By Polly Campbell
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Where to go when school gets out:

The first week of summer vacation requires an ice cream celebration to reward students for their hard work.

Left to their own devices, kids will gravitate to malls where they have those new-fangled, mix-in ice cream stores, such as Maggie Moo's and Coldstone Creamery. But kids need to understand the old-fashioned ice cream parlor experience, so, please, make a point of taking them to Aglamesis Bros.

Besides homemade ice cream, what Aglamesis has over every other place is a genuine nostalgic atmosphere. The store on Montgomery Road in Oakley, built in 1913, has Tiffany-style pink glass lamps, marble counters and tables and heart-backed chairs. Plus, you can get table service from high school kids working their first jobs.

For classic ice cream enjoyment, get an ice cream soda, a drink that is undeservedly going out of style. The nectar soda with its vanilla-sweet flavor is an oldie but goodie. Sodas come in degrees of sincerity: sincere, extra-sincere (two scoops) and especially sincere (three scoops), $2.40-$4.10

Any sundae that involves raspberry sauce is good, like the raspberry hot fudge sundae ($3.20) of chocolate ice cream, raspberry sauce and hot fudge. I favor the Swiss raspberry sundae ($3.20), for which they fold the raspberry sauce into whipped cream (real whipped cream, not phony stuff) and spoon it over chocolate ice cream and sprinkle crushed walnuts over it all.

Aglemesis is at 3046 Madison Road, Oakley, 531-5196. Second location: 9899 Montgomery Road, Montgomery 791-7082.

E-mail pcampbell@enquirer.com