Young entrepreneurs opened up lemonade stands in Athabasca June 23 as part of Lemonade Day.
On the Facebook event page for Lemonade Day Northwest Alberta - Athabasca County, the event is described as a free, fun, experiential learning program that teaches youth how to start, own and operate their own business. It also adds that it's a great opportunity for kids to try their hand at starting and managing their own business.
Some of the lemonade stands operating in Athabasca included Mama's Moonshine Lemonade, which was run by the Sharron sisters, consisting of Corin, Kimberly, Allison and Bethany Sharron.
Their mother, Jennifer Sharron, who assisted the girls at their operation located at the farmers' market at Riverfront Park, said that despite the name, they were not selling moonshine.
"There was absolutely no liquor used in the products whatsoever," Sharron laughed. "The girls are familiar with what moonshine is, and they still agreed to use the name itself. And besides, lemonade does look a lot like moonshine too."
Besides selling their product for $2 a glass, Sharron said they also sold lemonade in mason jars for $6.
"The girls wanted something to go with the name," she said. "Moonshine is typically sold in mason jars, so we figured we would just run with it. They really enjoyed running the business, and they had lots going through."
She added 10 per cent of the proceeds will be going to the Stollery Children's Hospital, while another 10 per cent would go to the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute.
"We chose the Mazankowski Centre because their grandfather recently had open-heart surgery at the institute," Sharron said. "The children feel they would like to give back to the centre for providing the care they did during the surgery."
Also in business at Riverfront Park were Angelina and David Semrok, a sister and brother team from Rochester who opened That Good Lemonade Stand.
"Twenty per cent of the proceeds we make here today will go to our church, and to the animal hospital," said Angelina Semrok. "The rest of it we intend to use for school supplies for next year."
Semrok said it was pretty cool to participate in Lemonade Day this year.
"Kids all over Athabasca and the surrounding areas have gathered to participate, raise money and learn how to be entrepreneurs," she said. "My brother and I could not really decide on a name, so we just made one up together. I figured it just kind of had a ring to it, so we went with it."
That Good Lemonade Stand also featured some piano playing from both sister and brother.
"We both started playing in April of 2017," Semrok said. "We figured it would be great to provide some entertainment while customers came and bought some of our product."
Another family-operated business was located in front of the Lolly Pop Thrift Store, called Fresh Squeezed Lemonade, which was run by Caleb, Job and Thane Serben.
"We squeezed our lemons fresh for our product, so we decided to incorporate that into our name," Caleb Serben said. "We are raising money for the Northlight Baptist Church in Athabasca, the Tomorrow Club, which helps children in need, and we will also save some of the money for ourselves to use when we grow up."
Besides lemonade, the boys also sold water balloons at their stand.
"We got them off amazon," Serben said. "They are really strong, and the only way they can break is if you throw them on the ground really hard. We were selling those for $2 each, or three of them for $5."
Over in front of Buy-Low Foods was Fizzi's Lemonade, which was run by Landing Trail Intermediate School's Kailan Smith-Kwasney.
"The name is because one day, I decided to mix lemonade with club soda, and that was what I was selling," Smith-Kwasney said. "It tasted pretty good, so I thought, why not. And business went really well."
Smith-Kwasney said a third of all the money that was raised will go to SCARS animal shelter.
Also raising money for the shelter was the stand It's Lemonicious, which was run by Whispering Hills Primary School students Lienkah Esterhuizen and Rhylea Kopchia in front of the Value Drug Mart. Kopchia said they will be donating 20 per cent of their proceeds to SCARS.
"Business was good," Kopchia said. "One girl even came here and gave us all of her change, so that was nice. The rest of the proceeds we make here today will be split between Lienkah and myself."
All five lemonade stands said it was a beautiful day to be out offering a refreshing drink for any thirsty patron who happened to walk by.
