Dozens of lemonade stands pop up in Copperas Cove for Lemonade Day Weekend

By BRITTANY FHOLER

Cove Leader-Press

Dozens of young, budding entrepreneurs in Copperas Cove set up their lemonade stands last weekend for the annual Fort Hood Area Lemonade Day weekend.

This year, Copperas Cove saw 31 plus stands recorded on the Fort Hood Lemonade Day map.

One of those stands was set up in front of Jersey Mike’s. Emmey’s Heart Hut is owned by Emerson Turner, a fifth grader at Martin Walker Elementary.

Turner had a lemonade stand last year and decided to do one again this year, on her own, in addition to participating in a lemonade stand activity at her school on Friday.

Lemonade Day promotes financial literacy by encouraging its participants to save some, spend some and donate some of their proceeds earned through their lemonade sales.

Emmey’s Heart Hut offered lemonade, pinwheels, heart shaped sunglasses, and light up ice cubes.

Turner is donating a portion of the proceeds from her stand to the American Heart Association. As a baby, Turner was diagnosed with tetralogy of Fallot, which is described as “a combination of four congenital heart defects: a ventricular septal defect (VSD), pulmonary stenosis, a misplaced aorta and a thickened right ventricular wall (right ventricular hypertrophy). They usually result in a lack of oxygen-rich blood reaching the body,” according to the Mayo Clinic website. She had to have surgery as a result, according to her mother, Breanne Turner.

“She works so hard all the time, and it's really nice to see her put in all the effort that she has at school with her Lemonade Day with her group and then today here,” Breanne said. “She's always been really passionate about raising money for the American Heart Association through different causes, so we're always proud of all the hard work that she puts in everything she does.”

Magnolia’s Koala-ty Lemonade was set up in the parking lot in front of the Copperas Cove Leader-Press office at 2210 Bus. 190. Magnolia Bowers, 8,  sold lemonade, chips, lollipops and handmade cookies made by her mother, Caitlin, through her business Pinto Castle Bakery.

Magnolia, 8, was joined by her sisters, Carolina, 7, and Teddy, 3. Magnolia is a second grader at Williams/Ledger Elementary, and her sister Carolina is a first grader.

Magnolia’s charity of choice for her lemonade stand proceeds was the Koala Hospital in Australia. Koalas are Magnolia’s favorite animal, she said. She is also planning on saving up a portion of her money to get her ears pierced.

Lemonade Day has provided all sorts of opportunities for Magnolia, according to her mother, Caitlin.

“It's been really fun,” Caitlin said. “I really like the Lemonade Day organization, the [Lemon] University that she started a couple of months ago. All of the different events that they've put on have been nice for all the girls to get to go to. They even went and made lemonade at Chick fil A couple of weeks ago.”

Clements/Parsons Elementary 6th grader Brayden Chase set up his lemonade stand at Bush’s Chicken on Saturday and Sunday. His lemonade stand was sponsored by Armor of God Radio, which is also the charity he planned on donating a portion of his proceeds to. Brayden said he also plans to spend some of his money on Pokémon.

Brayden’s family has been involved in Lemonade Day for years, with his older sisters Allyssa Kimball and Emily Kimball participating with their own lemonade stands. Last year, Brayden decided last minute to set up his own lemonade stand on the walking trail at South Park on that Sunday afternoon.

This year, he began planning with Tom McNew, of Armor of God radio, earlier.

Armor of God Radio provided reusable cups featuring the radio station’s logo for Brayden to use for the regular cups of lemonade. Brayden also offered a “souvenir” cup featuring a summery, lemony design for $5.

A regular cup of lemonade was $2, with $1 for a blackberry puree add-in.

Brayden said that he liked having his lemonade stand.

“You just get to hang out, make lemonade for people and make some money,” he said.

Brayden’s mom, Elizabeth Chase, said that she loved seeing him step into this role.

“I love seeing him grow, learning the importance of money, learning how to make change, just those important things, plus those bigger skills of marketing and advertising for himself and putting himself out there and communicating with people,” she said. “He's doing great with that, and I think those skills will really help him in the future. It has helped his sisters definitely.”

Over at Keith Ace Hardware, Martin Walker Elementary School second graders Lucas Hinds and Reed Hooten ran their Dinosaur Lemonade stand, selling regular and watermelon lemonade in addition to chips and lollipops.

The two boys worked hard to put ice in the cups and pour just the right amount of lemonade for their customers.

At their school, they did activities that helped them plan out their business, including coming up with the name, prices, what supplies they needed, finding an investor to help them get a loan to buy said supplies and then deciding on the decorations and theme of their stand.

The duo ended up raising enough money to donate $500 to the Copperas Cove Animal Shelter.

Reed said that he wants to grow up to become a wildlife veterinarian. His mother, Lauren Hooten, added that he loves animals, so selecting the animal shelter as their charity was an obvious choice.

Jessica Hinds, Lucas’ mother, said that the boys have enjoyed working together and making new friends with each other since they are not in the same class at school.

“Watching them work together as a team and do the math for their transactions and learning all the financial aspects of running a business is very, very impressive,” said Lauren Hooten. “They're doing very well.”

Typically held the first weekend in May each year, Lemonade Day is a world-wide event focused on giving children a chance to become their own bosses, if only for the day or weekend. The lesson-based program helps walk children through creating their own business plan to the actual running of said business and teaches them the principles necessary to starting a company.

Since its beginnings in Houston, Texas in 2007, Lemonade Day has grown from serving 2,700 kids in one city to more than one million children in 80 plus licensed markets in the United States, Canada, Bermuda, six U.S. military bases, and more.

First National Bank Texas and Fort Hood National Bank (now called First Heroes National Bank) first introduced Lemonade Day to the Fort Hood (now Fort Cavazos) area community in the spring of 2010, after bank staff discovered the program at a youth development conference in Houston the prior year, according to the Fort Hood Lemonade Day website.

Since then, children in Bell County, Coryell County and Lampasas County have been setting up their lemonade stand and putting their own twist on the classic drink.