SweetFrog has developed a popular following among local residents and college students. Photo by Adrian Robinett.
By Adrian Robinett and Joy Thompson
SweetFrog, a frozen yogurt bar located on Wards Road in Lynchburg, has generated a popular following among local college students and offers something that many see as a healthier alternative to ice cream.
The restaurant, which opened Dec. 11, 2010, is painted a combination of bright pink and green. General Manager Louise Calloway said she believes that the popularity of the frozen yogurt is a result pricing, employees and a diverse selection of toppings. SweetFrog charges 39 cents per ounce.
You can come here and get any combination of yogurt and toppings that you want. All of our fruits are sliced fresh, and all of our toppings are delicious,” Calloway said.
SweetFrog features 14 flavors along their main wall of frozen yogurt machines and a topping bar. The most popular flavor at the Lynchburg location is Cake Batter, Calloway said.
SweetFrog offers seasonal flavors such as Cotton Candy and Watermelon during the summer. Pumpkin, Cinnamon and Peppermint flavors are served during holidays.
The toppings range from candy bar crumbles, like Twix and Snickers, to yellow cake, brownies, coconut and jellybeans. Cheri Lanier, a regular customer at SweetFrog, enjoys the variety of toppings and yogurts.
“Everyone is so nice here and I absolutely love it. I had surgery one morning at 3 a.m., was released from the hospital at 9:30 a.m., and came to SweetFrog later that day just to get some frozen yogurt to make my throat feel better. I come every day,” Lanier said.
Frozen yogurt, in general, is said to be a healthy alternative to ice cream.
“One major health benefit of all natural frozen yogurts is the probiotic content. Frozen yogurt that contains live bacterial cultures promotes better digestion,” according to Yogurt Bar, a blog that promotes the benefits of frozen yogurt.
Probiotics are sometimes used to treat diarrhea, urinary tract infections and irritable bowel syndrome, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a division of the National Institutes of Health.
Frozen yogurt is also a better alternative to ice cream for those that are lactose intolerant. The bacteria within the yogurt change the lactose into lactic acid, which makes it easier to digest, according to probiotic.org.
SweetFrog uses the slogan “Eat healthy. Live healthy.”
FROG is an acronym for “fully rely on God,” and SweetFrog sells t-shirts that promote this message. Although the shirts convey a Christian message, the company says that they are accepting of all customers. SweetFrog is not in any way affiliated with Liberty University, Calloway said.
“We have the message on the shirts we sell, but we don’t push religion in your face. We are open to anyone that wants to come in. The acronym wasn’t meant to cater to a certain crowd,” Calloway said.
SweetFrog founder Derrick Cha started the frozen yogurt chain in Richmond, Va. and has now expanded to nine locations throughout the commonwealth of Virginia. The Lynchburg location, which was the ninth store opened, is the most successful location so far, Calloway said. SweetFrog is a franchise that can be purchased and Calloway’s sister June Smith, owner of SweetFrog in Lynchburg, decided to open the Wards Road location as a last minute decision.
“My sister June owns the shopping center and when the tenant that was supposed to occupy this building cancelled at the last minute, she decided to open a SweetFrog because she enjoyed the atmosphere so much,” Calloway said.
On April 1, a new SweetFrog will open in Forest, Va. in the Kroger shopping center.
“Everyone who works here loves it and I think it’s because we have employees from all walks of life. We have young people, older people, college students, community members, and they all work well together. We just want to promote a happy place that people want to come to regularly,” Calloway said.
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Professor Speaks Out About Homosexual Lifestyles (February 24, 1994)
LISTEN AND LEARN—Professor of English Jere Real spoke about homosexuality on Feb. 14 in Hopwood Auditorium. Photo by Evonne Carroll
By Tina Townsend
Curious students and faculty gathered at Lynchburg College’s Hopwood auditorium on Monday, Feb. 14 to hear Professor of English Jere Real’s lecture on the sensitive topic of gay men and women.
The lecture, entitled “Everything you wanted to know about being gay and were afraid to ask,” lasted about an hour and covered various problems the young gay has faced over the years. However, Real tried to focus more on the positive aspects of leading a gay life. “Being gay is being part of a great interesting and interested fraternity of life,” said Real.
The lecture included two short film clips on gay men. Real discussed changes for gays over the last 20 years. “A lot of things have changed (for gays) over the last 20 years, and a lot of things have not,” said Real.
According to a release sent to the faculty of LC, Real’s decision to speak on the topic of gays was a result of several different requests he had received over the last year.
The lecture also discussed the possibility of a genetic link to homosexuality, as well as the decision of accepting being gay. “There is no decision made and there is no choice. It’s a matter of when you decide to come out with it,” said Real.
Real told humorous stories to the audience and also talked about the most common misunderstanding about gays.
“When people talk about gays they center on sex,” said Real. “The one aspect that is left out is love. The gay person seeks the elusive bond of love,” Real said.
Senior Rebecca Huffman listened to the lecture along with her class that was required to attend.
“I like the way Real was so open and honest, and the way he portrayed gay life. It’s not any different really than a heterosexual relationship,” said Huffman.
Real ended his lecture by answering questions from the audience, some of which were submitted anonymously on note cards.
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Looney Researches Animal Aggression (March 1, 1978)
The National Institute of Mental Health has awarded Dr. Thomas A. Looney of the LC psychology department. Photo by Rick Newton. Photo by Rick Newton
By Bill O’Neil
Dr. Thomas A. Looney, assistant professor of the psychology department, will begin working on animal aggression experiments May 1 at Lynchburg College.
The experiments, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, will try to resolve some of the differences that have developed concerning learning situations.
H. S. Terrace, professor of psychology at Columbia University, has concluded that learning which occurs with errors made in the learning process produces unpleasant emotional by-products. Subsequently, programmed instructed methods of teaching have been thought to produce errorless learning.
Current researchers have questioned the conclusions drawn by Terrace. It has been suggested that it is not the errors which produce the emotional by-products, but some other aspect of the learning process.
“I’ve been studying animal aggression for the past several years, and this is just a continuation of that work,” said Dr. Looney.
Looney’s subjects will be pigeons and the emotional byproducts they undergo during aggression. None of the pigeons will be damaged during the experiments because the targets the pigeons will be attacking are photographs of other pigeons.
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