What on Main Street is open on a December evening when nothing special is happening? Not the coffee. Galaxy Roasting, which The Monitor calls the town's only coffee shop, closes its espresso bar at 1:30 p.m.
This December the answer is different. Both of Main Street's holiday evenings, the Christmas Stroll on Thursday, Dec. 3, and the Christmas Convoy on Saturday, Dec. 12, now overlap with the posted hours of a counter that opened on Main Street this fall. On Convoy night, it is scheduled to stay open until 9 p.m.
A Food Truck That Ran on a Farm Engine
The counter belongs to Double Barrel Ice Cream. Most people in town know it from the East Helena Rodeo and the Food Truck Festival. As The Monitor reported in October, it began with a gift. A family friend gave Austin Young an old hand-crank John Deere engine, a 3-horsepower "hit 'n miss" stationary engine of the kind farmers used in the early 20th century to run their equipment. Young's father suggested turning it into an ice cream maker.
Young ran the engine to churn ice cream in two wooden barrels packed with salt and ice. Each batch made about 10 gallons, far more than one family could eat. So Austin invested in a food truck and launched Double Barrel in 2023, and he and his wife Ashley began serving at local events. Since then he has switched to an electric motor to keep up with demand. The John Deere engine still comes out for displays like East Helena's Classic Car show.
Their flavors built the following. The Monitor names Honeyberry and Maple Bacon, plus a Cowboy Coffee Toffee made with ground coffee from Galaxy Roasting. Ashley sources the milk and cream from a Great Falls dairy farm.
Why the Counter Ended Up Inside the Coffee Shop
The Youngs were regular customers at Galaxy, and the coffee in that toffee flavor already linked the two businesses. When customers kept asking where they could buy the ice cream between events, the Youngs asked Galaxy owner Kevin Schulte about going further. After talking it over with his wife and business partner, Schulte agreed. Double Barrel held its grand opening inside Galaxy Roasting at 10 W. Main St. on Oct. 9, 2026.
The arrangement splits the day in two. Galaxy serves coffee in the morning. Double Barrel takes over the room in the afternoon and evening, with Young's close friend John Grieshaber supervising. Schulte explained his reasoning to The Monitor. "It gives families on a Friday evening a place to go, and it's a safe place and it's a comfortable place," he said.
How the Hours Line Up With December
The posted hours make the December connection easy to see. Here are both events set against the counter's schedule as The Monitor reported it in October:
| Christmas Stroll | Christmas Convoy | |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Thursday, Dec. 3 | Saturday, Dec. 12 |
| Event | Vendors, performances, kids' activities, food trucks, raffles | Decorated semi-trucks, with parked trucks and food vendors added for 2026 |
| Street use | Main Street closure approved by City Council | Two or three blocks of Main Street requested, approved by City Council |
| Double Barrel hours | Weekdays, 1 to 8 p.m. | Weekends, 1 to 9 p.m. |
Two details matter for planning. On Stroll night, the counter's weekday close at 8 p.m. comes half an hour before the Stroll ends. On Convoy night, the counter's weekend hours run until 9 p.m. Galaxy doesn't serve coffee after its usual 1:30 p.m. close, but according to The Monitor, bulk coffee beans are for sale during all opening hours and pints of ice cream may be added. For a holiday gift, a bag of beans counts. Hours can change with the season, so check the posted schedule on the day.
The Stroll Is Built for a Weeknight
The Visit Helena listing puts the East Helena Christmas Stroll on Dec. 3, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. It's free and promises "vendors, performances, kid activities, food trucks, and raffles" on Main Street. At the Sept. 1 meeting, East Helena City Council voted unanimously to close Main Street and allow use of city facilities for the evening, according to the council minutes.
The Stroll has kept a recognizable format. When KTVH covered the 2023 edition, the evening included a children's activity tent, performances every 30 minutes at Radley Elementary, a raffle, vendors along Main Street, and Santa. That year, the raffle tree raised money for the East Helena Rodeo Association's new rodeo grounds, and vendor registration fees went to East Helena Booster Club scholarships. Those were the 2023 beneficiaries. The current listing doesn't name this year's.
A Thursday evening from 5:30 to 8:30 is short. Families come after work and school, and the event wraps up before a school night gets late. With a counter on the same street open until 8, there's now a warm stop during the Stroll itself.
The Convoy Started as a Drive-By. This Year It Stays Parked.
The Christmas Convoy is the newer tradition, and it has grown each year. Before the first one in December 2024, the Independent Record announced that East Helena would host its first Christmas Convoy, with about four dozen decorated semi-trucks from 6 to 8 p.m. on Dec. 14, sponsored by the Montana Trucking Association.
That first route made a loop. It started on Wylie Drive, went south to Main Street, continued to Lake Helena Drive, joined Canyon Ferry Road, and finished back on Wylie Drive. Montana Trucking Association Executive Director Duane Williams told the Independent Record that roughly 40 to 50 trucks would drive about 8 mph around the city, and that the idea came from the Belgrade Christmas Convoy.
The 2025 edition settled on Main Street. The Independent Record's coverage of the second annual convoy on Dec. 13, 2025, described dozens of light-covered trucks from local companies rolling down Main Street, with a bus from the city's high school in the lineup. People gathered along Main Street by City Hall and beyond, some carrying food and warm drinks.
For 2026, the convoy adds a stationary portion. At the Aug. 4 council meeting, Laura Mozer presented the Dec. 12 date and asked to close two or three blocks "to extend the event with parked decorated Trucks and food vendors." The council approved the request unanimously with no public comment. A convoy that used to pass by in a few minutes now leaves trucks parked on the street, which gives people a reason to stay after the drive ends.
A Street That Stays Open After the Event Ends
Taken together, these changes keep the street busy longer than before. The Stroll brings Main Street to life for three hours on a Thursday. The convoy now keeps trucks and food vendors on the street on a Saturday night. And a business at 10 W. Main is now open into the evening every day of the week, on a schedule that doesn't depend on a festival.
Double Barrel's plans are also seasonal. Young told The Monitor he plans to add seasonal flavors like pumpkin spice and a non-dairy sorbet. He also hopes to create a flavor for East Helena that pays homage to the town's smelter history. The Monitor's suggested name was "Slag pile strawberry."
Austin Young gave credit for the storefront to the customers who followed the truck from event to event. "If it weren't for those people, we probably wouldn't be in a situation of opening an ice cream shop," he told The Monitor.
If you're planning December around Main Street, whether that's hosting family for the Convoy or showing new neighbors what East Helena does in winter, Cameron Hahn is glad to share what he knows about the town's calendar and the businesses behind it. Schedule a free consultation, and he'll walk you through how East Helena's Main Street is changing, block by block.
