what she would
tell them. 

"My mom and dad married during the Depression. Times were hard," said
Orleans Magistrate Judge Gerard Hansen, their son. The Hansens opened the
business in 1934 but closed it several times while having children, before
reopening for good in 1939 on Valmont Street. In 1944, they moved to
Tchoupitoulas, where they achieved icon status. 

"There was never segregation at our snowball stand," Judge Hansen said.
"They never treated anyone differently or made them feel inferior. She
probably gave away more than she should have the first couple of years, but
kids would come hang out there, and they had no money. My mom would say,
'Oh, today's a free day for children.' It made people come back." 

The Hansens' motto at the snowball stand was: "There are no shortcuts to
quality." And there were sayings such as: "Air condition your tummy with a
Sno-Bliz sundae." Judge Hansen said his parents were the first to put ice
cream in the middle of a snowball. 

All the recipes were stored in Mary Hansen's head, and all the concoctions
were homemade. 

"I didn't want commercial flavors, I wanted homemade," she would explain.
"I cook all my own things anyway. Doesn't any woman with children know the
secrets and consistency of desserts? I just used fresh ingredients and
experimented." 

Attracting everyone from neighborhood kids to movers and shakers and
politicos, the cinderblock building where the Hansens held their version of
court was the spot to cool off. Long lines were commonplace, but few
defected. When the family threw a party at Gallier Hall to celebrate Mary
and Ernest's 50th anniversary, Judge Hansen was approached by a snowball
stand customer who said, "I want to pay for a third of it -- they're like
family to me." 

And when Gerard Hansen was elected a judge in 1978, it was his parents who
put him in office, he said. "I was behind in the first primary by a
substantial margin. Somebody suggested I put Mom and Dad on the radio and
we did. People started saying 'Hey, you're the snowball lady's son. If
you're related to these people, you have to be good.' " 

Right before Katrina hit, Mary Hansen was hospitalized in Touro Infirmary
with a problem swallowing food. After the problem was treated, her son
said, she needed skilled nursing assistance. Ernest, ever at her side,
would not leave the hospital. The day she was evacuated -- Sunday, Aug. 29
-- was his 94th birthday. 

She was airlifted to Pineville's Huey Long Charity Hospital, where, her son
said, "She started slipping and was in pretty bad shape." Ernest was taken
to Alexandria, and neither knew where the other was for a while. 

"Since my dad retired in '76, they were inseparable. He would never leave
her. That was the first time they were separated," Judge Hansen said. It
took its toll. 

On Sept. 6, they were both taken to Thibodaux, where the judge's brother,
Dr. Ernest C. Hansen Jr., lives. "We knew mom was in bad shape so we got
them a room together in a nursing home," the judge said. 

Mary Hansen died Sept. 8. She was 95. On Nov. 16, she and Ernest would have
been married 73 years. She was buried in Thibodaux near a family member. 

"It was so hard on us not to be able to have a big funeral for her in New
Orleans," Judge Hansen said. "She was so loved -- it would have been
packed. But what's important is that she was with people she loved the most
-- her family." 

For the past 15 years or so, Mary and Ernest Hansen have been assisted by
the judge's daughter, Ashley Hansen, who will continue to operate Hansen's
Sno-Bliz. 

"My grandmother may not be there in presence but she'll always be there in
spirit," Ashley said. "The stand will stay around. I love it. I love the
business. I loved her."