Stopping by a Kool-Aid Stand

By JEFF WICK

The Fayette County Record

I don’t think a lot of kids set up lemonade stands anymore.

So when I passed one Monday in a Giddings neighborhood while out delivering newspapers to racks and post offices, I made sure to stop to support the endeavor.

A little boy and girl, they looked like siblings or maybe even twins and 6 or 7 years old, were at the end of their driveway. They each had their own table and lawn chair set up. The little boy’s sign said he was selling Kool-Aid for $1. He had several premade cups of two different flavors – pink and purple. Some of the cups were actually cut from the bottoms of plastic water bottles – ingenious recycling. Other cups were more traditional ones. As I walked up to his table he noticed there was a bug floating in one of the cups of Kool-Aid, and he fished it out with his fingers.

I figured a good cup of Kool-Aid was worth at least $2. I handed him the cash and hoped he wasn’t going to give me the bug-cup.

He didn’t. He picked up a plastic cup filled with pink lemonade that said “Matthew McConaughey For President 2024” and handed it to me.

Alright, alright, alright, I thought.

Then I turned my attention to the little girl who was waiting patiently at her table.

Her table was covered with little individually wrapped candies that looked like she might have gotten at an Easter Egg hunt. She had a sign that said “$1 for 3 candies,” but I soon realized this girl was a shrewd businesswoman because she said I could have one piece of candy for $3.

I negotiated getting one two-pack of Starburst and a single Swedish fish for $2.

I wished them well and, fueled by my purchases, was able to finish the rest of my delivery route. I’m gonna keep that Matthew McConaughey For President cup – and I think I’ve got a new write-in candidate for the next several elections, too. I hope those kids sold out of all their stuff Monday, and that they made a bunch of money.

The episode got me to thinking back to memories of my own kids. When we lived in town they would set up a lemonade stand in our yard about once a year, and the kindness and generosity of folks always impressed me – and them. They always had a great time, but sadly that tradition died when we moved to the country. We live pretty far off Lane Pool Road and setting up a stand on that county road isn’t the same as doing so in a city neighborhood.

But that doesn’t mean we didn’t try when I was growing up on that same road when I was kid. I remember very clearly once a cousin was staying at my grandma’s next door and he talked me into trying to sell roadside Kool-Aid in our front yard.

We set up everything and waited, and waited. Nothing.

He said the problem was marketing. He made a sign that said “First Cup Free.”

He explained you give away a free cup and get the people hooked and they’ll come back for more.

My older sister’s boyfriend drove up and saw our stand. He walked up, saw the “First Cup Free” sign, got his free cup and walked into the house, buying nothing.

What a disaster. I only remember one other roadside sales pursuit from my childhood. One year my Grandpa Fietsam had a bumper garden crop. He brought a trailer full of watermelon, cantaloupes and corn that had grown in his garden. He told my sister and I that we could sell it all on the side of the road and keep the money.

We made signs and waited. We weren’t very old, probably the same age as those kids I saw selling the Kool-Aid and candy Monday.

Anyway, when the first unfamiliar car drove up we both took off running into the house. Not exactly the best way to run a business.

I don’t know if it was because of my mother’s urging or our own hunger for some spending money, but our courage returned, and we went out to help our customers.

We sold out in a couple of days – and had a great time.