America's Attack On Lemonade Stands

Arguably there is no catchier, kitschier symbol of the American spirit than a lemonade stand. It represents not only a way of life, but a way of making a living. It is capitalism and leisure, refreshment and resourcefulness, enterprise and summer skies all squeezed together — stirred in with lemons and sugar and water — and sold by the glass for whatever the market will bear.

But if you are paying attention to the news, you know that lemonade stands are at risk.

Just this year, The Associated Press reports: In July, police shut down a lemonade-making operation in Midway, Ga., because law enforcement officials were not sure how the lemonade was being made. In April, a 13-year-old lemonade purveyor was robbed of $130 by dastardly customers in Warner-Robins, Ga., and, in July, kids in Strongsville, Ohio, said a handful of teenagers, including two boys sporting skinny jeans and blue hoodies, stole at least $13.50 from their lemonade stand.

During the U.S. Open in June, officials in Montgomery County, Md., fined kids $500 for running a fancy lemonade stand — that sold bottled lemonade and other drinks — near the golf tournament. Proceeds, the children said, were going to charity. County officials finally agreed to waive the fine and allow the kids to operate without a permit if they would move the 10-by-10-foot tent down the road a piece.

As one of the mothers of the children told WUSA news: "The message to kids is, there's no American dream."

'Dreaming Big'

For others, the dream stands tall. In suburban Detroit, students at Beverly Elementary School are planning to string together — side by side — enough 4-foot-wide structures to create the World's Longest Lemonade Stand on Aug. 20. They hope to wind up in the Guinness World Records.

"The lemonade stand is often a child's first business venture," says Mary Ann Hupp, 41, a creative director at a marketing agency and one of the motherly promoters of the event. "We hope this project is an example for our children that they should be proactive and take initiative in life."

Hupp believes that the mere planning of the event has kindled the entrepreneurial spirit in the kids. "My 9-year-old son told me yesterday that he'd like to invent a flying car before college," she says. "While that will most likely not come to fruition, we love that he is dreaming big."

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/07/19/138461324/americas-attack-on-lemonade-stands?ft=1&f=1057

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