DOBBINS HEIGHTS – This has been a hot, busy summer for 8 year-old LeAdien Andrews, attending a summer day program, participating in soccer practice, and, perhaps even more impressive, operating a lemonade stand.
“Business has been good,” he answered in a shy voice, when asked about how much he was averaging each day. The lemonade sells for $2 per cup and his 4 year-old sister Leandria sells cookies for 50 cents in a plastic bag, “to keep the ants out.”
LeAdien will be in the third grade at Second Baptist Church in Hamlet when school resumes, while Leandria will be starting kindergarten this year.
On the day of this reporter’s visit, Leandria was selling sugar cookies and iced oatmeal cookies. The two children were accompanied by their mother Laperria and a neighbor Edward Tender under a shady umbrella on the corner of their property, waiting patiently for their regular customers. LeAdien has a black Michael Jordan shoe box that serves as his change and cash box. He keeps it close at all times.
Edward Tender assists with the lemonade stand by “just being there as a friend,” he said. Tender is a veteran of the Vietnam War and also very active in the community with Habitat for Humanity. He has assisted with the construction of many homes through the service organization, and will be part of the group that is working on the newest home in Richmond County, to be constructed primarily by Habitat’s female faction, Women Build.
The lemonade stand is usually open Monday through Friday, from approximately 2:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. “There have been times when we haven’t opened the stand because of the weather. We aren’t going to be out here if there is a bad storm or lightning.”
LeAdien seemed to be disappointed when asked about continuing the lemonade stand business after school started. His mom said, “No, you won’t be doing this when school starts back. You will be busy with school and soccer. But next summer, you can get back out here again!”
Visiting this lemonade stand in Dobbins Heights brought back a lot of memories for me. Many summers ago, in the mid 1960’s, I had a lemonade stand on Juanita Avenue in Hamlet, near my home. We had a lot of fun, even though we didn’t make a lot of money. It was more about learning about how to handle money responsibly, getting along with your friends, and making new acquaintances along the way. Some of those girlfriends have moved away-or passed away-but the memories are still here with me…in Hamlet.
