Best Tasting Lemonade Contest held ahead of Lemonade Day

By BRITTANY FHOLER
Cove Leader-Press 

Nearly a dozen lemonade stands lined the sidewalk at Carl Levin Park in Harker Heights Saturday morning for the 13th annual Best Tasting Lemonade Contest as part of the Fort Hood Area Lemonade Day events. 
One of the contestants was Rodrigo de Souza, a first grader at Martin Walker Elementary in Copperas Cove. Rodrigo’s lemonade stand is Rodrigo’s Rainforest Lemonade and features a taste of Brazil. Rodrigo’s family hails from the South American country, and Rodrigo was born there as well. 
His contest entry included a refreshing drink called limonada suíça, which is essentially a Brazilian limeade, featuring limes (zest and all), sugar, water and condensed milk. His stand also offered a treat in the form of Brazilian cheese bread or pão de queijo. 
The family was brought to Copperas Cove through the military. 
“That’s why we decided to bring it because there’s nothing from Brazil around here,” said Rodrigo’s mother Paty de Souza. “You’ve got to go to Austin to eat something Brazilian, and since we are from Brazil, we thought, ‘Let’s try something from our country that we are sure nobody has ever tried here.”
Having a lemonade stand is something Rodrigo has been wanting to do for the longest time, she added. 
“He’s very good with people,” Paty said. “We were worried more like, is he going to be able to explain why he’s doing this or serve and do what he’s supposed to do because kids get distracted. They want to play, they want to run around, but it’s something he always wanted to do.” 
Paty said she heard about Lemonade Day from a flier sent home at Rodrigo’s school. 
“When I saw it, it was like, ‘Oh, that’s your opportunity to have your lemonade stand,’” Paty said. 
She added that she liked how it was presented as a program that has opportunities to learn how to do it every step of the way. 
A key component of Lemonade Day is teaching children how to save money. Participants are encouraged to save some, spend some and give some of their proceeds. 
Rodrigo plans on giving him money to church, saving some money to go to Disney World and spending money to buy a TV and toys, according to his mother. 
Lemonade Day is a nationwide lesson-based program aimed at teaching business skills and financial literacy to children through entrepreneurship with a lemonade stand. Lemonade Day is the first weekend in May. 
“This is our biggest event leading up to Lemonade Day,” said Ally Torres, the Fort Hood Area Lemonade Day City Director. “Next week is Lemonade Day, and this is our last event before the actual day itself.”
Contestants competed in three categories on Saturday: Best Overall Lemonade, Best Presentation and Most Unique. 
A total of 11 lemonade stands offered their “signature” lemonade drink for the judges to taste, with some even offering treats and extra goodies. 
Several stands were decked out and featured that contestant’s theme for this year’s Lemonade Day. 
“It gives them the real experience to be able to practice their customer service skills and kind of talking about lemonade to their customer,” Torres said about the contest. 
The VIP judges this year included Copperas Cove City Councilmember Vonya Hart,  Harker Heights Mayor Spencer Smith, Killeen Mayor Debbie Nash-King, retired City of Killeen Police Chief Charles Kimble, H-E-B manager Jennifer Hambric, Raising Cane’s Harker Heights Restaurant Leader Jeffrey Reed, Chris Albus from Fort Hood Family Housing and Command Sgt. Major Calvin Hall from Fort Hood. 
Vonya Hart said that judging the contestants and their lemonade was tough because they all did so awesome. 
“I was just trying to remember to drink water, so I can really savor each one’s lemonade and not have the other person’s,” Hart said. “Then just being out here and just looking at all the stands, listening to their stories. That was pretty cool.” 
Hart said she tried to focus her judging on contestants who incorporated the skills and things that the Lemonade Day program focuses on, such as the problem solving, communication skills and more. 
This year’s contestants included H and L’s Lemonade, A Taste of the Rainbow, Fort Hood Lemonade, Rodrigo’s Rainforest Lemonade, Ava’s Lemonade Stand, Mason’s Wonder World Lemonade Stand, Spring is Changing the Game, Mia’s Lemonade, Stroke Survivor Lemonade & Co., Roland’s Lemonade and Lemon Squeezos. 
Lemon Squeezos took the trophy for both Best Presentation and Best Tasting, while Mason’s Wonder World Lemonade took home the trophy for Most Unique. 
Lemonade Day is this weekend. To find a young entrepreneur to support, visit https://lemonadeday.org/fort-hood-area and click on a stand on the map.