Lemonade, life lessons

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Nothing quite goes with a summer yard sale like a lemonade stand. During the weekend of Greenfield’s Community Yard Sale, second-grader Harper White set up a lemonade stand with help from her mom, Mariah, and a few friends.

“She was ready at 7 a.m. with her dress and her high heels for business,” Mariah said. “She picked out her outfit. She loves that little beret that she wears all the time.”

Harper’s lemonade stand was open for business on Lafayette Street on Friday and Saturday. Harper mostly ran the stand by herself on Friday, but on Saturday a few of her friends from the neighborhood helped her.

Over the two days it was open, Mariah said Harper’s lemonade stand went through seven batches of homemade lemonade and more than 115 cups. Though Harper was only charging 50 cents per cup of lemonade, she said many of her customers offered to pay more.

“Some people gave me $20, $10, and $50,” Harper said.

Mariah added that some customers even sent her money for Harper’s lemonade through Venmo, a mobile app that allows users to send one another funds electronically.

Harper’s goal was to raise $199 through her lemonade stand. On Friday, Harper made around $225. Though Saturday was a little rainy, Mariah estimates that Harper and her friends made around another $60 to $70, which they divided fairly.

“They decided to take turns running the till, so whoever sold that cup of lemonade got that much money, so they split their money, and they all made a fair share that way,” Mariah said. “I think they had a lot of fun — I think it was more fun than they anticipated.”

Harper has plans to save some of the money she made from the lemonade stand, but she’s also used some of it to treat her family to ice cream from the Dairy Nook in Greenfield and to buy a gift for her brother.

Harper originally wanted to open a lemonade stand to make some money, but the lemonade stand was also a learning experience.

“It was really good for her,” Mariah said. “We’re still teaching her how to say please and thank you, and not everyone wanted lemonade and not everyone wanted to buy from her yard sale, so she kind of had to figure out how that felt and how to deal with that. It kind of taught her how to approach people or break the ice because she gets shy.”

Harper also learned a little about how to be a good business owner.

“She was filling the cups, like, half-full, so we had to have a business-ethics talk about having a full product if they’re going to pay full price, and I told her she had to have hand sanitizer out there for herself and her customers. We were trying to follow COVID precautions,” Mariah said. “Her old softball coach stopped by. He gave her a good little tip, and then he told her that hard work pays off, and I think she learned that, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did,” Harper said.

Other than hard work, Harper said the secret to a successful lemonade stand is the product. Harper’s lemonade was based on a copycat recipe for Chick-fil-A’s lemonade and included real lemons.

Harper and Mariah said they weren’t sure if the lemonade stand will reopen in the future, but for those who may want to try opening their own lemonade stands, Harper’s recommendation was simple: “Good materials and lots of lemonade.”

Mariah’s main recommendation for parents whose children might want to open lemonade stands was also simple: “You need two adults. I was worn out by the end of Friday. Thankfully, a friend of mine came over to hang out.”

Because Harper’s stand was open during the Whites’ yard sale, Mariah said it was helpful to have another person to supervise Harper and her friends.

But she added that watching Harper run her own stand was awesome.

“I would recommend trying it. I really enjoyed watching Harper succeed at it, and she really did it all on her own. She just told me what she wanted to do, and I just sat back and hung out with my coffee and watched her go,” Mariah said.

Harper’s homemade lemonade recipe:

* 1 gallon of water

* 2 cups of sugar

* 8 fresh lemons

Reach McKenzie Caldwell at 937-402-2570.

On the weekend of Greenfield’s Community Yard Sale, second-grader Harper White set up a lemonade stand on Lafayette Street with help from her mother, Mariah, and friends. Harper and Mariah made the lemonade stand using a pallet, scrap boards, paint and Mariah’s Cricut, which helped create the sign.
https://www.timesgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2020/06/web1_lemonade.jpgOn the weekend of Greenfield’s Community Yard Sale, second-grader Harper White set up a lemonade stand on Lafayette Street with help from her mother, Mariah, and friends. Harper and Mariah made the lemonade stand using a pallet, scrap boards, paint and Mariah’s Cricut, which helped create the sign. Photo courtesy of Mariah White
Greenfield second-grader enjoys sweet success

By McKenzie Caldwell

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